Riding Exercises

Fantastic exercise to work on focus and bending. You can work on consistency on a circle, changing rein over the center jump, striding within a line (can push for 6 strides, stay consistent for 7, or hold for 8 down the lines), and bending lines. There are so many ways this could be ridden!

My favorite for when you only have a few jumps in the ring! So many options, and it keeps the horse focused on you, as they don't know which line you will take.

For all of the eventers out there that can't practice wide tables or any sort of wider jumps, triple bars are a very helpful way to make a jump wide without there being a hole in the middle

Love these workouts!

Since I'm still "grounded" until my rib strains heal, I did some lunging yesterday. I recently got new footing in my arena, so it's a bit deeper than they are used to. Key points to safe and useful lunging - ⏳ Keep it short. The purpose isn't to exhaust the horse (though I know many of us have experienced times when we need to get some bucks out before riding!). I like 20 minute sessions to reduce wear and tear on the joints. 🌀 Spiral in and out. This helps with lateral balance 🚦 Transitions transitions transitions! Keeps them off the forehand and also makes it more interesting. You can't do too many transitions (both between gaits and between speeds within gaits) 📏 Side reins are helpful but don't crank them in. I use them fairly long (my horses are young and still very much early in the training) and I only use them to help them get used to steady contact and a consistent outside rein. My Friesian tends to dive behind the contact so I am careful to not encourage this, by keeping reins long and movement forward.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, trail riding is the best idea. It helps build hind end muscles as well as clears up the mind of the rider and horse. My horse always seems so much happier once he has been outside for a bit of some time to stretch out his legs❤️

Once the exercise flows well at the walk, you can ride it at the trot. During the leg yield on the diagonal from K to X the horse is bent against the direction of travel. The left hind leg is brought more under the body and the weight is transferred to the right hind leg. I would sit with my own weight in the direction of travel to be able to flex the outside hind leg more effectively with the weight of the horse and rider. The deeper the flexion of the outside hind leg, the more uphill the horse will canter. The weight distribution towards the right side of the body can be enhanced through a stirrup stepping sequence of right front - right rear - right rear, i.e. you apply a slight pressure with your toes into the right stirrup when the right front leg is on the ground, then again during the next two strides when the right hind leg is on the ground. The stepping can be supported by half halts on one of the reins. You can find a detailed discussion of stirrup stepping as a weight aid in my book “Dressage Principles Based On Biomechanics”. You can ride the leg yield on a shallower diagonal, arriving on the center line sometime after X, which makes the exercise easier for the horse without compromising its effectiveness.As soon as the leg yield ends, you apply two half halts to the outside hind leg and ask for the canter depart. The sidestepping as well as the half halts flex the outside hind leg, creating a posture in which it is easy for the horse to transition into the canter. Since the distance between X and E is only 10m, the horse will be motivated to canter uphill because in a flat, fastdownhill canter he wouldn’t be able to make the turn in the available space.During the walk and trot stage of the exercise (before adding the canter depart) you could add a counter shoulder-in or haunches-in along the long side after E, as you can see in the graphic. This way, both hind legs are engaged in the same exercise. This exercise is suitable also for introducing the horse to the haunches-in with the bend in the direction of travel.

This week will be a focus on groundwork for me! I was riding on Wednesday and my horse tripped at the canter, was unable to regain her footing, and went totally down with me. She is ok (I gave her some banamine but she seemed fine), but I am still limping around with very painful ribs and a sore ankle. I did get back on and finish my lesson, as my trainer had driven up 1.5hr 😂 I think we're all a little crazy. Anyone have any good groundwork exercises to share that don't require lifting poles or anything too strenuous for me? And yes, I'm going to lunge with lots of transitions to get OFF the dang forehand 🫣🤦🫠