Gallop in pictures

The Nürnberger Burg-Pokal is one of the most prestigious tournaments in the world for young horses of the Minor Prix level. In 2017 in the final Nuremberg Castle Cup Escolar under the saddle of Hubertus Schmidt received 10 points for the canter. Here are some shots of Escolar and Hubertus from this event, as well as photos of other horses for comparison.All riders and horses undergo classical training.

First Hubertus and Escolar. Walking along a long wall. Each photo is first gallop pace.

The canter is a three-beat gait in which for each tempo of the canter there is three steps. Each step is a landing phase of the foot. These three steps are evenly spaced and are followed by hangover phasewhen all four feet are off the ground. Three hits and a “hang” count as one beat. The first step is movement outer hind leg, opposite to the leading front leg, and the last step is the movement inner leading leg.

Johan Hamminga: “When you make the frame wider, give the horse more rein and keep contact, you lengthen the neck and then the horse can bring your hind legs under your body, as in the photo.”

You can see how the inside hind hoof touches the ground before the outside front hoof, which is typical for the uphill gallop.

Johann Hamminga: “This is the San Siro at a gallop. Note the distance between the right and left hind legs. His left hind leg goes as far under the body as possible, and at this point if you draw a vertical line across the rider’s ear, shoulder, thigh, and horse’s toe, you will see that the left hind leg touches this vertical line. His “ass” can go so far because he moves “withers/backward”without stiffening the neck. For the same reason, the horse is in excellent balance, in good contact with the rider. If the horse is in balance, he always holds the reins softly.”

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