Novice Equestrian 101: (iv) The Walk

To ask a horse to walk, you squeeze gently with your lower legs and once the horse starts to move forwards your legs should be relaxed. Some horses may not be as responsive as others and may need a small, gentle kick with both heels to move forward. If, whilst walking, the horse starts to falter, a soft squeeze with the lower legs will persuade it to continue.

The walk is a 'four step gait'. This means that the horse moves each leg in turn and places all four legs on the ground individually.

HRH Princess Haya

As the horse walks you will feel the body sway from side to side. This happens because, as each hind leg in turn is lifted by the horse and moved forward, that side of the horse becomes higher. And so by feeling the sway of the horse's body from side to side, you can tell which back leg is being lifted and is moving forward.

As the horse walks, you will also see that it moves its head backwards and forwards in a nodding motion. To allow for this, you should keep your arms relaxed, so that you can allow your hands to move forwards and back with the movement of the horse's head. By moving your hands with the movement of the horse's head, you can maintain the same tightness of rein (known as 'contact') throughout, without restricting the horse's natural movement.