Out of your lengthenings come your mediums and then your extensions. An extension is only as good as the collected work before it. At first level, you aren’t doing true extensions or actual collection, but you are building the foundations, so raise your standards a bit, and think of your working gaits more as collected gaits and your lengthenings as mediums.

Always rise the first lengthening of any session. The horse has a chance to bring his back up and to stretch his muscles. The goal of the lengthening is to take bigger, slower steps. So, you must adjust your position a bit to allow him to perform. Get back a little with your upper body. Post a little higher and a little slower. You too must take bigger, slower steps. Think of his hocks as attached to your hips. Each time you rise, your pull his hindquarters more underneath. Each time you sit, squeeze as much as you need to push the horse out in front of you. It may feel at first that you are behind the motion, but you’re probably finally with him instead of ahead of him. You can exaggerate that feeling until he feels like he is out in front of your leg.

Your horse must put himself in the position to perform the movement. The degree and quality of the collection determines the quality of the lengthening. So, wind the horse up, then let him go. To "wind him up," push him forward with your leg, but hold him steady with your seat and hand. To contain the added energy, let your hands bounce up each step. Your hands will bounce his shoulders up and out of the way, so he will actually be able to extend a little rather than run. Your back and seat will half-halt, simply stretching up, up when needed to keep him in the same tempo.

Then, let him go. Make the horse fly off your leg the first step. If he will shoot out, you have prepared him correctly. It is this moment, this highly energetic first step that will later give you the air-time, the suspension you want in your medium trot.

In the beginning, ask for only two or three steps of lengthening. Bring him back the second he loses tempo, balance or frame. The three most common evasions are not really evasions; they are losses of balance.

1. The horse speeds up, racing the tempo, taking short, fast steps. Sometimes he breaks to canter. To avoid this, be sure you are not losing contact with the bit. Don’t let go of the reins to go forward. Keep the feel on his mouth as he goes forward. Keep the tempo of his shoulders by letting your hands bounce up with them.
2. The horse sucks back behind your leg. He won’t lengthen with energy. Avoid this by making sure he always moves forward from both legs. He’s got to fly that first step, or touch him with the whip. Build up energy by cantering before the movement.
3. The horse flails, tossing his head or rooting toward the bit. Or, he comes above the bit and hollows his back. Only ask for the lengthening when the horse is round and through. You may have to reprogram your ride and wait to ask for the movement when you feel he’s ready.

Exercises to improve the lengthening:

*Practice on the circle. Sit a few steps, then lengthen a few steps. The circle helps keep the horse balanced, so you don’t have to work as hard.

*Canter then trot, then fly. Think of impulsion like water. It can change forms, from gas, to liquid to solid, but there is always the same amount of water. Impulsion is the same way. You can change gaits from walk to canter and back to walk and keep the same amount of impulsion. So, you can transform the impulsion in canter into a more energetic lengthening. Get the best canter you can, balanced, round and relaxed. Then, use your seat and the outside rein to ask for trot. The three beats of the canter are outside hind leg, diagonal pair, inside front leg. A firm half halt on the outside rein will break down the diagonal pair of the lead you are on, and you will have trot. If you are sitting firmly, you can feel the first beat of the trot. If you rise the first beat, you will be on the correct diagonal, and you won’t bounce around or hollow your horse’s back. While he’s still moving strongly from the canter, ask him to lengthen his trot. Use the energy from the canter for more energy in the trot.

*Practice on the short diagonal, down the long side, and down center line. The arena wall also helps the horse keep his lateral balance. But, don’t just run down the long side. Always, get just a few good steps, then reward. Most horses don’t have the strength or the balance in the beginning to make it all the way across the diagonal in a great medium. Build up correctly. Vary the places where you practice the movement so the horse doesn’t just turn across the diagonal and think "run."

*Go 1/2 way across the diagonal, then shoulder–in down center line. This movement helps the horse rebalance and collect himself just at the point where most horses lose the lengthening and fall on their forehands.

*Tap with whip on hip each time you rise. Be sure your hands are clever enough to do this without accidentally bumping him in the mouth. This drives a lazy horse on, but helps any horse keep the tempo.

In a show, the lengthening are usually coefficient movements and are weighted twice as much as regular movements. If you have a less than brilliant mover, you can collect him a bit more than normal so that you can show a bigger transition in and out of the lengthening. If you have a very forward horse, you might sacrifice a little brilliance for steadiness in the show ring. Too much practice on this movement can actually make the horse faster and duller in his lengthening rather than bigger and slower. Every step should be correct.