This article first appeared in the March 2022 digital edition of Equestrian Life. To see what’s in the current issue, click here.

The walk pirouette, showing exactly where the outside hind foot should be and a great realisation of the inside shoulder.

© Roger Fitzhardinge

Going in circles learning the pirouette

By Roger Fitzhardinge

The walk pirouette is a complex movement that reflects more on the rider than the horse — and it is one of the hardest exercises in which to score a perfect 10! Let’s see what the experts say.

The FEI describes the walk pirouette as:

“The pirouette (half-pirouette) is a turn of 360 degrees (180 degrees) executed on two tracks, with a radius equal to the length of the horse and the forehand moving around the haunches. The forefeet and the outside hind foot move around the inside hind foot. The inside hind leg describes a circle as small as possible. The horse, slightly bent in the direction in which it is turning, remains “on the bit” with light contact, turning smoothly around, and maintaining sequence and timing of footballs footfalls of that pace. The poll remains the highest point during the entire movement.”

The walk half-pirouette is a movement in tests from Elementary (where it is called a “turn on the haunches” and is basically the same but the size of the pirouette is larger as it is not done from collected walk) right the way through to the Prix St Georges. It is then not in the other FEI tests above Prix St Georges…

Read the full article in our March 2022 magazine here.