Welcome to Trainer Tuesday! Each week we ask trainers a question and gather their answers for you. These trainers have a range of experience, backgrounds, and focus points of their programs, so the answers have as much variation as you would expect and also probably much more similarity.
This week’s question posed is: How can riders improve their spatial recognition on the horse?
Here are their answers:
“When the question of finding helpful ways to improve your eye and in relation to finding good distances, I always recommend not over complicating the search for the perfect distance. It can be a can of worms best left unopened as riders tend to become obsessed with it, which oftentimes has a negative outcome. That being said, there are ways to help develop one’s eye. For starters there are a few must haves when it comes to finding distances, long, short and medium. A straight and balanced horse on a correct track on a medium stride, in front of the rider’s leg, with the rider in a proper jumping position.
One exercise I use that is always helpful to riders who struggle with distances is to place a glove on various jumps in the ring. Place the glove right in the middle of a 10′ or 12′ top rail and have your rider focus on jumping the glove, not somewhere between the two standards, but the glove. I have found this exercise is extremely helpful for riders who become anxious about distance as it really helps riders focus, steer accurately, and learn the use of a track. It also encourages riders to be patient and sit still. Some riders naturally sit quietly in the saddle, while it is more difficult for others. As I like to say… “Sitting still is the easiest concept to comprehend, but often can be the most challenging thing to do.” You can do this exercise over low jumps or cavalettis so it has a low impact on your horse’s legs and joints.” -Lyman T. Whitehead
Read more about Lyman here.
“Improving your spatial awareness while in the tack can seem like a daunting task. How do you train your eye to see the distance and track while you are on course? How do you learn to modify your course walk based on the strengths and weaknesses of your horse? The simple answer is practice makes perfect. This is a skill that anyone can learn with a little bit of guidance and a lot of repetition. I have two exercises that I like to use to help riders increase their skills and confidence in navigating long tracks and technical courses. Always start with groundlines first as this will allow forgiveness for you and your horse while you are developing your abilities. Once you are riding these exercises successfully, move up to jumps.
The first exercise is to set a measured line, knowing the correct striding between the two poles. Each time through the line, add an additional stride as you work on collecting your horse underneath you. Do this through the one add, double, and triple add step. Then decrease from the triple add, to the double, one add, and back to the step. Memorize the feel and organization of the canter underneath you. This exercise is not designed for you to simply adjust for a particular distance, but rather learn to feel the difference in the canter needed for each stride length. Once you can correctly identify your pace and stride length, move on to the next exercise.
The second exercise allows you to make adjustments depending on the strengths and weaknesses of your mount. Have your trainer set a bending line, again always start with ground rails, without giving you the striding it is set for. Before starting the exercise, walk out the bending line based on what you think is best suited for you and your partner. Is your horse short strided or nervous and tight around new courses? Walk a shorter, slightly inside, track to allow your horse to move down to the second pole without having to change stride length in the line. Have a horse that jumps deep into the lines or tends to ride with a longer stride? Walk a wider track that will allow for a bit more space to compensate for these factors. Use the knowledge you have gained from the first exercise to guide you in walking the track best suited for your horse. Once you feel you have the best line and striding walked out, time to ride your plan. Were you able to ride the track you walked, in the correct striding, without having to make any major adjustments in between the two rails? If so, continue to practice until it becomes second nature to choose the correct ride for the questions being asked of you on course. If not, do not get frustrated. You should not have the expectation that both you and your horse will get it right on the first try.
It takes months of practice, and riding all different types of horses, to master this skill. We sometimes learn the best from making mistakes, so use them to your advantage!
Hope these simple exercises will give you the confidence to master your ride on any horse on any course! Happy Trails!” -Meaghan Kearns
“Here is my tip for spatial awareness on the horse: place a single ground rail in a space where you can ride over it in an approximately 20 m circle. Canter to it on the circle and start counting when you think you are 8 strides away. Your goal is to perfect your eye so that you can reliably arrive at the pole as you say “Eight”. You can practice moving your line in or out on the circle to get the right distance.” -Allyson Hartenburg
Read more Trainer Tuesday answers from Allyson here.
“My trainers growing up would give us a course map and all the students would come together and help each other build the course. By building the course and walking it out and re-memorizing it, strategizing with other riders can really help students be more aware of course designing and track. Then later, getting to ride what you build really makes it all come together.
Setting their own courses to ride helps students visualize better. They see how the track rides, where to set jumps, and how things appear on the ground vs on the horse. They start to think about why courses are designed a certain way, and how they can improve their spatial awareness on course.” -Nicole Roach
