There are many different types of hitting the ball in Rocket League, and horse dash is one of them. It is a community name for a chained movement trick that makes your car bounce forward and backward in a quick rhythm. It is not an official in-game term, but it builds on the wavedash mechanic, which Rocket League has featured in official tutorial spotlights for years. In this guide, we explain what horse dash is and how to do it in the game!

What is horse dashing in Rocket League?

In simple words, horse dashing in Rocket League is a chained wavedash motion. You set your car down on a rear corner, trigger a wavedash, then quickly switch the input and do it again on the other side. When you do it right, the car rocks back and forth in a way that looks a bit like a horse hopping across the ground. That visual is where the name comes from.

It helps to think of horse dashing as a freestyle or control trick, not a core ranked mechanic. Standard wavedashing has real match value because it helps players keep speed after landing. Horse dashing takes that same base idea and pushes it into a more niche mechanic that focuses on rhythm and balance.

How to horse dash in Rocket League

The cleanest way to learn horse dashing is to slow the setup down and focus on one clean contact point.

1. Jump lightly off the ground: Do not go too high. You want a small setup that gives you control.

2. Tilt the car so one rear corner lands first: Most players prefer one back corner over the other. The key is consistency, not which side you choose.
3. Wavedash as that corner touches the ground: This is the most important step. If you dodge too early, nothing happens. If you land too flat, the chain dies.
4. Reverse your stick input right away: After the first dash, move the stick the other way and repeat the motion.

5. Keep the rhythm going: Horse dashing is not about brute speed. It is about timing the next contact before the car settles.
6. Use powerslide if it helps you stay loose: Some players find the chain easier to hold when they lightly use powerslide during the motion.

A lot of players fail here because they try to force the motion too fast. Horse dashing usually clicks once you understand the first corner landing. After that, the back-and-forth pattern starts to make more sense. 

Check the video below to learn how to perform this action in the game:

Best settings and common horse dash mistakes in Rocket League

Settings do not do the mechanic for you, but they can make the inputs feel cleaner. Rocket League added Dodge Deadzone so players can control how far they must tilt the stick to trigger a directional dodge instead of a double jump.

The most common mistakes are easy to spot:

• Landing too flat instead of on the rear corner
• Dodging too early before the wheel contact happens
• Dodging too late after the car already settles
• Over-rotating the car during setup
• Losing the left-right rhythm after the first clean dash

If the chain keeps breaking, do not chase a long streak. Fix the first touch first. One clean horse dash matters more than five messy ones.

How to practice horse dashing in Rocket League

Free Play is the best place to learn this mechanic. Rocket League continues to support Free Play and Custom Training as its main skill-building tools, and that makes them the right space for movement practice like this.

Start with short goals:

• Learn one clean rear-corner wavedash
• Chain two dashes in a row
• Add a third dash only after the first two feel stable
• Practice in a straight line before trying to adjust direction