Blog — Schooling Sunday

Transitions are a key part of the horse's education - and whether your horse is young or more experienced, they can help you improve many other aspects of your schooling and flatwork. Balance - horses naturally tend to be on the forehand slightly, so riding some positive downwards transitions closes the frame and brings the weight slightly back onto the hindlegs so the horse learns to carry itself in a more uphill balance. Riding direct - Trot > Walk, Canter > Walk transitions with some 'half' transitions within the pace - for example a bigger to a smaller trot will...

From babies to Grand Prix, shoulder in should feature within a horses schooling routine. It's a useful suppling exercise that requires the horse to work on three, or sometimes four tracks.The bend of the horses body around your inside leg helps improve the suppleness laterally, the bend should be equal from nose to tail. The movement is ridden from your inside leg which holds the horse and stops it turning across the school and the inside leg which directs the shoulder in and off the track.When starting, it's much easier to use the wall or fence of the arena to...