We all have trouble riding straight lines, no matter what discipline or level you ride, straightness is an ongoing challenge. This is just one of many exercises that have helped me. While I can’t take credit for inventing this exercise, I have practiced it in many lessons with my trainers over the years. Don’t forget, one exercise alone is not enough to change your riding or your horse but it is a tool which if executed correctly can help you build a better foundation. You’ll still have to concentrate on things like sitting straight, equal leg pressure and feeling small changes.
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Meet Rayven
Check out the Horse Spotlights for more info on our other horses. Rayven’s spotlight is coming soon!
Rayven is a 2008 AQHA Red Roan gelding and a grandson of Zippos Mr Goodbar. He is a lot of fun to ride, but like many horses, he’s a little quirky. Rayven had somewhat of a late start to his training and just recently came home from Torey Roderick Performance Horses where he spent the last year. Torey did an excellent job getting Rayven broke and put some show miles on him too!
Unfortunately, with life getting in the way, I haven’t had as much time to ride over the last year as I would like. And so, Rayven and I are getting to know each other again and I’m trying my best to keep practicing and re-enforcing what he has learned. At some point, Rayven will go back to training to learn other all-around events and for some fine tuning. In the mean time, we’ll keep practicing at home.
DIY Amateurs
On that note, let me also emphasize, even the best Do-It-Yourself amateurs need help from professional trainers. Trainers need help from other professional trainers too! Reading articles and watching videos on training and schooling exercises to help you ride straighter can be very helpful! But, many times trainers can help with the actual execution.
The Excercise
- Set up two cones on the centerline or somewhere in the middle of your arena
- Trot from A to B
- Halt
- Pivot 180 degrees away from the direction in which your horse leaned during the trot
- Trot from B to A
- Halt
- Repeat as needed
Analyzing Rayven’s Performance
Overall, this exercise went okay. It certainly wasn’t perfect and we need more practice. Rayven has been focusing on showing in trail for the last year and it’s evident that he and I haven’t done much horsemanship work. I’m hoping to get him more refined so we can compete in the Western Horsemanship and Huntseat Equitation next season.
Our first halt and pivot were fairly good, the halt could have been sharper. The second jog from B to A at 0:00:19 was a bit slow to get going but the halt at A 0:00:16 was much better. I turned left this time because he felt like he was anticipating turning right just a little. As you can see, the pivot to the left was a bit sloppy, I blame this on pilot error. The jog back from A to B at 0:00:35 felt straighter but we walked a step into the halt. The right hand pivot at B 0:00:46 was good and the trot off was much better. The halt at the end is also much sharper.
Lessons Learned
So, what can we learn from this? Well, without a lot of fancy video editing, there are going to be mistakes and opportunities for improvement in every ride. It takes a lot of practice, and sometimes we improve and regress in one training session.
In order to ride straighter you have to keep trying and, reward the horse for improvements. It’s also important to move on to something else when we’ve made progress. Drilling the same thing over and over can have a negative impact. Set reasonable and tangible goals for each ride. Horses don’t get broke in one ride, they take time and consistency. Same with riders. So, keep practicing and I wish you the best of luck! I hope this exercise helps you ride straighter!
Comment down below with your favorite schooling exercise for straightness!
