Q. I have sponsored before, and I am about to start with a new horse. She is a twelve-year-old Appaloosa/Thoroughbred. She has no problems except for tying and picking up her right lead. I was just wondering if you have any good and fun exercises to do in the arena. Usually, when I ride alone, I don’t seem to find anything new to do except do circles, walk, trot, canter, and leg yields (lesson stuff). I don’t want to ruin any of her training, but I also want to explore new exercises (ones that will benefit her, too). I was also wondering if there are any important “DO NOTS” while trying new stuff.
A. First, I’ll give you a link to another response (with a link to another response) I’ve written about canter lead problems. You might find some of the suggestions helpful with your mare:
It can be difficult to keep rides fresh, but here are a few of my favorite techniques for adding diversity to my rides. I use a lot of props. Even walking and trotting can become quite challenging when you are doing them over, around, and through various obstacles. Have you ever watched a Western Trail class? They’re great fun and really wonderful for challenging a horse to accept a variety of circumstances while performing a number of different movements, including leg yields. It’s easy to adapt the “trail” concept to your daily riding by utilizing props available at your barn. If you have access to traffic cones (pylons), jump poles, cavalletti, firewood, or hay bales, you can set up obstacles around your arena to play with. Cones, firewood, or bales can be used to set up in an endless variety of courses through which to weave at walk, trot, and canter. You can use any of these props to help you define perfect circles as you ride. Try riding circles with the prop in the center, staying the exact same distance away from the prop at all points on the circle. It’s not easy! Set poles or cavalletti in parallel patterns on the ground. Ride over them, then come from the perpendicular direction and ride between them. Practice trotting between (not over) two poles and ask for a halt when you hit the exact middle. Leg yields the length of one pole in each direction so the horse keeps the pole between her front and hind legs without stepping on or over the pole. Set four poles in an open-L shape, and try backing your horse through the L … again without stepping on or over any of the poles (you should keep the poles spaced fairly far apart the first few times you try this one). In short, the number of ways you can use props to keep your rides interesting is endless. Just use your imagination!
Another technique you can use that will greatly benefit both you and your mare is to create short routines for yourself as you ride, similar to dressage tests. Make your routines very specific, and change them often. This is a tremendous way to check your own riding accuracy as well as to sharpen your riding skills. I’ll give you an example of a riding routine:
Walk down the centerline to a halt in the exact center of the ring. Pick up a trot for 8 strides, tracking left at the wall, and halt again. Back 4 steps. Walk 5 strides. Canter left lead 8 strides. Walk 3 strides. Halt.
While you’re doing these stride-counting transitions, you can also incorporate serpentines, reverses, figure eights, changes of rein across the diagonal, circles, half-circles, etc. Don’t make your routines so long or complicated that you can’t remember what you’re supposed to do next. Memorize your routine before you start, and evaluate your routine as soon as you’ve completed it. You might be surprised to find just how difficult it is to get a halt after exactly 3 strides of walk!
And of course, there’s no reason why you can’t use props with your routines. The possibilities are endless.
If you are like many riders, you probably spend far too much time riding the rail. GET OFF THE RAIL! Do lots of transitions down the centerline, through the middle, and across the diagonals. Keeping your mare straight and balanced without the rail may put your seat and legs to work in ways you don’t expect. 😉
The “DO NOTS” are a matter of common sense. If you try something new that is causing you or your horse to get upset or misunderstand what is necessary, just discard that exercise and try something a bit more familiar or at a slower pace. It’s always wise to try new things at walk, progressing to trot if things go well, and only moving to canter when you and your horse both feel very secure with the new activity. If you try something that is not going well, ask your instructor to help you with it at your next lesson so you’ll be better prepared next time you try it on your own.