I went into the arena to speak to Lynsey Rowan. Lynsey  is the assistant trainer for my coach Belinda Trussell. Belinda was riding her horse Tattoo , in trot, down the long side of the arena. Just as I leaned toward Lynsey to say something to her my eyes fixed on Tattoo. Oh. My. God. That trot!
I had seen Tattoo trot before, but over the winter I had not seen him for a couple of months, and in that time his training has moved forward exponentially. The trot had always been good but now it was WOW!
The Trot. This is the gait that can be improved the most in a horse. A horse can have an ordinary trot and with the right training and development the trot can move up to something very eye-catching.
The trot. This is the gait that gets the “oooohs” and the “aaaahhhs” from spectators at shows. A spectacular trot in a dressage test provides the “Oh La La” moment for any audience. The knowledgeable members of the audience may appreciate some of the other movements but the trot will wow everyone.
The day I saw Tattoo’s improved trot I was just like the dog who gets distracted by the squirrel. Dog is focused and then ….SQUIRREL!  I was going to speak to Lynsey and then “That Trot!”
This week the word press photo challenge is “Ooh! Shiny!” What is it that can distract you and break your focus? That “Oh! Shiny!” moment. Just like the dog and the squirrel. For me that moment was seeing that spectacular trot. Here are some photos of horses and riders in  trot.