Useful Schooling Exercises

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I thought I might as well go ahead and share some simple exercises which I have picked up and which have been useful to me and I hope can be useful to others. Hopefully this will become a sticky.

Feel free to add your own.

Also feel free to comment on the exercises if you feel something is not quite right etc.

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TRANSITIONS EXERCISE

Level of difficulty - as easy or as difficult as you want.

1)Establish a good forward thinking (but not rushing) working trot round the edge of the school. Make sure you are on the correct diagonal to help your horse to balance.

2)You will be making a turn straight across the school somewhere along the long side, so plan where you want to turn, maybe use a fence post or a letter marker and have a point on the far side of the school for you to ride to. You could even put out poles or an object or something to give you some extra help in making a good turn. You can vary which point along the long side at which you turn or alternatively you could put out two poles or two objects on X and use them as markers.

3)Aim to make a downwards transition on the centre line - this can be either walk or halt. Halt may be more beneficial in this exercise but if you feel you need to, you could start off with trot, walk, trot. If deciding to do it in walk, decide beforehand the exact number of steps you want. What type of transition you want to do must be decided whilst you are trotting around the school.

4)Concentrate on trying to get a straight, square halt or walk.

5) If you are in halt, aim to be trotting by the time you reach the opposite track. Or try to make a direct transition from halt to trot.

6) You can either turn left or right when you reach the track, its up to you whether you want to vary it or do one rein at a time.

Variations:
Trot - halt - aim to canter by the time you reach the track
Trot - walk - canter
Canter - trot for a few strides - canter
canter - walk - canter

Im sure there are plenty of other variations which you could do, and range from easy to difficult

I found this exercise was really good for sharpening them up.

Tips: Try not to use your hand a lot in this exercise; practice half halting and use your back and seat to slow down.
Try not to give pony club kicks if horsey doesnt want to move; use your whip behind your leg/on the bum to back up your leg aid.
Also being enthusiastic sometimes works too - imagine you are playing mounted games! ;D
Remember to look up and around at where you want to ride and keep your chin up - try not to look down when making downwards transitions (bad habit of mine!).
Remember to use your correct aids for turning.

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FIGURE OF EIGHT EXERCISE

Level of difficulty - easy (can be made hard)

* Set out 2 poles parallel to each other on X with the ends facing E and B.

1) Pick up canter round the edge of the school. Try to get a steady rhythm if you can.

2) At A or C begin to ride a 20m sized circle.

3) At the start of the poles, make a transition to trot - ride straight through the poles and by the end of the poles you should be back in canter on the opposite leg. *To make sure you get the correct leg etc. it is vital that you ride a straight line across X - if necessary, start your straight line earlier.*

4) Once you have gotten your canter on the correct leg, continue around a 20m circle at the opposite end of the school on the opposite rein.

5) Keep repeating!

Variations:
Instead of coming back to trot to change legs, you could do a flying change.

Again, good for sharpening up and practicing bending in canter, steering, straightness. It really sharpens the rider up too!

Tips:
Try not to use your hand too hard in this exercise; practice half halting and use your back and seat to slow down.
Try not to give pony club kicks if horsey doesnt want to move; use your whip behind your leg/on the bum to back up your leg aid.
Dont kick and flap - get straight in there with a clear leg aid and be prepared to use your stick if necessary. As the horse and rider sharpen up, lighter and lighter aids can be used.

If necessary, you can start off with aiming to trot by the start of the poles - starting to ask to slow down around the E marker. And aiming to be cantering by the time you reach the track on the other side, starting to ask at the end of the poles. This may be good to start off with if your horse is a bit slow off the leg so you are not going in and getting cross when the horse doesnt respond immediately.

If your horse starts to rush and get excited, use plenty of half halts going round the circle and only do the exercise if they are settled - continue to circle until they are settled.

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CANTERING EXERCISE

Level of difficulty: easy

1) Trot round edge of arena

2) Pick a spot to make a half circle across the school

3) Make a canter transition as you are coming off the track.

4) Canter a half circle across the school

5) Trot when you reach the far track

Really simple exercise but good for accuracy.

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CANTER TROT CIRCLE EXERCISE

Level of difficulty: easy

1)Begin to trot a 20m circle at A or C, or E or B.

2)Trot half the circle

3) Canter the other half

Concentrate on bend and rhythm and accuracy of transitions.