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Since one of the secrets to a great canter is through “balance” it should come as no surprise that the best way to improve your canter is through the counter canter. One can’t just start riding 20m counter canter circles though, and expect their horse to stay balanced, rhythmic etc. The counter canter needs to be systematically developed through a series of gymnastic exercises.

There are many counter canter exercises out there and every trainer will have a preference as to which ones they use, and which horses to use each one on.

I prefer to use counter pattern exercises whenever possible. I find that riding school patterns in a counter fashion allows me to utilize the natural barrier boundaries of the school better thereby enabling the rider to use less hand and more seat and leg for steering.

So how do you ride a counter counter canter pattern? That is a mouthful on its own! And isn’t counter counter redundant? Semantics aside, here is a great exercise that you can use in a counter fashion that systematically develops counter canter from a simple loop to a 20m circle. (more…)

One of my pet peeves at shows is to see otherwise splendid riders and horses spoil an otherwise excellent test by riding terrible geometry! Circles need to be circles! This simple exercise will teach you how to consistently ride a perfect circle of any size, anywhere, even out in a field without dressage letters and a little white fence!Why is a perfect circle so important? Well for starters an inaccurate circle is one which is not forward and on the aids, it is one where every stride is different, perhaps a different tempo, a different bend - regardless the regularity of the gait suffers! Why? I have an opinion, of course! Because the rider is so busy trying to make corrections to the bend of the horse that they generally make it worse and then they overcompensate resulting on further loss of accuracy so they overcompensate yet again! The spiral continues and some rather interesting shapes evolve. << read more here >>

Counter Patterns are exercises ridden in a fashion that is counter (or opposite) to the norm. Examples include “counter” bending, “counter” canter, “counter” change of hand and the focus of this article, “counter” change of rein into the corner. This is a rather simple exercise and a rather short article, however, the athletic developmental value of this movement is very high!

By riding your change of rein into the corner you accomplish several things. First, the benefit of riding a 10m demi-circle, increased engagement of the quarters, secondly the benefit of riding a change of rein, suppleness, thirdly by riding it as a counter pattern, that is from the center line back to the track, your 10m demi-circle will be much more accurate utilizing the walls to aid in developing inside leg to outside rein. Why will it be more accurate? Well for starters if you ride the 10m demi-circle from the track out to the center line, your probability of missing the centerline is much higher. Most will miss the centerline large, falling out the shoulder or worst yet the horse will lean in on the inside aids cutting the turn short and disengaging the inside hind. By riding it as a counter pattern, from the center line back to the track, you can develop more engagement of the inside hind without fear of overshooting the pattern as the wall will guide you with your outside aids. << read more here >>

Now that you have stretched your horse laterally, from side to side, it is time to ask for some stretch longitudinally. This exercise over trotting poles is wonderful for teaching your horse to reach over his back and stretch into your hand. The transition between canter and trot and back to canter is developed using the trotting poles as aids thereby reducing the instinctive over use of our hands. << read more here >>

The last post I made on this subject we had completed the walk warm up, stretching our horse from side to side and initiating some lateral stretching of the abductors and adductors. Now we will use the same series of patterns for the trot. It is important to confirm these exercises at the walk before we try them at the trot.There are several notes that I would like to add that deal with this pattern at the trot. For the most part, the working trot during the warm up should be executed rising. The diagonal that you rise on will have an effect on how well your horse is able to balance through this pattern, plus some parts of the pattern are quite useful for developing outside rein therefore the correct diagonal will be of benefit in helping that outside rein connection. << read more here >>

This exercise plan is primarily for horses that are showing Training Level and above. For young horses just starting one must be careful not to use much rein contact at the walk for this can ruin the walk quickly. Since the walk has no natural impulsion, too much work with contact at the walk can damage the quality of walk. The walk, once spoiled is nearly impossible to correct. One of the most important exercises that you can do with your horse is a thorough warm up. I believe that the warm up should be around 15 minutes. So many times I have seen riders warm up without a “plan” - rushing through the process in some hurry to get to the “good stuff”. Warm up can be boring I suppose, but if you have a thorough plan for your warm up, it is amazing how much better the “good stuff” is! My warm up starts at the walk and continues through the trot and canter, stretching both sides of the horse through gentle bends, initializing engagement of the quarters, and connecting the horse through longitudinal stretching. This warm up pattern is just one roadmap, I use several different methods just to keep things fresh but they are all based on the same ingredients, be creative! << read more here >>

I have been asked to share some of the training techniques that I use, so I have created this area for that very purpose. I will try to post a new exercise here, with graphics, as often as the mood strikes me. If you have a favorite exercise that you would like to share, please do! The more the better!

Some of you may have figured this out already, but I will let you in on a little secret, I am a stickler for accuracy! Yes, I admit it, I am an accuracy-a-holic. Why? Simple, if you ride your exercises accurately then your horse will athletically develop, on the other hand if you ride pear, diamond, oval, or square shaped circles then your horse will struggle to maintain balance, rhythm and tempo. BR and T are paramount to training success, hence accurate circles are paramount to athletic development. Some coaches who are even more anal than I will even claim that every step you take on a horse you are either athletically developing the horse or breaking it down. Lesson 1! Ride accurately! << read more here >>