12/02/2025
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When trainer Geoff Case watches riders flatting their horses, he sees a lot of the same thing: people lapping the ring, zoning out, and missing a huge opportunity. “It’s one of my biggest pet peeves,” Case said. “People just go around the outside, staring off into space. That’s not riding. That’s exercise.”
In Case’s eyes, flatwork isn’t just something to do when you’re not jumping—it’s where you actually become a better rider.
To Case, a good flat session should feel like a jumping round. “You should be riding lines, bending, adjusting your rhythm,” he said. “Every step is a chance to make something better.”
He encourages riders to ride patterns and turns with purpose. “Don’t just stay on the rail,” he said. “Use the whole ring. Make a circle, ride across the diagonal, do transitions in different places. Ride like you’re setting up for a jump.”
That kind of thinking builds skills that directly transfer to the show ring. “When you ride with that much attention, the horse gets sharper, you get straighter, and suddenly your distances show up easier,” he said.
The flat, he added, is where you learn timing, balance, and control without the distraction of fences. “If you can’t organize yourself between the jumps, you won’t do it over them either.”
For Case, good riding starts with details: straightness, rhythm, transitions, and connection. The riders who stand out to him in the warm-up ring are the ones who treat flatwork like an art form, not an afterthought.
“You can tell the difference between someone who’s just getting around and someone who’s actually training,” he said. “It’s in the way they ride their corners, how they prepare for a transition, how the horse looks in the bridle.”
That difference shows up in competition. “When you’re in the ring, it’s too late to be figuring those things out,” he said. “If you’ve already practiced being precise on the flat, it’s automatic when you’re showing.”
Case also pointed out that judges can spot the riders who do their homework. “Even in a jumping round, you can tell who spends time on the flat,” he said. “Their horses are balanced and adjustable. It’s obvious.”
Many riders, especially less experienced ones, rely on the rail for security or spacing. Case urges them to break that habit. “The rail becomes a crutch,” he said. “You stop steering, you stop thinking. You let the wall do the work for you.”
Instead, he suggests riding off the track, staying a few feet inside the rail to keep both you and your horse accountable. “When you come off the wall, suddenly you have to ride,” he said. “You’ve got to keep your line straight, keep the horse between your leg and hand, and make the turns yourself.”
At first, this can feel uncomfortable, but that’s exactly the point. “It’s supposed to feel different,” Case explained. “That’s how you know you’re actually doing something.”
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