Do you ever wonder why you seem to get so much done during a lesson? Well, the main reason, of course is your faithful instructor! A good instructor will keep you on track and help you to make good decisions during your ride, but there is another element that an instructor provides during a lesson that you can actually do on your own. This element is structure. Your instructor doesn’t look at you and ask whats next, right? They have a plan and direct you towards the goal for the day. Now there is something easy about sliding into the passenger seat and letting someone else make the decisions, but there are plenty of reasons that taking a lesson may not be an option for you. Financial constraints, scheduling conflicts, lack of availability, traveling limitations, your instructor moves to Japan ;) the reasons can pile up, but none of them mean that you can’t go out and have a fun, productive ride! When I begin a lesson, I usually start by asking how your last couple of rides had been. Quite often, the answer is not very specific. This tells me that those rides were most likely not very structured. You may be thinking to yourself, “Well, I wasn’t working on anything specific or too difficult, so why would I need structure?” and the reason is quite important! When a rider heads out to the arena with no plans, who decides how this session is going to go? Your horse does and I love horses, but there isn’t a horse on earth that I would want planning my day ;) One of my dear friends and clients has feisty little gelding named CJ. CJ is fabulous and full of personality, but his idea of a good day was staying near his buddies and food, but his owner wanted to be able to safely take him out to arena for a fun ride or down a relaxing trail. The goals for this horse were never to do a Grand Prix test or jump a giant course, but he still desperately needed structure to keep purpose to every session. Every day, his owner chipped away at small goals and consistently graduated her plans for him as she accomplished the things that previously seemed impossible. This wonderful team can now go out for a fun, relaxing ride far from the barn, his buddies and the insecurities that CJ previously displayed, all because of the structured plans that she stuck with. I am so proud of their accomplishments and use them as an example for the ways that structure can transform the amount you accomplish, even when riding on your own. This weeks exercises will be done in a pyramid style. Each exercise will be “built” by adding different elements. Have fun with the exercise and feel free to customise them to you and your horses own goals. When I use these exercises during a lesson, we do not move on to the next step of the pyramid until the step that we are on is successful. I also recommend doing it this way when riding on your own. Focus on making the first step of the exercise as successful as you can and when you add the next step, make sure that you can ride the first two elements of the pyramid together successfully before adding the third and so on. Remember that most horses only “anticipate” when a rider has gone too long without giving them direction. When you are schooling an exercise that repeats the same movements every time, it is very important that you still ride the exercise as if it is the first time every time you go through. If you start allowing your horse to assist at any point in the exercise, they will assume that they can do it during other portions of the exercise. The fairest way to ride through any exercise is to constantly give your horse direction, whether you feel they need it or not. The worse thing you can do is assume that your horse knows the exercise and then correct them when they give you the wrong answer. Give them good, clear directions to follow and have fun! Intro: Begin by riding medium walk full arena. Make sure that you have even weight in your stirrups, an even connection to the bridle and that your horse is walking freely forward. When your medium walk feels good, ride a transition into working trot at A. Continue in working trot full arena making sure that you are posting in a solid rhythm with steady hands and eyes looking straight down the long side. At C, ride a transition back into medium walk and continue riding full arena. This is the first step of the pyramid. Before moving on, make sure that your walk is forward, your trot has a solid rhythm and that your transitions are accurately placed by each letter. Next, add a 20m circle in working trot at E (tracking right). In addition to a solid rhythm in your working trot, make sure that your 20m circle is round and consistently positioned. After the circle, proceed full arena and ride a balanced transition to medium walk at C. Repeat this until you feel confident in all of the elements of this step. Ride your horse straight while on the long sides and slightly positioned to the right consistently around your 20 circle. Be sure to ride your transitions accurately at each letter both in and out of the working trot and onto and off of your 20m circle. Don’t forget to ride accurately as more steps are added to the pyramid! Next, after your 20m circle at E, continue in working trot through the short side at C and change rein across the diagonal from M to K returning to medium walk at A. Even though we have only added one movement, this exercise just got a whole lot longer! Make sure that all of the original elements are successful and that you ride two nice, deep corners with clearly straight steps in between them and that your diagonal is straight and consistent. Horses have a tendency to either steep up or slow down on diagonals (depending on their temperaments), so make sure that you are riding the same trot at the end of the diagonal that you began the diagonal in. Last, but not least, ride the corner after the diagonal with purpose. That corner doesn’t get a lot of love, because most riders are concerned with the upcoming transition at A, but the better that you ride that corner, the better your medium walk transition at A will be! The final block to this pyramid is adding a 20m circle to the left in working trot at B. Make sure that this circle is a mirror image of the 20m circle you rode to the right (same size, same rhythm, same about of bend…ect). Repeat each step until you are really confident with it, even if you spread the exercise over a few rides! Your patience will be rewarded. Once you are confident riding through the entire exercise, you can begin reversing your pyramid (see below) and work your way back to the foundation :) Medium walk tracking right. Medium walk. A - working trot. C - medium walk. Medium walk. A - working trot. E - circle right 20m in working trot. C - medium walk. Medium walk. A - working trot. E - circle right 20m in working trot. MXK change rein. A - medium walk. Medium walk. A - working trot. E - circle right 20m in working trot. MXK change rein. B - circle left 20m in working trot. C - medium walk. Medium walk. A - working trot. E - circle right 20m in working trot. MXK change rein. A - medium walk. Medium walk. A - working trot. E - circle right 20m in working trot. C - medium walk. Medium walk. A - working trot. C - medium walk. Reverse in medium walk and repeat the exercise tracking left. Training: One of the biggest challenges at Training level is the addition of more continuous canter work. This exercise is one of my absolute favourites for building up the amount of quality canter work you and your horse are capable of. Begin by riding a 20m circle in working trot to the left at A. Prepare for left lead canter by steadying your outside rein and softly positioning flexion in the inner jaw. Your inside leg should be positioned by the girth and your outside leg is brought back behind the girth. Ride a transition to working canter left lead in the corner between A and F and continue on a 20m circle at A. Continue riding your working canter left lead on the 20m circle at A until you are confident with the balance, bend and consistency of the circle, then transition back into working trot at K. Ride a few circles in working trot until you are prepared to transition back into working canter. Once your trot feels forward and balanced, transition back into working canter left lead between A and F and continue on a 20m circle at A. Once this circle is successful, ride into the corner between A and F and shift your 20m circle down to P. Stay on your 20m circle at P until you are happy with the both the canter and the circle. Use good judgement, but don’t worry if you need to ride this circle several (or many!) times over. It is far more beneficial to perfect the circle you are currently schooling than to move on before you are ready. The better quality your canter is on the 20m circle, the more prepared you are to take that canter further down the long side. Be sure to maintain the proper seat position throughout the entire exercise. Use the circle to help you relax your inner seat bone down into the saddle and create a soft bend around your inside leg, continue this position as you use your outside rein to straighten the canter between circles. Riders often over straighten their bodies when cantering down a straight line and this shift of balance can throw your horse off balance. Maintaining the positioning of your inner seat bone will really help your horse continue the success they had on the circle down the long sides. This exercise is very flexible. For some horses, a circle at A and a circle at P are enough of a challenge and others can circle at each letter up and down the long side. Use the exercise to expand your horses strength, balance and self-carriage by adding to it as they become stronger. Avoid falling into the “I just have to stay cantering at all costs” trap. This exercise is meant to build your horses canter longevity, but make sure that the canter you are riding is worth repeating. The structure portion of this exercise is the fact that even though you are challenging your horses ability to canter longer than before, you are still riding clean, round circles, beginning and ending at the proper letter in a rhythmical, consistent working canter. This is a challenging and rewarding exercise that will improve both the confidence and strength in your working canter. Working trot tracking left. Working trot. A/F - working canter left. A - circle left 20m in working canter. K - working trot. Working trot. A/F - working canter left. A - circle left 20m in working canter. P - circle left 20m in working canter. K - working trot. Working trot. A/F - working canter left. A - circle left 20m in working canter. P - circle left 20m in working canter. B - circle left 20m in working canter. K - working trot Working trot. A/F - working canter left. A - circle left 20m in working canter. P - circle left 20m in working canter. K - working trot. Working trot. A/F - working canter left. A - circle left 20m in working canter. K - working trot. Reverse and repeat the exercise tracking right. First: Whether you are preparing to compete at First Level or are about to move on to Second Level, you are most likely schooling the counter canter. A good counter canter is essential at Second Level and is first introduced on a shallow loop in First Level Test 3. This exercise will help develop good balance, control and rideability on a counter canter loop. It is beneficial for everything from introducing counter canter to a green horse through helping a more inexperienced rider gain influence on an experienced horse. Begin by riding working canter left lead full arena. Your working canter should be consistent, straight and well balanced before beginning counter canter work. Although counter canter does take a certain degree of strength and ability from a horse, the rider is a very influential part of the success of counter canter. Be sure to remain positioned with the lead you are riding and not the direction you are going. That sounds simple enough, but it is the very first thing that gets into the way of a successful counter canter. Remind yourself to steady the outside rein, maintain a soft conversation with the inside jaw, keep your inside leg at the girth and your outside leg behind the girth. Once you are prepared to begin, at H ride down a diagonal line towards X. As you approach the quarterline, begin straightening your horse parallel to the long side and continue in working canter left lead straight down the quarterline. Turn left at the short side. Repeat this step until is feels easy and you are confident in the success of it. The next step will be to add a 15m circle left over X and then continue straight down the quarterline. On paper this is a very easy exercise, but it throws many riders for a loop! This exercise really requires a rider to use their brain (insert your own joke here!). You have to go into with a plan and stick to that plan. When you head down the diagonal, don’t just ride somewhere in the middle of the arena, ride to a very specific point. Give yourself several strides to straighten onto the quarterline and then ride a great quality working canter down that quarterline. A lot of riders feel that a little dip in quality is acceptable, because we are beginning a new exercise and this is not true! The success of this exercise is really dependant on the balance and control of the canter you are riding it in, so don’t just think about riding down a new line such as the quarterline, but think about riding the best working canter you can on that line. If you are adding the 15m circle over X, be sure to ride a round, consistent circle the fits perfectly between the quarterline you are currently on and the opposite long side. Then return to the same quarterline and proceed with the beautiful canter you were in. The next step will be returning to the track at K after your 15m circle. Each step of this exercise should only be added if the previous ones were successful. There is nothing wrong with focusing on a portion of this exercise for a few days and then adding more once you feel confident. If you move on too quickly, it can become frustrating and feel more difficult than it actually is. I will school the diagonal line to quarterline portion of the exercise for weeks with a horse, until they are completely relaxed and confident going to and from the quarterline. When a horse and rider are confident riding to and from the quarterline and can add a balanced 15m circle in between, you are well on your way to a great counter canter! The final step in the exercise is extending the diagonal line all the way to X and shrinking your circle down to 10m between X and B and then returning to the track at K. For some horses, adding the 10m circle to the loop is more difficult than the movement required in First Level Test 3, but it greatly improves both the rideability and control that you have over the movement. The “top” of the loop is a place where many riders just want to survive, so they can get back onto the true lead and you can see this in the quality of their loops. Take the wheel during your counter canter and help your horse understand exactly what you are looking for. Mistakes happen and the better you plan for them, the more prepared you will be when/if they happen. If you horse breaks into the trot, collect yourself and your horse and make a purposeful transition back into working canter and begin again. Avoid chasing your horse back into canter during the exercise. If your horse switches leads at some point during the exercise, quietly bring them back down to working trot or medium walk and begin again. If your horse can already perform a flying change or if you are repeatedly getting a flying change at some point during the exercise, check your aids to make sure that you are not shifting your balance or leg positioning inadvertently. There is usefulness in every element of this exercise, so even if you can already ride a great counter canter, go through each step and really make sure that you have balance, consistency and relaxation as you add or take away each step. Second: When a horse and rider make the move from First Level into Second Level, they often struggle with just how quickly movements present themselves. Although shoulder-in and travers are not too difficult on their own, the Second Level tests arrange them in a series that challengers both your coordination and the effectiveness of your aids. This weeks pyramid will help you to carefully build up towards the goal of of better coordination and clarity in a series of movements. Begin by riding collect trot to the right full arena. Before you begin the exercise, warm-up a correct shoulder-in to the right on the long side. When your shoulder-in is feeling good, we will begin by riding shoulder-in right from B to F, collected trot through the short side (FAK) and then shoulder-in right from K to E. This is the foundation of the pyramid and you should be very confident riding through this step before you move on. The accuracy of the beginning and ending of your shoulder-in and the constancy of the rhythm is very important. Be sure to finish your shoulder-in clearly at F so that you are able to ride a deep corner between F and A, then repeat the same corner between A and K, so that you are properly set up to begin shoulder-in right at K. Truly perfecting this step of the exercise may be plenty to focus on for the day! But when you feel confident with it, the next step will be to add a 10m circle right in collected trot at A. *Two things to think about when riding this step of the pyramid are:
Once this step feels fluid, controlled and you are confident in your ability to repeat it successfully, then we will move on to the next step! In this step, we are going to ride two separate circles on the short side, one at F and one at K. So think about the letter that the circles are now placed at. Your first circle is at the same letter that your first shoulder-in finishes at, so you should maintain the same flexion you had in your shoulder-in right from B to F into the 10m circle at F. Once that circle is finished, ride a nice, deep corner between F and A, ride straight through the short side into another deep corner between A and K and then begin your second 10m circle right at K. You will maintain the same flexion that you had on your 10m circle right directly into the shoulder-in right from K to E. When riding this step, be sure that both of your 10m circles are ridden the same size, with the same flexion and in the same rhythm. Being mindful of your rhythm throughout this exercise will help you to catch if your horse speeds up coming out of the first circle or slows down coming into the second circle. If this happens, ride through the exercise again and use your half-halts to help maintain a good solid rhythm from beginning to end. The final step the the pyramid will be adding a halt for five seconds at A. That simple little ol’ halt can really shake things up!! Consider adding the halt sometimes and omitting it others to keep you horses focus on your directions.. Most horses “anticipate” when a rider has gone too long without giving them direction. When you are schooling an exercise that repeats the same movements every time, it is very important that you still ride the exercise as if it is the first time every time you go through. If you start allowing your horse to assist at any point in the exercise, they will assume that they can do it during other portions of the exercise. The fairest way to ride through any exercise is to constantly give your horse direction, whether you feel they need it or not. The worse thing you can do is assume that your horse knows the exercise and then correct them when they give you the wrong answer. Give them good, clear directions to follow and have fun! Collected trot. Collected trot. B-F - shoulder-in right. FAK - collected trot. K-E - shoulder-in right. E - collected trot. Collected trot. B-F - shoulder-in right. FA - collected trot. A - circle right 10m. AK - collected trot. K-E - shoulder-in right. E - collected trot. Collected trot. B-F - shoulder-in right. F - circle right 10m. FAK - collected trot. K - circle right 10m. K-E - shoulder-in right. E - collected trot. Collected trot. B-F - shoulder-in right. F - circle right 10m. FA - collected trot. A - halt 5 seconds. AK - collected trot. K - circle right 10m. K-E - shoulder-in right. E - collected trot. Collected trot. B-F - shoulder-in right. F - circle right 10m. FAK - collected trot. K - circle right 10m. K-E - shoulder-in right. E - collected trot. Collected trot. B-F - shoulder-in right. FA - collected trot. A - circle right 10m. AK - collected trot. K-E - shoulder-in right. E - collected trot. Collected trot. B-F - shoulder-in right. FAK - collected trot. K-E - shoulder-in right. E - collected trot. Reverse and repeat to the left. Third and Above: A good clean flying change is essential to success competing at Third Level and above. A great flying change is active, balanced, straight and controlled. Once your horse can perform a flying change, you need to start developing it. The flying change truly mirrors the effectiveness of and obedience to a riders aids. When I bring up control in flying changes, most people start bringing up how their horses change when they hadn’t asked, don’t listen to where they had asked, get excited in the changes, loose their focus…. all complaints pertaining to to what their horses could be doing better. Of course, there are some naughty horses out there and some that consider a flying change to quite thrilling, but the control aspect in a flying change is 100% the riders job. Let me explain why…. the strides leading up to a flying change are what will make or break the response. If you are connected to your horse and preparing for a potential flying change, you will develop the ability to read if asking for a flying change is a good idea or not. If you do not feel confident that the canter you are currently riding is set up for a successful flying change, don’t ask. You have the control over when and where the change will happen. Just because you began preparing, does not mean that your pants will catch fire if you decide against actually asking for the change. It is your decision where that flying change is ridden and how it is prepared for and if the flying change was not a success, you most likely gave up control somewhere in the process. Remember, when riding a flying change, it is your idea and your creation, your horse is just following directions :) Begin riding collected canter right lead full arena. As with the start of every exercise, make sure that the canter is great…. even super! The flying change can only be as good as the canter is was ridden out of, so ride your canter straight, active and supple. Be very clear with your aids and give a correction if you feel that your horse is not “with” you. If you are struggling to hold your horses head up, work on that before you begin working on the changes. If you are begging your horse to continue in canter, ensure that your leg aids are worthy of respect, because they will eventually be asking for the change and if they don’t mean much to your horse now, why would they mean much when you go to ask for the flying change? Then finally, check your own self-carriage. Ensure that you are not depending on your horse for support in any way. Once this collected canter feels great, we are going to begin by riding a single flying change from true canter to counter canter on the long side at B and proceed full arena in counter canter. Be specific that you want the flying change to happen AT B. The strides following the flying change are just as important as the strides before it. There should not be a dip in quality right after the flying change. If you learned the changes with or alongside your horse, it is really easy for riders to assume that the way their horses felt during the learning process is how the changes will feel forever and this is not the case. Horses are allowed to lose their balance or get a little crooked when they are first figuring out the flying change, but this needs to be tidied up as soon as possible. Think about seamlessly transitioning from a balanced controlled right lead canter into a balanced, controlled left lead canter and then immediately ride a good quality counter canter from there. Once you have ridden through the short side, ride down a short diagonal, returning to true canter and ride the first step of the exercise on the left lead. Be sure that both the flying changes and counter canter are of equal quality both directions before moving on. The next step will be to continue full arena in counter canter and riding a flying change back to true canter on the next long side (at E or B). When riding this exercise, alternate between continuing in counter canter and riding a flying change to be sure that your horse is waiting for your direction. If you feel tension or resistance as you near E or B, remain on your current lead and wait until the next long side. When you are confident in the success of this step, stay in counter canter and ride a flying change at V or S followed by a 10m circle in true canter. Be sure that both the flying change and the collected canter strides before the circle are balanced and straight. Ride an accurate, round and well bent circle and then continue in collected canter. The final step of this pyramid will be riding a flying change after the 10m circle returning to counter canter full arena. Successfully placing flying changes at specific letters requires a greater degree of submission from your horse and the addition of the 10m circle provides you with the ability to correct any loss of quality in the collected canter in order to quickly prepare you for another flying change on the same long side. This exercise can help develop better control, coordination and preparation skills for improved single changes and tempi changes in the future. Collected canter right lead. Collected canter right lead. B - flying change. PFAKV - counter canter. V-R - change rein. R - collected canter left lead. Collected canter left lead. E- flying change. VKAFP - counter canter. P-S - change rein. S - collected canter right lead. Collected canter right lead. B - flying change. PFAKV - counter canter. E - flying change. E - collected canter right lead Collected canter right lead. B - flying change. PFAK - counter canter. V - flying change. E - circle right 10m. E- straight ahead. Collected canter right lead. B - flying change. PFAK - counter canter. V - flying change. E - circle right 10m. S - flying change. HCMR - counter canter. R-V - change rein. V - collected canter left lead. Collected canter left lead. B - flying change. RMCHS - counter canter. E - flying change. E - collected canter left lead. Collected canter left lead. B - flying change. RMCH - counter canter. S - flying change. E - circle left 10m. E - straight ahead. Collected canter left lead. B - flying change. RMCH - counter canter. S - flying change. E - circle left 10m. V - flying change. KAFP - counter canter. P-S - change rein. S - collect canter right lead.
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