A STUDY OF TRANSITIONS BETWEEN THE TROT AND CANTER IN DRESSAGE HORSES

Twenty-seven dressage horses training at novice to FEI Grand Prix leve l were videotaped performing an average of nine transitions each from trot to canter and from canter to trot. The 30- Hz videotapes were vie wed in slow motion and, based on the limb-support sequence, the transi tions were categorized into two types. The trot to canter transitions were categorized by whether the horse initiated the, canter with a fro nt limb or a hind limb. The canter to trot transitions were categorize d by whether the horse broke to a trot from the diagonal phase of the canter or from the lead front limb single support phase. The Spearman correlation coefficient showed no significant association between the horses' level of training and the method of transition for either the trot to canter transitions (p=0.49) or the canter to trot transitions (p=0.63).