“We are morally justified in using the horse for riding, only if, at the same time, we try with our schooling to help him over the obvious difficulties he has in ­carrying out his job for us. He was never meant, or designed to have the weight of a rider on his back; it is our idea and, therefore, our ­responsibility.” – The Art of Riding, Baron Von Blixen-Finecke, Olympic individual and team gold-medallist.

Schooling is multi-faceted and entails ­flatwork (schooling to the aids), work from the ground as well as gymnastic work over poles. We look at some more intricate movements and work over poles, all designed to make for a suppler, stronger, more obedient and ­ultimately a happier athlete.

Baron Von Blixen-Finecke says that the process of “schooling to the aids, is aimed at giving the rider the means of communication which will enable him to make the horse move different parts of his body – mainly his legs – in automatic response to the aids by by-passing his conscious mind”.

Many movements that are traditionally considered “dressage moves”, can be useful for any competitive horse in any discipline, as they supple the horse, teach him discipline and make him sensitive to the aids. Remember that the use of aids is not an exact science. Like the Baron says: “I suppose one could make a horse canter by pinching his left ear, if one ­really tried”. The Baron describes the use of the aids for the following movements.

Turn on the fore

This exercise is usually done from the halt or ­almost-halt. It “teaches the horse to pick his feet up in the walk sequence and change the ­direction of his straight body, crossing inside hind in front of outside [hind] in response to the ­lateral aids: weight slightly to the inside, inside leg ­immediately behind the girth – not further ­back – increasing the pressure: outside hand ­keeping the neck straight and outside leg controlling the ­outside shoulder as well as maintaining the ­forwards impulsion”. Start with only one crossing (step) at a time and praise the horse lavishly.

Leg yielding

This is when a straight horse is “­moving ­sideways on two (or four if you prefer) tracks, positioned in the poll, away from that ­direction and crossing his inside legs in front of the ­outside ones”. Remember, the “inside” is ­usually the side to which the horse is bent – in this case away from the direction he is moving in, so if leg-yielding from left to right, the inside is the left.

Start with this exercise across the ­diagonal of the arena: “Walk on the bit on the right rein. Bring the horse well out in the corner with proper bend and flexion; turn down the ­diagonal and straighten him up and shift your weight over to the left; half-halt using your right hand and apply increased pressure with your left leg immediately behind the girth.”

“The left hind leg should now cross over and the horse’s body change direction until it is parallel to the wall (arena fence). At that ­precise moment, guide him with you right hand in the direction of the diagonal; he will then cross over in front as well”.

Do not over-flex the horse, otherwise he will merely move straight with his neck bent; it is just a slight flexion in the poll to start with. Flexion will increase as the horse becomes more supple and more attentive to the inside leg. Start with only one step at a time, as too many will increase the flexion and you will end up with a horse with a crooked neck, ­going straight. This tendency can be prevented by a strong and watchful outside hand. This movement can eventually be done at the trot.

Counter canter

When a horse is working in an arena, he ­normally leads with the inside leg. In a ­counter canter, the horse however, leads with the outside leg. This may sound crazy; why would one want to make a horse canter on the wrong leg? Apart from the fact that in dressage, it is an acknowledged move, it also serves to instil discipline, obedience as well as balance in a horse. Remember, this is a deliberate movement, not merely an excuse for when your horse canters on the wrong leg!

Do not attempt a counter canter before the horse is well-versed in the correct leg and ­accepts the aids and strikes off correctly ­without question. The way to begin with a counter canter is to canter along the side of the arena on say the right lead and make a small, ­shallow loop to the inside (right) and return back to the side and carry on along the side.

Do not attempt to change the horse’s bend and keep riding him firmly on the right lead. Never start by going through corners or around circles at the counter canter. Initially the horse may try and break stride, or even do a flying change, but do not react; do not punish. Just keep the loop shallow and praise lavishly when executed correctly. As the horse becomes ­better at this, the loop can become deeper, until a serpentine is done.

Cavalletti/pole work

Not only horses used for competitive jumping will benefit from doing pole work and a little jumping. In his book, Dressage – begin the right way, Lockie Richards dedicates a chapter to the use of cavalletti. These exercises supple a horse’s joints as it encourages him to lift his legs, flexing the joints and strengthening the muscles. It also forces a horse to concentrate and to think a little.

Most horses will at one time or another in their lives be confronted with an obstacle of sorts and it is always good to know that the horse will be physically capable to cross it. Baron Von Blixen-Finecke calls it “making the horse think” and “bringing the country into the arena”.

Trotting poles/cavalletti can initially be placed flat on the ground, approximately 1,25-1,5 m apart – anything from 3-8 or more poles. Initially ride the trotting poles in the “light seat” or with spooky horses seated, but in the ­beginning try not to rise, as this can be distracting.

The poles can be gradually raised off the ground so that the horse has to lift its legs even higher, for a more gymnastic effect. To get a horse to think on his feet, making him lengthen and shorten his stride, one can stagger ­trotting poles at odd intervals. Trotting poles can also be placed on a circle or curve and the horse taken from the inside, where he has to ­shorten his stride, to the outside, where he has to lengthen his stride.

Cantering poles/cavalletti should be placed 3-4 m apart, depending on the horse’s stride. It can also be gradually raised to a few inches off the ground. The poles can also be placed in a circle or on a curve.

Gymnastic work

Any competitive horse can benefit from ­doing gymnastic lines. Place some ­trotting poles on the ground with a small jump (40-50 cm) placed 3-4 m behind them. Encourage the horse to give a ­canter stride after the trotting poles and over the jump.

As soon as the horse is happy with this, another small jump can be added 3-4 m after the first and so on, until eventually one has trotting poles going into four or five jumps in a row. Do not allow the horse to rush, going faster and faster, but encourage him to keep a rhythm through the line. Horses actually enjoy this kind of exercise and it is fun for the rider too as the horse goes pop-pop-pop.

Sit quietly in a light seat, keep your hands still and let the horse do the work. This ­exercise is aimed at ­suppling and ­strengthening the horse’s back and hocks. The jumps can be gradually raised to 60-70 cm.