With the current break in competition, now is the perfect time to take the opportunity to go back to basics if you’re able to ride your horse. Lateral work is a great thing to focus on in particular, because let’s be honest, who doesn’t need a little inside leg to outside rein work? My horse and I sure do.
Australian eventer Amanda Ross brings us this super versatile leg yielding exercise, which she first learned from US-based Australian show jumper, Harley Brown, and has stayed a staple exercise in her training toolkit for over 20 years. The beauty in this exercise is partially in its simplicity — all you need are 6 ground poles — and partially in how easy it is to tailor to various degrees of difficulties. It can be done at all three gaits and it can even be turned into a jumping exercise by raising the poles instead of using ground poles. Oh and don’t don’t worry — you don’t even have to have a proper 60 x 20 meter arena — it’s more about the spacing of the poles that matters.
Give this video a watch as Amanda first gives us a quick whiteboard lesson in how to set up the exercise, how to modify it if needed and then demonstrates it on two horses at different levels of training. I can guarantee you I’ll be setting this exercise up for myself next time I head to the barn — thanks for sharing, Amanda!
