Since I am a little girl I am drilled to ride through the corners. How many times does your horse takes the lead and escapes from taking the corner? Or you just think, hmm no this time I am not going to use this corner. Confession: me too! But it is such a shame because a corner looks so simple but you really have to do something to ride this corner correctly and use it as gymnastics for your horse.
A corner is actually a quarter of a circle, the perfect opportunity to bend and flex your horse if you ride them in the correct way. And that 4 times in a row when your are riding in the arena. Let’s do this! 💪
Here are my three tips to ride through the corners:
- As preparation for the corner, you need to make sure that you have straighten your horse between both legs and hands.
- Make a half-halt before entering the corner to collect your horse and place him more on his hindhaunches. Sit up straight and tighten your abs.
- Place your inside leg towards the girth so your horse can bend around your inside leg and walk to your outside hand. Straighten your horse again after the corner and prepare the next corner.
Common problems and possible solutions:
- The horse doesn’t walk into the corner ➡️ Start in walk and concentrate on actually riding the corners with the three tips above.
- The horse is looking to the outside ➡️ Ask a little bend to the inside before you enter the corner and push your horse with your inside leg to your outside rein.
- The haunches are drifting to the outside ➡️Place your inside leg to the girth and not to much to the back.
In for a challenge?
If you can ride a corner with a nice bend and a relaxt horse you can try to ride the corner in shoulder-fore. The inside hind leg needs to bend a bit more and take more weight. Good exercise for more balance and engagement.
Golden tip:
How deep you ride into the corner depends on the level of training you and your horse are. The higher in level; the deeper you should be able to ride into the corners. And the benefit is that you will have more time to prepare the next exercise that will follow in your competition!
Enjoy your training! 🍀
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