© Roger Fitzhardinge

By Isobel Wessels

Exercise 88

Turns on a Serpentine

Everybody hates the walk pirouette, but I think it is one of the best exercises of all time because it has wonderful effect on closing the horses hind legs.

The exercise

• This exercise can be as simple or as complicated as required, according to the level of the horse.

• In an active medium walk (not too collected), ride a serpentine to the long sides of the arena. As you come to the track to make the serpentine loop, ride – according to the level of the horse – either a half circle , thinking like a walk pirouette, a very large half pirouette, or a proper half pirouette.

• As you go across the width of the school, allow the horse to stretch forwards and then collect again, and repeat the turn at the next loop.

• Your horse will start to get the feeling as he naturally improves and collects a little bit more, you can ask a little bit more.

What’s being achieved

The horse shouldn’t be crossing and stepping sideways, he should be actively stepping forwards under his body, his hind feet in the direction of his ears. If he does this and stays through over the back and into the reins, quite often if you wish him to stretch, you will find that the walk becomes really round and more supple through the body, and the horse really swings. And because he is in a good way through the back, you can collect him and ask him again, and in this way you can keep on making him stretch and collect.

What should you be looking for

• As you make the turns, be sure the quarters don’t fall out. Don’t push them in too much, but don’t let them fall out, either.

• If you are near a mirror and you watch the horse as he turns you will see how ‘closed’ he is. You can imagine him just sitting down and piaffing out if this.

What can go wrong?

The most common mistake is losing the quarters too much to the inside or the outside. Alternatively, the horse loses the correct rhythm, or stops walking altogether and backs off. In this case, you can turn the pirouette into a normal turn, ride the horse more forwards into the hands, correct the basic fault and then ask again. This time, however, make the turn a little bit bigger so the hind legs of the horse are continually motivated and stepping through. And when he does that and gives, you can ‘allow’ the horse through and let him stretch, and then he finds it easier and easier.

Moving on

Begin with a simple half circle and progress to the proper half pirouette, increasing the number of turns as you do so. This is a great exercise to set you up for the piaffe. (See Exercise 92)

EXPERT TIP You can make this exercise extremely complicated and do many pirouettes, as small as possible, or you can make it dead simple for a very young horse and just think of a turn.

If riders were to ride more pirouettes in walk, they wouldn’t hate them so much!

Exercise 92

Getting the Piaffe Reaction

The piaffe is all about reaction, and if your horse really does react as easily as this from standing still, it will be even easier out of walk or when there is some motivation. After a while they just love it because they’re always being patted.

The exercise

• This might sound easy, but it is actually quite difficult. Your horse has to be a horse that really stays ‘through’ to do this exercise.

• With your horse on the long side of the school in a proper collected walk, bending in the joints and through to the bit, ride into a halt. The horse remains though straight and soft.

• Remain still for a moment or two, and the take both legs a tiny bit back and ask the horse to react in the hind leg, bearing in mind what he has learnt from all the other transitions. As soon as he moves his hind legs, immediately give the reins and pat him.

• Now let him walk again, and then stand still and give the leg aid again, and as soon as he reacts, lighten your aids. He may stay reacting for a little bit longer, but pat him again and as soon as he reacts, take the pressure away.

• He will learn to spring from the lightest leg aid himself.

What’s being achieved

The horse is learning to close behind and wait in front. His hind legs need to be quick and very reactive to get a good piaffe, and because you are not restricting the horse in any way, he feels he can go a little forward, so he keeps the regularity and the suppleness. However, some just don’t learn this way, and others learn it really easily.

What you should be looking for

You want the feeling that when you give him the aids, whatever your aid is, he moves the hind legs (and obviously the front legs move as well), and he stays through and on the bit and straight, but he just reacts in the hind legs and gives you the beginning of that quicker feeling that piaffe needs.

‘I have had two horses where I could literally stand still and ask and they would piaffe on the spot, and then I just pat them.’

What can go wrong?

This exercise isn’t easy, and you may need help from the ground a little bit – perhaps somebody there could occasionally just touch the hind leg will help, so that the horse gets the feeling of the rhythm as well as the reaction after a while. It is difficult for the horse. If your horse backs off and goes backward or is crooked or becomes above the bit, all these reactions are because he feels trapped or is unsure. You will probably find that you have to go a little bit more forward and do it again. Remember, he may react incorrectly, but better that than no reaction at all.

Moving on

If you can get this reaction, your horse is really in front of you and it is possible to learn to do the piaffe with very small aids. I think piaffe is no big deal, it is a very natural thing for the horse to do, so you have to play with the horse’s tendencies. Try to come back to the basis of the smallest aid possible with the horse reacting quickly. Because I always do transition work a lot from the very beginning, when it comes to this stage, I think I have already got this understanding with the horse and it is not so complicated.

About Isobel Wessels:

In the course of her career she spent time training with the best around the world – in England at Porlock Vale, in Vienna with the Spanish Riding School, and in South Africa where she became South African Champion and an Alternative Olympics Gold Medal winner (when SA was not allowed to compete internationally) – and then judging the best: she is a British List 1 and international judge. One of her rides was Leopardo who she trained to Grand Prix level and was a member of the British Olympic Potential Squad with him.

READ THE LATEST NEWS ARTICLES HERE