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I tried the App Course Creator (recomended by @142797298 ๐Ÿ˜˜) to draw one of my favourite exercises for the Phase1 of teaching the horse lateral movements. First - teach the horse to yield (to move away) from pressure - not going forward, but stepping aside. If the horse do not understand the push on the side, You could use a stick to touch the hind leg asking the horse to step away. When the horse steps to the side immediately stop the pressure. REMEMBER - the horse learns from the release of the pressure!!! When the horse understands this movement to the side with hind legs, try the turn in the forehead in the saddle. The horse should cross the hind legs over and do small steps with the front legs not crossing them. It is easier to ask for turn on the forehand standing next to the wall. You could ask a flexion to the side of the turn, but do not overbend the neck. You could turn the straight horse, too. Be aware what Your legs are doing during this exercise! You need to ask the turn only with the outside leg, inside leg is still and not doing anything. The outside leg is behind the girth and the inside - on the girth. I call this exercise โ€œLet the horse know where his hind end is and what he could do with it๐Ÿคชโ€
This is so important! Especially when teaching your horse something new! During training sessions, I'll start with a long and low, stretchy warm up. My 'exercise A' would be something the horse is fairly confident at, like some walk-canter-walk transitions. 'Exercise B' would then be something I'm trying to teach or improve - this doesn't need to strictly be drilled into your horse for 5 minutes - especially if he's finding it difficult. Sometimes I'll just ask for a few steps and then go back to something he's confident in, so I keep him engaged and enjoying his learning :) 'Exercise C' would then be another thing that he's quite confident in, like some lateral work. The 'spare time' is what I would call 'break time', and I would slot this in between each 'exercise', in the form of a loose rein walk. The 'cool down' would consist of lots of long and low, stretchy trot and then a loose walk
One of the best exercises you can do, is take time to do work outside the arena and outside the barn. All disciplines can benefit from this, including dressage! Even if just handwalking, taking your horse outside exposes them to new sights, new obstacles, different footings, and new ways to use their muscles. This helps create sure-footedness, confidence, improves hoof health, fine tunes your horses bodily control, and works different muscles than just being in an arena repeating the same exercises over and over. Are you struggling with collection? Try doing groundwork over small hills. Going up hills forces impulsion in the hind end, building muscles needed for collection and building better topline. Going down teaches your horse to better shift their weight for better balance and compensation- especially as you ask them to walk, not race down the hill. Both teach your horse how to better control their body. To take this up a notch, try doing walk/trot/canter transitions- your horse wont get a better workout! Just make sure to not overdo it! This work can be exhausting quick, especially at first. As a bonus, more exposure to new things builds confidence in you and your horse- which leads to better preparedness for away shows. If you're really knocking things out of the park, take your partner out on a trail ride or even a cross country fox hunt! Your riding and unity will be taken to a new level and youll be surprised at the difference it makes! Youre likely to get as much benefit from this style of exercise as your horse does as your seat improves! Happy Trails! โ™ก
Grid work is one of my favourite exercises with my showjumping students. Begin by warming up on the flat, incorporating lots of transitions, first between the gaits then, as he becomes more supple and responsive, within the pace, too. This will get him listening and thinking quickly, and will mean that once he begins jumping, heโ€™ll be able to change his striding more easily to jump cleanly through the grids.Always introduce grid work piece by piece, rather than jumping straight into the line. Start by placing poles where there will be jumps, then raise the initial fence. Once youโ€™ve ridden through, put up the second fence and re-approach. Continue until you can ride through the whole grid. Itโ€™s important Your helpers can recognise when a stride doesnโ€™t suit your horse so they can adjust the fences accordingly to his paces. Approach the grid in trot, then follow with canter after the first jump.For an inexperienced rider, itโ€™s perfect for learning to feel a rhythm and ride positively without interfering.
I reccomend to start both exercises in trot. It is esasier to start with โ€œEgg yolkโ€- ride 20m circle in trot and inside the circle in the same direction ride smaller circle (10m) in trot. When the trot is balanced- do transition to the canter in 20m circle after 10m trot circle. In โ€œSnowmanโ€ - You change the direction from one circle to the other. First ride the โ€œbodyโ€ of the snowman -20m circle, then - change the direction and ride the โ€œheadโ€ -10m circle in trot. Then - after the โ€œheadโ€ in trot, ride the โ€œbodyโ€ in canter. This exercise is helpful for horses at any level. For green horses - a helpful way to get the correct lead in the canter. For the horse who tends to bulge its outside sholder, โ€œsnowmanโ€ is helpful to ride in the direction that the horse bulges its sholder. For example: if your horse tends to bulge the outside (Right) sholder when tracking left, riding โ€œheadโ€ to the right lets Tou bend the horse right and push him out off Your right leg. Then as You come back to the โ€œbodyโ€ riding left, the horse should be more respectful to Your right leg and not bulge out as much. This will help to get a better canter depart, because You can keep him netter balanced โ€œacrossโ€ its shoulders. You could play with the flexions (inside/outside) in these exercise, too. Joyful riding๐Ÿคฉ
Turn on the forehand was such a critical thing for me to learn. Learning to control the shoulders so I didnโ€™t just blow through the movement and actually pivoted the hind end has elevated my riding and I just wanted to share the tricks that helped me! The above graphic shows a exercise of doing them around a square. If you can, place a cone or some sort of marker down as a way to create something to pivot around. This will help guide you so you can see if you lost control of the shoulders and youโ€™re drifting away, visualize where you want to perform the movement, and help guide the geometry. Turn on the forehand was not my favorite thing to learn, but having my trainer on the ground to guide me and encourage me was well worth the struggle! Remember to make sure you use your outside rein ๐Ÿ˜† this will definitely help those who struggle with using that effectively
Found this exercise in a polework training book. Purpose: Increases symmetry, stride awareness, and body control. 1. With the inside edge of the poles raised to a height of 12-16 inches, set up four to six poles in a fan shape as shown. Space the raised inside ends of the poles approximately 1 foot apart; set the wider ends 4ยฝ feet apart. 2. Begin by riding around the narrow end of poles at the walk. Ask your horse to take just a single step between each pole (fig. 1.3 A). 3. Maintain a clear bend to the inside by applying light pressure with your inside leg. 4. Circle around to cross the poles again, but now move over to the wider end of the pole fan (fig. 1.3 B). 5. Ask for two steps between each set of poles while maintaining inside bend. Really ask your horse to extend his strides as you cross this end of the poles. 6. Circle around again, but now go back to the raised, narrow end, and be sure to get just a single step between each pole. 7. Continue circling over the poles, alternating which end you cross over and the number of steps between each pole as described above. This exercise should feel like taking the horse back and forth from a finely controlled collected walk to a big extended walk. It will highlight any instability in his pelvis, though, so do not be surprised if he struggles with the footwork.