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With This Es
How to have fun with your pony
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MEET
emma
Miie L LeeM
Massingale! What your pony would say
Pony Nuts to
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flatwork ENTER the Big PONY
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Poetry
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DJMurphy
talk! Dec 2021 £4.99 Issue 884
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is Esme’s fave polework h T ut exe o k rcis c he ircles are the foundation of good flatwork, but if your schooling needs spicing up, why not add some poles into the mix? I love this clockface exercise because it tests your circle riding, your pony’s suppleness, whether you can see a stride and even builds strength and balance – what’s not to love?
TOP TIP
2.7-3m
Make sure you warm up over a single pole on the floor to check your pony feels confident before adding extras into the mix.
Perfect prep
Before you start, get your pony warmed up on the flat in walk, trot and canter. He should be moving forward and bending around your inside leg. Practise riding circles of lots of different sizes on both reins to test his
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PONY magazine
suppleness and relaxation. If he’s tense or tight, he won’t want to soften and bend through his body. If this is the case, ride lots of transitions to improve his focus and keep your hands soft, but with a consistent feel down both reins.
Best of bending If you need
a refresher to help you bend your pony, here are the aids to get you going... 1. Ride a 15–20m circle in walk. 2. Look around the turn and squeeze your inside rein to ask your pony to turn. 3. Push your inside leg against his side to encourage him to bend his body around it. 4. Keep a gentle feel down your outside rein and hold your outside leg just behind the girth to stop him falling out through his shoulder. 5. Use your voice to keep your pony moving forwards, because he might drop off the aids when he’s focusing on bending.
Practise riding circles of lots of different sizes on both reins to test his suppleness and relaxation PONY magazine
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