This week in lessons

One of the main themes of the clinic was the importance of straightness. The horse needs its hind legs following in the tracks of its front legs in order to maximize its power and balance. This is important both for flat work and for jumping.

This week in lessons we are going to continue to work on this skill, both on the flat, and over fences.

Making it a habit to hack off the rail as much as possible really helps in this, as it forces you to use your outside leg and rein rather than the wall to keep your horse straight.

We will bring out the skinny boxes again, and use leg to keep the horse forward and straight to approach them without wiggling out either side. This is helped by looking UP as you will feel the wiggle sooner than if you look down and try to see it.

There will also be bending lines similar to in the clinic to work on turning straight to the first jump, then catching the horse with the outside leg to get it straight to jump two.

Karen