Reining Essentials by Sandy Collier

Author:Sandy Collier
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Trafalgar Square Books

Obviously, ride your circles equally in both directions, so your horse develops the same on each lead.

In this chapter I work first on fine-tuning the shape of your circle (“rounding” it) using Baseball Diamond as a guide (see p. 71). Then I show you how to encourage your horse to “hunt the circle” on his own, using the exercise, Cutting the Pie. Lastly, I work on handling speed and changes in speed, followed by troubleshooting tips.

“Rounding” the Circle

In the chapter 6 exercise Baseball Diamond, you worked on steering by leaving out a base and cutting across to overcorrect a drift. Now, to perfect the roundness of your circles, ride the full diamond on a curving line. In other words, ride a perfect circle, using the four corners of the diamond as a guide to keep your circle from shrinking or bulging to become oblong, pear-shaped, or otherwise misshapen (fig. 7.4).

7.4 Perfecting circle shape

To perfect the roundness of your circles, use the Baseball Diamond again (see p. 71). Ride the diamond on a curving line at the lope, using the four “bases” as a guide to keep your circle from shrinking or bulging out. As you round each base, strive to make a perfectly curved track to the next base, then round that base the same way. This is how you “build” a perfect circle. Be sure to work equally on both leads. Over time, the feeling of riding a perfectly shaped circle will become second nature to you and your horse.

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