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Getting the horse between the aids is as important for practically any equestrian dicipline. Riding a perfect corner requires the rider to have the horse between inside and outside leg and between inside and outside rein. This exercise requires the rider to accurately channel the horse. Oftentimes the horse is able to evade the rider by swinging haunches out after each corner. These combination of exercises train rider to ride the horse better through each corner.

Exercise one

When I was lucky enough to be invited to coach at the BHS summer camps I did not think that it would have a profound effect on my training of horses. However one main concept has been developing from an exercise I learned from Donald Kear BHSI. The exercise was for me a new take on grid-work. The importance has only just become apparen to me recently. The space between the first three trot poles is dependant on the horse but I usually set the distance as indicated in the diagram below.

I was riding a horse for a client of mine and happened to be riding in the school with a girl (Marion) who I knew who had just bought a new horse. Anyway I am riding away and she starts chatting to me and asking what I think of his paces and whatnot. After watching her for a few minutes it became apparent to me why her horse was not stretching forwards and swinging over his back. This lack of stretch was resulting in a shorter stride length than he should have.

Yesterday I was coaching a client who was just trying far too hard. I always find trying to hard is one of the biggest problems and is often caused by having a fixed goal in mind. Anyway this horse is erratic and very inconsistent in the contact. The problem with horses that are erratic is that the invariably need to relax. When the horse is being erratic the rider nearly always clamps up so you have got two tense people and there is a simple equation for tension:

I always find it funny; if you stay in your comfort zone too long you become too comfortable and lazy. When this happens and I am too comfortable I have realised I am not learning enough! If one is not learning with horses there is something seriously wrong going on! Horses are a constant learning process which should never end.

The real difficulty with lunging is being truly effective and getting the movement we require to improve the horse. I have a number of different exercises I use depending on what the horse requires. Unfortunately its all about what you feel on that specific day. I could come out to a horse I know is weak with his inside hind leg and start work improving that and find I need to start rectifying another problem first. The whole point is that you have to look at the horse as a whole and that the most important problems should be worked on first to make the biggest difference to the whole horse.

Lunging has the potential to be very boring for both the horse and lunger. I get really bored lunging the horse on the same circle the whole time. For me lunging should be a dynamic process which starts at the very beginning of the session. I start with a lot of walking. If you think of the first two pre-requisites to training the horse must be relaxed and rhythmical. Both go hand in hand and you can't have one without the other.

Lunging is a controversial issue like all training. Personally I lunge horses without side reins and I find it suits the purposes I intend for lunging. I use lunging to improve the quality of the paces and to get the horse moving the way he needs to move providing a foundation for the ridden training. As I lunge my eyes are first drawn to the stifle area - making sure the stifle joint steps well up into the belly; from here the horse starts tracking up.

It always amazes me the way I move through life in phases. When I feel too comfortable about what I am doing my levels humility and self evaluation are sorely lacking. And it is so good for my development to work with coaches who can really help me up skill, learn and self evaluate. The process of increasing skill and knowledge involves trying new things and being out of your comfort zone.

I was recently giving an interview for CourtingtheHorse.com. It was a real focusing journey putting what I stand for back into words again and realising why I have taken this particular course to horse and rider coaching.