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The Disconnected Horse

Connecting for Lightness

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Combining Exercises

Many of the exercises published on this site can be ridden by individually, or once mastered, can be combined. Combining exercises benefits both the rider and the horse in a number of ways.

Once the horse understands certain movements, layering different movements together can be a way of keeping your ring work from becoming boring – this applies to both the horse and rider. Also, by doing a sequence of movements/transitions the rider has to be focused on their position and applying the correct aids in a way that the horse will understand the different requests – to do this, they must have a balanced position and be applying subtle aids. Practicing different combinations of movements will lead to you becoming a better more thoughtful rider and your horse to becoming a more sensitive, engaged and connected horse.

This is where your imagination as a rider and a trainer can come into play – there are endless possible combinations!

A favorite of mine is to combine the turn on the forehand, the leg yield and the canter transition into a sequence of movements. And remember, if you and your horse struggle when combining movements, you can always take a step back and practice the individual movements in walk or trot and then come back later and try to combine them again.

Turn on the Forehand + Leg Yield + Canter Transition

You ride this combination in the trot. When you come out of a turn leading onto the long side of the ring come across the diagonal. Half way across the ring, apply the turn on the forehand aids while remaining in the trot. This will put you parallel to the long side of the ring. Once you are parallel to the side of the ring, apply the leg yield aids and continue along the diagonal in leg yield.

When you reach the far side of the ring, apply the canter aids.

In this combination of exercises, you have used the turn on the forehand to put the horse in the correct position to leg yield over to side of the ring. The leg yield will encourage the horse’s inside hind leg to engage further under his body which will then encourage him to give you both the correct lead when you do ask for canter, but also a better canter transition.

If you struggle with the change from a turn on the forehand to a leg yield, slow the exercise down and practice at the walk without a canter transition at the end. Like wise, you can simplify the exercise turning down the long side of the ring and doing a stride or two of leg yield and then asking for the canter, omitting the turn on the forehand all together. As you become more proficient in all the individual exercises, combining them should come more easily for both you and the horse.