Even if your child never sits in an English saddle, learning diagonals early in their riding education sets them up for success in so many ways. Here, I’ll explain the step-by-step process to teach diagonals—without looking—and how that leads to teaching the child to lope off on the correct lead.
What’s a Diagonal, and Why?
Riding on the correct diagonal means rising and falling with the horse’s outside-front leg as he trots. It can make it easier to ride an extended trot and allow you to drive the horse forward to extend his gait.
Your child might think learning their diagonals is tedious and boring—they might even wonder the point of it all. Explain to them that this sets them up to be ready to lope safely and correctly. Every child wants to lope, so that’s the reward for learning diagonals!
Start at a Walk
Moving at a walk and with your child’s feet out of the stirrups, body upright, chin up, and shoulders back and square, ask them to count strides—1-2-3-4. They’ll learn to feel the rhythm of the footfalls without looking. They’ll notice that their hips move in rhythm with the horse’s feet. I remove the stirrups because it helps the child ride with the rhythm of the gait instead of against it.
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Move to a Trot
Have your rider pick up the stirrups and move into a trot. As they sit the trot, they’ll feel their body move in a forward/backward motion with the gait. Be sure they notice this, because it’ll help them identify the correct diagonal.
Ask your rider to rise out of the saddle with a stride and sit back down with the next, repeating it. Then ask if they feel like they’re going back and forth or side to side. If they feel a forward/back motion, then they’re on the correct diagonal. If they feel disorganized, like they’re going sideways, it’s likely they’re on the wrong diagonal. If it’s wrong, tell them to sit twice and rise with the third stride, and they’ll be back on the correct diagonal.
Try the Lope
If your child understands where the horse’s legs are at the trot, they’ll feel it at the lope, too. Ask the child to cue for a lope while going down the rail of the arena.
If they pick up the correct lead, they’ll feel that familiar back/forth rhythm, while the wrong lead will send their hips in a circular motion similar to the side-to-side one on the wrong diagonal. I don’t tell the child that they’re on the wrong lead unless they’ve gone around the arena a few times. I prefer if they go four or five strides before I ask them if it feels funny, so they learn to identify it and don’t second-guess themselves every time they lope off.
If they’re on the wrong lead, tell them to quietly stop the horse, take a breath, get the horse’s body in frame, and lope off again.
Shyanne Smith grew up in the horse-show world, daughter of Jason and Julie Smith. She rode on the equestrian team for Baylor University, and now focuses on giving beginner riders lessons in Central Texas at Shyanne Smith Stables. She enjoys catering to newcomers, showing and pairing them with the perfect mount for their journey with horses.
