Have you ever wanted a step-by-step guide to reach your riding goals while still on the ground? Are you wanting a new way to train from home? A different solution?

Well, I hope by sharing generally my personal steps to set your riding up for success will help you feel confident in training at home.

Groundwork

Why is it needed?

Groundwork is the foundation of communication between horse and rider to help ridden work. This is introduced at any stage of a horse’s career. These simple steps can solve many of your riding issues!

Areas you will help your horse understand are:

Moving away from your leg.

Moving forward off your leg (transitions).

Riding a course of fences correctly.

Leg yield.

All from training the correct response and natural way of going of your horse through basic lunging and groundwork.

1. Check does your horse respond

If you simply go from walk to stop when leading around the yard, does your horse stop in unison to you?

To achieve this we start by using pressure from the lead rope to the headcollar. When your horse walks forward after halting simply ask your horse to move backward by using pressure!

We lessen the pressure each time when doing this exercise until you no longer need pressure to make your horse halt or reverse! Less is more!

This specific exercise can help your horse become light off your aids when riding.

2. Can your horse move away from pressure while staying relaxed?

Check by putting pressure where your legs normally are placed and bending your horses head around you, does the horse’s hind end move away from you, and does your horse maintain a positive posture?

We achieve this by the pressure release method!

Apply pressure in that area using hand /schooling whip, gradually increasing pressure until we get the reaction we want. That reaction is moving away and encouraging bend through the body by bending their head around you until your horse offers low round posture through their back. Then we release pressure as the reward! Repeat until your equine can move away from you in each direction in a relaxed posture.

This makes for a more reactive, supple, and aware horse.

Your equine now can move in different ways rather than just the simple forwards and halt!

This exercise can help with introducing leg yield which contributes to being able to ride accurate lines from hacking to dressage to showjumping etc.

Lunging

Why do we need lunging?

Lunging creates awareness of rider’s actions to the horse to help your equine understand what is asked of them and to use their body in the best possible way!

If your horse is unable to maintain rhythm, balance, and correct bend on the lunge then how do you expect the same when you introduce a rider?

1. Using a headcollar and lunge rope when lunging we are introducing the groundwork your horse already knows into the lunging. From the groundwork your horse now knows how to move away from pressure by using the same hand signals or pressure on the side of the horse with your lunging whip. Your horse also knows to move away onto the circle!
2. Now we ask your horse to move from walk to trot by raising the lunge whip signaling to move forward from the pressure. Then by voice command to return to walk. The more walk->trot->walk transitions the more your horse will offer relaxation through the top line. All through simple easy methods
3. With repetition this exercise of transitions to walk, trot and canter will naturally create suppleness and correct bend through your horse’s body! Every horse takes different lengths of time to understand! Be patient.

People can get so caught up in training aids and force to get the results but why not take a new approach and really get to the bottom of things rather than cover things up?

Riding

Once we have achieved the key elements of relaxation, awareness, suppleness, and correct bend within our horse through simple easy groundwork /lunging we have set ourselves up for success before even mounting your equines!

You now have a positive reaction and better understanding from your horse!

These are just the beginning stages of my knowledge before we start our horse’s ridden work!

Anyone can do this at home or at the yard and it has so many positive impacts on how your horse is ridden!

Small things done correctly make a huge impact!

Step by step, understanding, and patience…