I think cantering on a straight track outside is very beneficial for your horse! You can canter longer in a straight line than in the arena and your horse learns to trust you in a different environment. I also canter a lot with one hand so that he really needs to find that balance himself, without running off.

I’ve found introducing/retraining flying changes can be easier over poles! Take a small half circle to the pole and straighten. Then as you go over the pole, open your rein to the lead you want and look the direction you want to go. If you have the correct lead, put your outside leg behind the girth to assure them of the lead. It takes persistence and patience but I hope this helps someone out! 💕

I really like to do this simple polework exercise to keep my horse supple and engage his hind a bit more. He is not the best at looking where to place his feet so we usually don’t make it harder than this😝

Our super necessary pole work day with our new cavesson. In walk, trot and canter.

Exercises! I saw this image on the internet. These seem like fun exercises to get your horse to bend a bit more in the position. This would be very useful for me and maybe others too!

Fun exercise

I finally found an illustration of an exercise I've been looking for for a while now! It's a great exercise to improve your ability to transition between trot and canter while keeping the roundness of your horse still as it should be. It can be a tricky one especially with young/inexperienced horses, but it is pretty easy if the rider is experienced and the horse is well trained 😆

Purpose: use corners better, lighten shoulder, prepare for next movement. For dressage riders, jumpers, or anyone wanting their horse to lift her shoulder at the half halt. Set up: three cones per corner, approximately 1m off wall (more or less depending on your level). If you do not have a square ring (I have rounded corners), set up fake corners using poles - so a small square within your circle/oval. My trainer had this set up for me today to work on using my corners better. The reason to do this isn't just to take advantage of the space, but it sets up the horse for the next movement. If you need to do a serpentine, half pass, shoulder in, or just go down the long side with a bit of bend, this will help you make the corner depth correctly. Methods: Trot or canter a 20m circle inside the cones at one end, then walk at the first cone, prepare at the second, and trot or canter at the third. Do a 3 or 4 loop serpentine or other exercise between ends or alternate between circle (inside) and using corners (outside). Mix it up and sometimes do not walk. You'll find your horse picks up the inside shoulder and half halts automatically after a couple of attempts.