Arcing the Canter

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.

Recently I have realised why this exercise is so important. If you think of canter strides in terms of wave crests you can understand the perfect canter stride to a fence. If you think of the concept in terms of the exercise, your ideal goal is to have the highest point of the wave in middle of the fence or pole. If you can train your horse to jump the fence with the wave crest over the middle of the fence your horse will hit the perfectly stride each time. Equally this exercise is ideal for training the rider to feel a stride setting the horse up to get it each time!

I have been using this exercise and variations of it to improve both myself and others. Give it a try but bear in mind you will have to adjust the distance according to the horse or pony you have. The distance I have given are approximate!