For the horse returning to work after the first few weeks of walking I like to gradually introduce trot by counting the number of strides we do and gradually build this up i.e. 20 strides repeated 6 times in a ride on day one building by 10 strides for every day worked over a period of 2 to 3 weeks. so by the 6th day of work in week three you should be doing about 190 strides of trot repeated 6 times throughout the ride.
Usually at this stage I find the horse is asking to canter and the 3rd or 4th trot set in the last week may end up being a short canter of no more than 1 minute.
The next week or two will be spent continuing to build on the trot sessions but also increasing the number which are cantered and the length but to no more than 2 minutes of cantering followed by some walking. also at this stage I like to start using my heart rate monitor to gauge if the horse is now ready to step up to interval training.
During this period I may substitute a days riding for a 20 to 30 minute lunge being worked properly in trot or a half hours schooling followed by a 15 minute to half hours hack to cool down.
Above is a typical HR output from a day's exercise at the introduction of canter stage, the spikes up to 160bpm were caused by the horse spotting two men further up the track in camouflage outfits out shooting. In general trotting is represented by a heart rate of 80 to 120bpm though the last bit in this range represents a short canter.
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