Understanding Footfalls Changes Everything... · Get Good With Horses Courses

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17d (edited) • 👀 Observations from the Field

Understanding Footfalls Changes Everything...

...even on the ground 🐎

✨ Something I believe that doesn’t get talked about enough is how much understanding your horse’s footfalls and weight distribution matters. Not just for riding but in your groundwork too.

Because once you see it, you can’t unsee it. Take backing up, for example.

A lot of people think the horse is just “walking backwards” like a four-beat movement. But they’re not.

When a horse backs up correctly, they’re actually moving in diagonal pairs, the same pattern as the trot, just in reverse, a two-beat movement.

And this matters because when those diagonal pairs are working properly, the horse is engaging their core, lifting through their back, and distributing their weight more evenly. It becomes a healthy, balanced movement and not just something they do.

But when it’s not quite right you’ll often see the horse backing up crooked, stepping unevenly, trailing a leg, or hollowing through the body. And that’s not them being awkward or difficult, it’s information.

It can mean they haven’t been shown clearly how to back up mentally, or they don’t quite have the strength or coordination. And sometimes, it can point to discomfort, pain, or even an underlying issue.

So instead of just asking them to go back - we want to start looking at how they’re going back.

🔸Are the steps even?

🔸Is the weight shifting evenly?

🔸Are they stepping through their body or avoiding it?

Like everything I try to share in here it is not just in the what, but in the how AND the why.

And the more you understand these details, the more you can help your horse move in a way that actually supports their body long term.

If you want to dive deeper into this, check out Premium Classroom 4 – Riding: Understanding Footfalls It’ll completely change how you see movement, both in the saddle and on the ground.

➡️ Right now, as you think about your horse backing up - are they stepping evenly through their diagonal pairs? Are you not sure? Or was you already aware of this?

🐴✨🫶

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