The walk is a four-time pace, which means that there are four beats to each complete stride. All four beats should be equally spaced. When riding at walk you should be able to count a regular one-two-three-four, one-two three-four. There is a lot of truth in the old reckoning that a horse who walks well tends to also have a good gallop – as the gallop is also a four-beat gait.
The walk is often neglected by riders, but it can tell you a huge amount about the horse and his potential. So if trying a horse for the first time, make sure you pay close attention to the quality of this pace. It is far easier to ‘fix’ issues occurring in the trot and canter than it is to repair problems in the walk. It is no coincidence that walk features even in the very top dressage tests, as it allows the judges to get a feel for the quality of the horse, his strength and his balance. If a horse has a good walk, with long strides, and looks purposeful in this gait, he will almost certainly be athletic in the other paces.
The walk steps should be regular and rhythmic. An uneven walk is a serious fault and indicates either a lameness or poor schooling. These horses tend to also be tense, as they are unable to correctly use their muscles. This will translate into poor rhythm and tenseness in all of the other gaits.
Types of walk
Medium walk
This is the primary pace employed by a novice rider. The horse moves forwards with purpose and the rider maintains a soft contact. The horse should over-track, that is, the horse’s hind feet should step into the hoof prints made by the forefeet. This is the usual walk expected in lower-level dressage tests. It must look active and seem to be ‘going somewhere’.
Free walk
In this the horse is given freedom from the rein contact so that he can lower and stretch his head and neck. He should again over-track. The free walk is used, particularly in dressage tests, to illustrate that the horse is able to show relaxation after a period of more collected work. As relaxation is key in dressage, this movement will often have a co-efficient of two, which means that the score received is doubled, to weight its importance accordingly. Many horses struggle with this part of the test, as they unfortunately tend to be tense throughout their performances, and thus are unable to relax even when given the opportunity.
Collected walk
In this the horse is asked to take shorter steps, but without slowing down! The walk has to remain active. The hind feet do not necessarily over-track as completely as before, but certainly reach the hoof prints made by the forefeet. The collected walk is an advanced pace. It is not, as many novices seem to think, created by simply shortening the reins and pushing the horse forwards. A true collected walk is really an impressive thing – watch some videos of Charlotte Dujardin and you will see what we mean!
Extended walk
This is rather like the free walk but the rider must keep a light contact. The horse should stretch towards the contact, taking large ground-covering strides. The walk must look purposeful but never hurried. The extended walk is again quite an advanced gait, and to perform it correctly takes strength and balance on the part of the horse, and skill and feeling on the part of the rider.