“The application of one aid alone will never produce an accurate and correct movement. Only the correct application and co-ordination of all the aids can bring about perfection” Charles Harris – Workbooks from the Spanish Riding School.
An aid can only be effective if it is timed correctly so that the horse can comply to the request. Equally an aid can only be applied effectively if we have an independent seat and can isolate our hands and legs, otherwise the aid gets muffled by a whole lot of “white noise” caused by us inadvertently kicking our horse continuously or using our reins subconsciously. Looked at like that, applying our aids correctly and effectively is not such an easy task. All too many riders just muddle a long – and put bluntly follow the old adage “kick ‘em to go and pull on the reins to stop”. Just how many of us really spend time on getting our aids just right or finding out which combination of our aids our horse prefers? So this month I thought I would write about some fun exercises that not only improve your coordination and timing but can help your horse respond to your leg and rein aids in an increasingly sophisticated manner.
I originally learnt some of these exercises through an article written by George Williams, whilst some of the others are from the Ritters’ Exercise of the Month Club. All of the exercises are supposed to have originated from the Spanish Riding School.
The exercises can help the rider to learn the footfall of the horse and improve the independent use of their hands and legs. The horse benefits gymnastically from the use of circles and learns to relax from the rhythmic application of the aids. The exercises can also reveal what works best for your horse, some of the aids may make him rounder and softer, others may cause a brace. You can use these exercises to help diagnose which combination your horse prefers and how they affect his gait and posture.
To get the maximum benefit from the exercise you really to spend some time setting out a perfect 20m circle in your school by using 4 gateways to form the quarters. This way you will know whether you are riding a perfect circle, or falling in or out.
The exercises work best for the horse at a trot, which is how they were done at the Spanish Riding School, but they can be modified and done at a walk, if you want to use them to concentrate on your actual timing of the application of the aids.
Exercises One to Six
Ride a 20m circle at a rising trot, rising on the correct diagonal – that is you sit when the horse’s outside front shoulder and inside hind leg are on the ground (if you do this exercise at a walk you need to apply the aid when the inside hind leg is on the ground).
One – Apply the inside rein, by gently and rhythmically closing the fingers of your inside hand, every other sitting moment of the rising trot. You do this over 12 strides so that you will gently close your fingers of your inside hand 6 times. You are looking to see if your horse acknowledges your rein aid by softening his jaw and beginning to flex slightly to the inside.
Wait a few strides before starting the next exercise.
Two – Gently squeeze the fingers of your outside hand every other sitting moment. You do this over 12 strides so that you will gently close your fingers of your outside hand 6 times. See if your horse responds to this aid by relaxing at the poll. He should not bend or flex outwards. If he does, check that your aid is not too hard.
Wait a few strides before starting the next exercise.
Three – Close your inside calf inwards (the aids should be applied inwards and not backwards, and only the calf should be used) as you sit. Ensure that you keep your leg long as you use it and do not grip upwards at the knee. Do this over 12 strides so that you will close your calf 6 times. Check if your horse feels more relaxed. Has he softened through the rib cage?
Wait a few strides before starting the next exercise.
Four – Close your outside calf inwards (the aids should be applied inwards and not backwards, and only the calf should be used) as you sit. Do this over 12 strides so that you will close your calf 6 times.
Wait a few strides before starting the next exercise.
Five – Close the fingers of your inside hand and close your inside knee against the saddle as you sit on every other stride. Do this over 12 strides. See if the horse relaxes his shoulder or moves his shoulder away from the nudge.
Wait a few strides before starting the next exercise.
Six – Close the fingers of your outside hand and close your outside knee against the saddle as you sit on every other stride. Do this over 12 strides.
Before continuing with any further exercises you can check if your horse is better able to stretch his topline by giving with the inside hand on every other sit.
Change the rein and repeat on the other rein.
Notice how the exercises have affected you and your horse. You should feel better able to coordinate the aids and your horse should feel softer and more relaxed. By alternated your inside and outside aids you will have created a network of aids around your horse, so he should feel better balanced and not fall in or out as much on the circle.
Exercises 7 to 10
The next 2 exercises are best done at a sitting trot, although if you struggle with feeling the feet at a sitting trot they can also be done at a walk. The final exercise works best at a sitting trot but can also be done at the sit stage of a rising trot.
Seven – Close the fingers of your inside hand and your inside calf when the inside hind leg is in the air. Do this every other stride, so you repeat 6 times over 12 strides. Does your horse start to step further under with his inside hind leg and soften even more?
Eight – Close the fingers of your outside hand and your inside calf when the inside hind leg is in the air. Do this every other stride, so you repeat 6 times over 12 strides. Do the diagonal aids work better than the lateral aids used in the previous exercise or not as well?
Nine – this exercise is a stirrup stepping exercise and is intended to help transfer the weight from the outside front leg of the horse to the inside hind leg. The stirrup step should be applied as the leg mentioned touches down, between the moment of touch down and the vertical phase. The sequence is ridden in 6 consecutive strides. Although the aid is referred to as stirrup stepping it is probably closer to stirrup whispering. Imagine gently lowering your toes as though pushing them through soft mud, or feathering a brake pedal. Apply the step with the outside foot when the outside front touches down (shoulder starts to move back) and then again on the outside front. Then apply the step with both your inside and outside stirrups for 2 strides as the outside front and inside hind touch down. Finally apply the step to the inside stirrup for 2 strides as the inside hind leg touches down. This final exercise should improve the diagonal coordination of the horse’s legs and support the swinging of the back.