Peter Gray, international team rider, coach and judge, explains why the free walk is important, what judges are looking for and how to ride it. He coaches a pair as they warm up with quarter turns on a square to work on suppleness, bend and softness. Then, they demonstrate transitions between the free walk and the medium walk.
Peter Gray had a notable career as an international team rider before shifting his focus to coaching and judging. He represented his birthplace Bermuda in the alternate 1980 Olympic Games and the 1984 and 1988 Olympic Games. Gray also won the individual bronze medal at the 1987 Pan American Games and the team silver medal at the 1991 Pan American Games. After becoming a Canadian citizen in 1995, he coached the 1996 and 2000 Canadian Olympic eventing teams. He is now an FEI Level 3 eventing judge for international competitions and an ‘S’ Eventing judge for national competitions.