It’s really important whenever you are riding that you have a plan and that you are giving your horse clear direction. You are the leader and getting control of where your horse is going and the speed your horse is going is extremely important.
In this week’s video, my husband Germán is teaching my assistant Caine. He is working with Caine on one of his favorite topics – geometry!!! I know that many of you ride without a Dressage court – so Germán is going to show you how to set out cones so that you can practice riding a perfect circle!
When you can ride a prefect circle, your horse is on the aids and focusing on YOU!
Riding a perfect circle is harder than it sounds – your horse must be supple, forward, and focused to do it well. Once you can ride your circle, then start working on spiraling your circle in and out! This will add in another challenge to get your horse engaged on the inside hind leg.
In the video, you will notice that when Caine starts to work on the spiral in and out, Jacques tries to duck behind the contact and slow down. The Spiral in and out forces him to engage his inside hind leg and its HARD for him to do!
Setting out cones in your arena is a really great exercise to improve your Geometry and to give your ride a plan and a focus. You can order a set of soccer cones on Amazon or get creative and set out some buckets or tree stumps!
I hope you enjoy this video! Post a photo in Amelia’s Dressage Club and show us your cone set up!
