"Dear H&C,

My problem is mostly keeping my Andalusian-Arab cross engaged from the hind end from walk to trot. At a walk it is relatively easy getting him to come through properly, on the bit, and with some slight collection, but once I ask for trot (sitting) he hollows out of it. I have to be extremely subtle with my aids and be mildly active in his mouth to get a decent transition. Then, maintaining it, without constant half-halts seems to be next problem.

Once cantering, I can, without much problem, keep him together. The trot transitions are killing me in any tests we’ve done, so it something that must resolved if we are to advance in dressage. Any advice will be appreciated. Thank you for your time.

Ken"

H&C blogger and dressage rider Alice Oppenheimer relies:

"Hi Ken,

I have a horse that I ride that used to have a similar problem in the upwards transitions. With him, the problem was caused by being behind the leg and, as a result, when I asked for the upwards transition he would come back at my leg which caused him to hollow and try to ‘jump’ out of the engagement. I concentrated on getting him in front of my leg in the basic paces and ensuring that he was active, forward and pushing from behind into an elastic but fairly strong contact to make sure that he was working through his entire body.

Once this was established I worked on his walk to trot transitions. As long as he was connected and in front of my leg, the transitions flowed easily and, when I got a correct  transition, the trot following the transition was much easier to maintain. It sounds as if it is a very similar problem as you are having with your horse so I suggest that you concentrate on getting him more responsive to the leg aids. In order to do this effectively, you will have to be very disciplined and, if he doesn’t respond to your leg, you will have to give him a stronger aid so that he understands what you want from him, but be very quick to praise him when he gets it right. You might need to ride a thousand transitions to help the process! Hopefully this will solve you problem.

Good luck!

Alice"