TWIST AND TURN

RIDING ACCURATE TURNS

Whether you’re a budding showjumping or dressage diva (or a bit of both!), you need good steering to succeed! Being able to ride accurate turns is superimportant – it’ll boost your dressage scores and help you jump smoothly around a tricky track. Lots of us think turning is simple, and yet so many of us are doing it wrong! Tweak your turns with this article, and you’ll find yourself with higher marks in your dressage test and a smoother round in the jumping. Enjoy!

NOT just the inside rein

The first thing to know is that you should not be turning your pony with only your inside rein. Your outside rein and legs are your main tools for turning, and your inside rein simply guides the bend. Pulling on the inside rein to turn your pony does work but dumps all of his weight onto his inside shoulder or causes him to fall through his outside shoulder. All in all, the effect isn’t pretty! You don’t want to look like a motorbike going around the arena so turn with all of your aids to keep your pony balanced and moving around the turns and corners elegantly.

Here’s a quick reminder of the aids:

• Inside rein asks your pony to bend around the corner and look where he’s going

• Outside rein keeps him balanced and controls his shoulder and speed

• Inside leg pushes his body into the corner

• Outside leg stops his hindquarters from drifting to the outside

Top tip

Try and keep your hands level and your contact even through both reins. This will help make your aids really clear for your pony.

Keep still

It can be hard to sit quietly, particularly on a lazy pony, but if you flap your legs and get busy in the saddle, you tend to just confuse your pony with all of the noise. Instead, try and use clear aids rather than constantly nagging him, and you will quickly see the results. Using the aids only when you mean to will ensure that your pony knows when you want to turn and how big a turn you want to make.

Top tip

Always turn your shoulders in the direction you are going in and keep your eyes up and looking in the right direction, rather than looking down at your hands or your pony’s ears.

Exercises to perfect your turns

EXERCISE 1

It’s a good idea to keep things simple and start by riding your turns from the track. Your pony will naturally stay straighter when on the fence or edge of the arena, which allows you to focus on your position and aids without thinking too much about what your pony is doing.

SET UP: Place two poles just off the track at A, approximately 2m apart.

HOW TO RIDE IT

1. Ride an active walk large around the arena.

2. Before you approach A, look up and use your inside rein to ask your pony to bend a little towards the poles. Keep your inside leg pressed against his side, close to his shoulder, so he doesn’t turn too early.

3. As you make your turn, keep your outside rein firm to stop him from falling through his shoulder. Press your outside leg behind the girth to push his body over into the turn.

4. Ride confidently between the poles, keeping your hands wide and wrapping your legs around your pony’s sides to help to keep him straight.

5. Make a smooth turn when you reach C, and then go large and try it again.

CHALLENGE TIME: To make it more difficult and check just how accurate your turns are, move the poles closer together. You’ll need to time your turn perfectly and have your pony really listening to your aids. Once you’re super confident in walk, you can have a go in trot, too.

EXERCISE 2

This exercise will help you to ride a really accurate turn and improve your aids. The turn comes up quickly, so make sure you are ready or the turn won’t be smooth.

SET UP: Place a pair of poles roughly 1.5m apart along the three-quarter line. Using two more poles at right angles, create a large L-shape with a gap in the outside corner.

HOW TO RIDE IT

1. Start in the walk and ride your turn from the track towards the poles.

2. Focus on keeping your pony straight by having an even contact through your reins and through squeezing with both legs.

3. As you enter through the poles, prepare for the turn by riding a half-halt, looking up and asking him for a slight bend to the inside.

4. On the corner, use a strong outside leg aid to push his body around the turn. Squeeze with your inside leg to encourage him forward as well.

5. Keep a consistent feel in your outside rein – you should be able to feel him pushing into your hand.

6. Straighten up again through the poles and give your pony a scratch on his neck to tell him how well he has done!

CHALLENGE TIME: For a tricky accuracy test, place two more poles on a right angle at one end to create a zig-zag. Ride through in walk a few times on each rein to check how supple and responsive your pony is, then try in trot.

Top tip

Make sure the try Exercises 1 and 2 equally on both reins, so you do the same number of right and left turns.

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