17/06/2026
Does your horse have a consistent rhythm?
Do you know what that looks and/or feels like?
Have you ever had "no difference shown" on a dressage test?
This exercise started because I heard a Carl Hester quote that says he knows on each of his horses how many working trot strides are up the long side of his school, how many medium trot strides, how many collected canter etc etc.
And I realised I wouldn't have had a scooby!
Then when I started counting them, I realised I wasn't even getting the same number each time. 🫣
I then went to the usual "two poles in a line" exercise, but realised it's very easy to fake a number on a short straight line, and very easy to lose it once you're heading round the arena again.
So I thought training your feel (or your eye!) on an ongoing circle was the most logical solution.
If you know exactly what your "number" is for working trot, you can then work to build balance and strength into that number, then if you know the number of your collected trot, can you improve that number? And then can you train to build balance and strength into that?
This exercise can be done under saddle and from the ground, and really does highlight so much about your horses way of going.
It shows up inconsistencies on each rein, and as you count out loud it gives verbal feedback on both the stride length and the tempo, along with any changes.
Set up ➖
4 poles set on each quarter of the circle.
Create a small marker in the middle, walk out ten paces north east south and west and place the end of the pole from the tenth step outward.
Always ride/lunge to the middle point of each pole.
This creates a rough 20m circle.
I've done this with hundreds of horses so far and it's always fascinating to see what it highlights, allowing you to tweak and correct your way of going.
Dee's current (most balanced) numbers:
Medium walk - 15 steps
Collected trot - 15 steps
Working trot - 11 or 12 steps (I would probably decide to aim for 12 so she's not running herself out of balance)
Medium trot - 9 or 10 steps (9 is cool but 10 is much more comfortable for now, 9 is a stretch, but if I use this exercise to make 10 really comfortable, 9 might become attainable!)
Working canter - 4 strides
It is worth noting too, if you think about only varying the movement one step each quarter, and think that's maybe not very much... On your entire circle that's four steps, which can be almost one whole horses length!
So first find your horses most naturally balanced number for each pace, work to get that consistent and balanced first, then make a small change.
It will still have a massive impact!
