Every once in a while a pearl of wisdom, knew found knowledge or a hard learned lesson comes my way. From time to time I would like to share some of these "epiphanies" with you. Most are not profound but are somewhat noteworthy. I am not sure what to title these "tidbits" of information. I have thought of "A View From My Saddle" although clever and fitting it is has been used. I do like it's close relative "My View from the Manure Pile” in my case I have had to shovel a lot of it in my life so it seems quite appropriate. As a young boy I was sure there was a pony under that pile of manure and it kept me inspired and shoveling. What I eventually learned was that there was no pony, just more manure.

As a horseman I "felt" much of my horsemanship. It was not book learned or lessoned into me. I was a keen observer and had a strong work ethic. I made mistakes but learned from them and it was during my observations of other trainers that I would learn as much about what not to do as much as what to do. I went through stages, as a young man in my 20 and 30's where I was a constant student of the horse. In my 40's and 50's I thought I knew it all and then in my early 60's I found out I still had a lot to learn. As humbling as it was it was very productive. So it was back to being a student again. Maybe I should give myself a bit more credit. By the time I was 50 I had a lot of "wet blankets and saddle miles" on me. But in my early 50's I found I wanted to fully understand and know more. I think what inspired me was when I became a teacher and started doing clinics I felt a huge responsibility to have correct and educated answers. I could not teach people how to feel as I do but I could define things in a manner that was easy to understand and they could then develop their own feel. One of my biggest concerns was that a student would ask me a question I would not have a correct answer for. It was time to go beyond feel and start to articulate….. Hence a new journey and a new DVD.

As I did research for my latest DVD, Poetry In Motion, (www.cowboydressage.com/storefront.html) I wanted to take basic equine anatomy along with footfalls and cadence and create a presentation that was easy to understand and digest. (I tried to use as few big words as possible). I used animation and video footage of my own horses as I worked them. I added chapters and a menu to make it student friendly. What I learned while making that DVD changed the way I ride my horses. I actually can now ride the horse from the inside out instead of just from the outside. This is a huge benefit for both horse and rider. Because of what I learned I am now able to take that "feel" and put it into words that I can share and teach others with. I knew that to be a good horseman you needed to have control of the horse’s feet. In order to have that control you need to know where the feet are at all three gaits. Walk, trot, and lope/canter. If you can master this and it is not as hard as you think, you will be enriched beyond your horse crazy dreams. I know I have been. It has now become one of the main topics of my clinics. I know fellow horseman, teacher, and friend Jack Brainard includes this study in his clinics as well. Dr. Robert Miller makes a point of it too during his lectures. "Control the feet and you control the horse." Profound and simple but highly overlooked and often miss-understood.

So my first pearl from the Manure Pile is: The four beat canter or lope....what is it? If you show or observe western pleasure horses you will often see a horse that is four beating at the lope. Many can recognize it but few can define it. If you can’t define it how can you improve or fix it, or avoid it in the first place…. So listen up, here goes: The western lope is a 3 beat gait that consists of a 3 beat footfall. Within each lope stride there is a diagonal pair that should hit the ground at the exact same time. When the diagonal pair is out of sync or broken you have a four beat canter or lope.

Correct example: Right Lead. The horse is asked to engage with his right rear leg. This is done by moving the ribcage to the outside (to his left) creating a soft arc. He then pushes off with his left outside hind leg. It is then followed by the diagonal pair, the left front and right rear legs that is then followed by the leading right front leg. 1-2-3 beats

Correct example: Left Lead. The horse is asked to engage with his left rear leg. This is done by moving his rib cage to the outside (to his right) creating a soft arc. He then pushes off with his right outside hind leg. It is then followed by the diagonal pair; the right front and his left rear legs and then followed by the leading left front leg. 1-2-3 beats

Four Beat. Right or Left lead. The diagonal pair does not hit the ground at the same time. Most often the front diagonal will hit the ground first and then the diagonal rear will follow. This will give you 4 beats. 1-2-3 and 4…out of sync and incorrect.

The four beat lope or canter can be the way the horse moves naturally because of conformation, breeding or training etc. It can be also be man made, or trainer made in this instance. You do not create a jog by slowing the horses down. He will loose his cadence if you slow him down to much. The correct way to create a jog is by shortening the stride thus keeping the horse in sync.

If you know your footfalls and can feel where one foot is you will know where the other three are. In theory you can then ride to prevent or improve the broken or out of sync diagonal pair.

It is not enough to know the how and why of footfalls, you must also know at what time during the sequence of footfalls to queue a horse to send the proper message. It makes it so much easier for the horse. Both horse and rider are set up for success….ah yes, timing is very important….. My next DVD

EITAN