Working With a Strong but Willing Mare

“The walk feels quite good so that is when I will go to the trot. If I feel that she gets a bit resistant, I will go back to the walk.

“It’s all about learning.”

“Can you see when I take the left rein? I’m not just holding it. I play a little bit with it. So taking, giving, taking, playing a little bit with it and giving.”

Listening to the Rider’s Aids

“We are looking for a shortened frame, not just a shortened neck. We want her frame a little shorter from her tail to her ears. A great way to do that is a little lengthening in the canter then bringing her back.”

“You want to hold the half-halt a little bit longer to finish the half-halt. I don’t want to do a little lengthening in canter, give one half-halt, then let go because she wouldn’t get it. You want to really finish the half-halt where you can say, ‘Right here I feel quite comfortable releasing and she stays with me and collected a few strides on her own.’”

“Within the trot, do a few transitions. Start with posting trot. Do a gentle lengthening and allow her to go. For her, you don’t need to push much. Then, sitting trot to bring her back. Even if you get a walk step that is still much better than her running through the bridle.”

“Expect lightness.”

Improving Responsiveness

“When you lengthen the canter, do just about 10-15 meters of lengthening along the rail—no longer. Then, bring her back to a collected canter. Build it up daily to go longer in the lengthening but not faster.”

“For collecting, it is a holding leg—not a pushing forward, driving leg—with support from the seat.”

“When going from trot to halt, see if you can eliminate the walk steps before she halts.”

Watch & Learn on E+

• You can watch Steffen Peters’ entire series on managing a strong mare here on EQUESTRIAN+.
• For additional videos featuring Peters’ top tips and training strategies, click here.
• From short training tips to how-to videos and insider-access to private clinics and lessons, learn more from top dressage experts on EQUESTRIAN+.

About Steffen Peters

Born in Wesel, Germany, Steffen Peters gained a solid dressage foundation in his birth country before moving to San Diego in 1985. He struck out on his own as a trainer in 1991 and become a U.S. citizen in 1992. Peters worked his way to the top level with the support of special horses and sponsors, achieving impressive results. He is a six-time Olympian who earned team silver (2021) and team bronze (1996, 2016) medals. Peters collected team silver (2018), team bronze (2006) and individual bronze (2010) at the FEI World Equestrian Games, team and individual gold at the 2011 and 2015 Pan American Games and the 2009 FEI Dressage World Cup Final title. He and his wife, Shannon, run SPeters Dressage in San Diego, California.

The Championships will take place at Galway Downs in Temecula, California, from August 27 – 31, and eventing fans will be able to watch the action live and on-demand free on H&C’s streaming service H&C+, as well as on EN’s platform EQUESTRIAN+ (free of charge and without viewer registration).

The dressage, cross-country and show-jumping phases of the Advanced class will be streamed in full, and there will be extensive coverage from other levels including all of the cross-country competition and the final top ten from every show-jumping class.

“We’re delighted to be working with the team at Equine Network on this prestigious event,” H&C Director of Content Jonathan Rippon said. “In coming together, we’re able to significantly extend the reach of the USEA AEC into key international markets, and we’re running a heavyweight marketing campaign to our core audience, the passionate eventing community.”

Mariah Hammerschmidt, EN Director of Marketing and Video Services, noted that H&C has been a trusted destination for eventing fans for many years. “Partnering with them to co-stream the USEA AEC feels like a natural fit,” she said. “Together, we’re making it easier than ever for fans across the globe to follow the action live, on-demand and to even take home their favorite competition moments with exclusive clip purchases.”

For More:

• For more on clip purchases, click here.
• You can livestream this year’s AEC free of charge and without viewer registration on EQUESTRIAN+.

About Horse & Country

Horse & Country is the leading international sports network for the passionate and active equestrian community. Headquartered in London, England, it’s available globally via connected TVs, mobile and web, as well as on leading digital and pay-TV platforms in the U.S., U.K., Ireland, Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, Sweden and Australia. H&C programming includes live coverage from leading competitions in all equestrian disciplines, as well as training and learning shows, documentaries and entertainment.

Held annually, the best junior, adult amateur and professional competitors gather to vie for national championship titles at every level from Starter to Advanced. This ultimate test of horse and rider draws hundreds of combinations from around the country to compete for prize money and the chance to be named the National Champion at their respective levels. 

Coverage on EQUESTRIAN+ will include all phases of competition—dressage, cross country and show jumping—supplemented by professional commentary and comprehensive event coverage.

At a Glance: American Eventing Championships 2025

• Event: USEA American Eventing Championships
• Dates: August 27–31, 2025
• Livestream platform: www.equestrianplus.com
• Access: Free to view; no subscription or registration required

For additional information regarding the AEC, click here.

In this article, I’ll explain how I warm up on the flat and share two ground-rail exercises to improve your eye to help you see a distance, work on adjustability and get comfortable with adding or leaving out strides.

The Warm-Up

Jumping courses are getting more and more technical, so your horse needs to be as rideable and adjustable as possible, and that starts on the flat. Olympian Lisa Wilcox comes to my farm a few times a week to ride my horses and help my students. Riding is one sport that no matter how long you’ve been doing it, there’s always more to learn. Watching Lisa ride my horses and then discussing how they feel to her helps me improve as a rider. Dressage is an important part of my program as it really strengthens the horses’ muscles and helps prepare them for the jumper ring. For these reasons, my warm-up is focused on dressage basics.

I start with a lot of walking, which is good for the horses—physically and mentally. Walking gets their circulation going and helps loosen up their muscles. Compare it to when you first get out of bed. Most people don’t go straight to exercise; they wake up a bit and stretch before increasing their physical activity. I stretch and supple the horses by bending to the inside, counter bending and doing leg-yields, shoulder-ins and serpentines before moving on to the same exercises at the trot and canter. 

I also do a lot of transitions throughout my warm-up—both between and within the gaits—all while working on the connection by using leg and as little hand as possible to keep the horse’s hind end active and light in the bridle. Your horse needs to be like an accordion, able to open and close his stride very easily without losing his balance or power in the hind end.

This is essential for jumping, too, because a balanced horse with impulsion can jump much more easily, even if he’s not at a perfect distance. Riders tend to struggle with keeping power and impulsion in the hind end when collecting their horses and compressing the stride. They forget to back up their hand with leg and only pull on the reins so their horses run through the bridle and end up on their forehands. Your hand aids should always be as light as possible. 

The hind end is so important—it’s where the power comes from to jump and where the collection comes from for dressage. When your horse is using his hind end correctly, he’ll have more impulsion and his gaits will be more animated. It will feel like he’s in front of your leg and carrying you uphill, not like he’s pulling you along with his front end. 

Preparing for the Ground-Rail Exercises

These two ground-rail exercises are very simple and useful for:

• Learning to see a distance
• Improving rider confidence
• Developing adjustability and rideability
• Getting comfortable with adding and leaving out strides
• Staying connected and keeping a rhythm with even strides
• Practicing straightness and balance
• Determining how to ride a line depending on the distance over the first jump.

For these exercises, you’ll approach in an active canter with the main goal of getting comfortable closing and opening your horse’s stride as quietly as possible. I prefer my students to ride the exercises in almost a full seat, or a three-point position with their legs molded around their horses and their seats in contact with the saddle. You should feel like you’re part of your horse so you can be more sensitive to his back and hind end. A lot of riders tend to focus on the front end because it’s right in front of them, and they make the mistake of thinking the horse is on the bit because his neck is flexed. However, you actually need to feel the animation coming from behind, and you can do that by keeping your legs molded around your horse. 

As you ride over the rails, think of your hands as extensions of the reins. Since it’s only a pole, there’s no need to give a big release. Your hands should simply follow the horse so he can use his topline over the rail while keeping the connection. 

For many riders, ground rails prove to be more challenging than jumps. Horses tend to focus on and study jumps more in order to clear them. But with rails, they don’t pay as close attention, so riders need to use more leg and seat to create impulsion to help their horses correctly navigate the exercise. So, these ground-rail exercises will also help pinpoint any weaknesses you might have to fine-tune your riding.

Exercise 1: Two Ground Rails 

You can set this exercise at any distance, but since they’re rails or cavalletti and not jumps, you don’t need as much room for takeoff and landing. Allow about 12 feet for every stride between the rails or cavalletti, but instead of allowing 6 feet for takeoff and landing (as you would with jumps), allow 1 or 2 feet. For example, if I’m setting a six-stride line with two rails or cavalletti, I’ll make it between 72 to 74 feet. Set the exercise so you can approach it from both directions and alternate directions each time, so your horse works equally on both leads.

In this exercise, you’ll practice riding the normal six strides, next adding a stride for seven strides and then leaving out a stride for five strides. This will help you gauge your horse’s adjustability and get comfortable with adding and leaving out strides while maintaining a connection and hind-end impulsion. Whether you’re doing the normal striding, adding or leaving out a stride, the idea is to stay in the same balance and keep each stride as even as possible, with your horse using his hind end while staying in front of your leg—just like you practiced in the warm-up. 

Start by seeing if you can comfortably canter the two ground rails in six strides by sitting still and keeping an even rhythm and a steady connection. Then, try adding a stride for seven strides by using a little more seat and leg to keep the impulsion while collecting your horse’s stride. Your horse should still be in front of your leg, but his stride should be compressed. If you ask him to add a stride without enough leg, he’ll likely break to the trot.

Next, try leaving out a stride for five strides. For the five, your horse needs a more open stride, but it shouldn’t look or feel significantly different than his stride for the six or seven. Opening the stride doesn’t mean faster. Maintain the same balance and simply lengthen the stride from your horse’s hind end by keeping a light feel of his mouth to keep the connection from leg to hand and an uphill feeling. When you go over the first rail, your horse should feel round and like he is coming up through his back. If he’s flat and running on his front end, he’ll be unbalanced, discombobulated and may get to the rail on a half-stride and either chip or have to reach for the rail.

Keep in mind that how you canter into the line over the first rail will affect how you approach the second rail. For example, if you’re planning to do the normal six strides but you see a very forward distance coming in, your horse is going to land and take you forward with a more open stride. To get the desired six strides, you’ll need to balance and compress him by backing up your hand with your leg and seat inside the line, so he doesn’t break to a trot or lean on your hand. But this shouldn’t be a drastic adjustment. If the opposite happens and you jump into the line a little backwards without enough impulsion, land and gradually ask your horse to open up his stride by keeping a light connection with your hand as you add leg so your horse doesn’t run flat on his front end. 

Exercise 2: Two Ground Rails on a Bending Line

For this exercise, set two ground rails or cavalletti on a bending line. You can set the striding based on the size of your ring or whatever striding you want to work on, but like the first exercise, you only need 1 to 2 feet for takeoff and landing.

In addition to the other benefits mentioned previously, this bending-line exercise will help you learn how to use your track to your advantage in order to add or leave out a stride. You’ll find that you don’t have to worry about getting a perfect distance to make this exercise work. 

As you did in your warm-up and the first exercise, make sure you have a powerful canter and keep an even rhythm and a steady connection. To add a stride in the line, curve the line to give yourself a little more room. To leave out a stride in the line, ride a straighter, more direct track. Look at the rails coming out of your turn, being careful to stay on your track without cutting in or fading out through the turn. Look where you want to go and draw an imaginary line in your mind—whether you want to line up the two rails on a straight, direct line or use more bend on a curved line. If you get there on an imperfect distance, you can move your track toward the inside or outside of the rails to get a better distance and smoother jump. 

Get Creative

Use your imagination to come up with other ground-rail exercises. Think about what’s most difficult for you and your horse, including problems you’re having on course, and apply it to the ground rails. For example, if you’re having trouble coming off a short, left turn, practice that. If your horse is cutting or diving to the inside after a line, exaggerate going straight and then bend him around your leg correctly so he learns to land, balance and go around the turn properly. You can even set up a whole course of ground rails to work on riding smooth courses.  

With these exercises, I try not to make things too complicated. I want riders to get comfortable with keeping an even rhythm and proper balance, collecting their horses and adding a stride, opening up the canter and leaving out a stride and—one of the hardest things—simply sitting still and doing nothing to maintain the desired canter. Remember, when it comes to horses, less is more, and the fewer jumps you can do with your horse, the better for his long-term health and happiness.

For More:

• To watch hands-on training videos with Margie Engle on EQUESTRIAN+, click here. Use code MARGIE15 for 15% off your first month’s subscription.
• For more of her top training tips, click here.
• To listen to our podcast with Engle, click here.

About Margie Engle

Margie Engle has been one of the winningest jumper riders in the U.S. for more than three decades. To date, Margie has won more than 250 grands prix classes, six World Cup qualifiers, more than 75 Nations Cups, a record 10 American Grand Prix Association Rider of the Year titles and was inducted into the Show Jumping Hall of Fame in 2021. She competed in the 2000 Olympics, won team silver at the 1999 Pan American Games, team gold and individual bronze at the 2003 Pan American Games and team silver at the 2006 World Equestrian Games. Margie and her husband of 30 years, veterinarian Steve Engle, are based at Gladewinds Farm in Wellington, Florida. 

Watch the Horse’s Ears

“I want you to do your warm-up, thinking about exercises that you would already incorporate into your routine. But I want you to time them at the moment that her ears fixate onto something. Like a walk-trot transition or a small circle or a little extra bending or a leg-yield. I want you to do that when both of her ears lock onto something, and I want you to do it with enough intensity that both of her ears switch back to you.”

“Most of the horses who have a tendency to be a little bit looky at something will tell you way before you even realize it. You might be coming around the corner just a little on the far end and that might be the moment her ears focus on this end of the ring.”

“A mistake that I see people make is that they go right toward the scary thing. I’m all for going head on, but I really want you to think if you have her attention enough to put her in that situation and not set her up for failure.”

“The more distracted she is, the more mentally stimulating you have to be.”

Make a Change to Regain the Horse’s Attention

“For her, if the energy feels like we have to trap this anxiousness, then we might go burn off some of it. Not like we are trying to make her tired—we aren’t going to get her tired. But if we can use a little bit to where she is like “okay, I don’t feel like you are trapping this energy that I need to get out.

“Once it starts to feel soft, take that same 20-meter circle two feet toward the new object. And ask yourself if you start to lose the cadence and rhythm that you had at the far end of the ring. Don’t go any further than that point where you lose her attention.”

“Make sure that you breathe and that you encourage that too.”

Get Creative With Directing a Horse’s Movement

“This exercise tests too that if there are any sticky spots where she didn’t respond or didn’t listen.”

“She gets to have a little bit of a break over here right now, and she is willing to stand by the tarp and not be bothered by it.”

“Before when you were trying to go directly towards it and she was stuck, I simply changed it to an exercise to gain control of this shoulder and that shoulder.”

Watch & Learn on E+

• You can watch Monique Potts’ entire series on riding a distracted horse here on EQUESTRIAN+.
• For additional videos featuring Potts’ top tips and training strategies, click here.
• From short training tips to how-to videos and insider-access to private clinics and lessons, learn more from top dressage experts on EQUESTRIAN+.

About Monique Potts

Monique Potts grew up on a small farm in Erie, Colorado, and developed a deep love of horses. She learned from numerous trainers, including Buck Brannaman, who helped her recognize the importance of communication, patience and trust. Potts turned her passion into a career as a trainer, focusing on dressage, horsemanship and cow horse events. She has earned her USDF silver and bronze medals and found much success in the dressage ring.

While indoor and outdoor jumping competitions share similarities, indoor events typically have shorter courses in a smaller space. And after riding outside for most of the year, it can be challenging to adjust navigating a course in a smaller area where you have no time for hesitation while still making your round look smooth and easy.

To prepare for the different challenges indoors can present, it’s important to consistently practice your flatwork, ensuring your horse is on your aids so you can easily make adjustments in the tighter space. It’s also important to prepare for the types of courses you can expect to see.

In her video series on EQUESTRIAN+, Stacia Klein Madden stresses the importance of practicing courses at home that are similar to those seen at past indoors to prepare for the common questions course designers might include at shows. Here, she helps three students practice indoor courses and offers tips that you can apply to you own preparation.

The Practice Course

“Good preparation will give you confidence as we prepare for the indoors. The course we’re practicing today is an adaptation from regionals in Florida, and is a nice, friendly and useful course to practice before we go to Capital Challenge.

“The first time around, I want you to just muddle through it and go from start to finish unless I pull you up because I think there’s a real problem that needs to be addressed. This course is going to be challenging to start off with, but the horses need to go ahead and get their feet wet and then we’ll do it a second time to polish anything we need to work on.

“For every fence on course, you not only have to be thinking about your approach, you also have to think about where you are on the landing side to stay organized and prepared for what’s coming next.

“A lot of championship courses start off with a line, so for this course, we’ll start with the ASPCA wall on the left lead and do a nice, flowing six strides to the green roll-top. Then, you need to get a good riding horse right off the bat and go to the narrow white gate.

“Be prepared that the white gate is going to present a steering issue because it doesn’t have any standards. If you meet the gate a little soft, you can turn inside to the Beacon Hill wall. But if you meet it a little loose and your horse lands right and you need a lead change, take the longer option by going around the Beacon Hill wall.

“Then you really have to use your turn as well as your eyes to ride a nice turn back to the blue plank, which will be a five to a one. It needs to be a little following, so you don’t get to it short. Next, check your reins and make sure your horse is front of your leg and go to the scoop jump; then, put a little shape into the five to the Animal Planet jump and then a four to the green roll-top.

Round Two: Correct Mistakes and Polish Details

“I have the riders repeat the exact same course again. After kind of muddling through it the first time, this gives both the riders and horses something to work on the second time around. You can see here that while doing the course for the second time, this horse really took a breath and started to understand the course and listen to his rider.

“Every rider naturally either over-rides or under-rides. When preparing for the indoors, you have to identify which type of rider you are and always strive to strengthen your weakest link. All three riders here are naturally under-riders, so I have them work on making sure their horses are with them and this first line is a real test of that.

“The most challenging aspect of competing indoors after riding outside for most of the year is the lightning-fast tempo in which you have to make your decisions, while remaining calm and not allowing the course to pile up on you. This is why we spend so much working on using the ends of the ring and your recovery after jumps. The quicker you can recover, the sooner you can start to think about the takeoff for your next fence.

“I like to practice difficult things at home, because we don’t want our horses to be faced with those things for the very first time at a horse show.

“Also, keep in mind that riding is a constant contradiction. We’re always telling our horses to go forward, but to also wait—to come in but stay out. Successfully riding the lines in this course really requires your horse to be pushing off his hind end so he can leave the ground and execute a clean, crisp jump over the fence.”

Reverse the Course

“After mastering the course in one direction, I like to have riders practice reversing it or at least changing the lines in some way so they ride differently. Sometimes when reversing a course, you’ll need to modify an offset oxer, but I tend to set my jumps so everything can be jumped both ways and nothing needs to be changed. When you set your course this way, you easily create two courses in one. If you’re on a green horse, though, you might consider ramp oxers or jumps with ground lines.

“To reverse this course, you’ll start on your right lead with the blue plank and do five strides to the vertical. It’s going to be a little challenging to get through that gap without your horse getting his eye on the wrong fence.

“Riding the course in reverse, the new first line is going to ride more ambitious than it did in the first course, and the last line has the potential to ride a little nicer.

“You can see this rider really using the corner over by the wall to soothe her horse and put him back together. If you really focus on using those corners, you’ll give your horse a chance to take a breath, digest the course and regroup. You can use both corners and the ends of the ring to let your horse drop his head down and realize he’s not in a speed competition.

“So this is typical of how we school and prepare for the indoor competitions. If we don’t end up reversing the course, I might end the day with some sort of test. We might practice the counter-canter, trot jumps, halting or hand galloping.”

For More:

• To watch Stacia Klein Madden’s full video series on schooling indoor equitation courses on EQUESTRIAN+, click here.
• For more top training tips and hands-on video demonstrations with Madden, click here.
• Check out her favorite four exercises for winning equitation rounds here.
• You can listen to our podcast with Madden here.

About Stacia Klein Madden

Known as one of the most successful trainers of young riders in the country, Stacia Klein Madden began her career as a successful Junior, winning the 1987 ASPCA Maclay National Championship and placing in the USEF National Hunter Seat Medal Final and USEF Show Jumping Talent Search Finals—East. She turned professional in 1988 and started working out of Beacon Hill Show Stables, now located in Colts Neck, New Jersey. Madden also worked for Johnny Barker in North Carolina, before returning to Beacon Hill where she began teaching and developed a passion for working with young riders and matching them with horses. 

In this video from her series on EQUESTRIAN+, Olympic dressage rider Kasey Perry-Glass helps a rider and her OTTB at training level work on helping him better use his hind end while maintaining balance, steady contact and an even tempo. After tuning up some basic aids, Perry-Glass also helps the pair improve their work at the trot and canter by addressing some common issues that sometimes arise specifically with Thoroughbreds.

Whether you’re just starting out in dressage, are working your way up the levels or could use some advice on your eventing dressage work, we hope these tips help set you and your OTTB for success.

Honing Your OTTB’s Dressage Fundamentals

“A lot of riders with Thoroughbreds who are built a little downhill tend to ride really forward, but that can often push their horses too far off their hind ends. So focus on keeping a consistent tempo with him so it’s more manageable for him to control his hind end.

“As you’re walking on a circle, take up a little bit of your outside rein to slow down his shoulders while also adding inside leg if he wants to cross behind. That way, you can adjust the speed of his front legs with your outside rein contact. This will help give him the idea of correlating your inside leg to his hind end.

“It’s really important to do lots of direction changes to practice keeping the contact the same on both sides. When he feels a bit stiff, try to push him with your inside leg and maintain that steady contact. Even if he pushes up against your hand, just say, ‘Nope, you’re going to stay here for a second.’ Then focus more on his hind end so he can settle into your hand.

“I love how you’re keeping your inside rein because a lot of people drop it too much. You have to use that inside rein to help guide him into a forward turn. Otherwise, he’ll feel a little blocked. Keep thinking forward, but push a little bit to see if you can maintain a few steps in that collection.

“Try and break through that tension he’s already giving you just to test him. If it’s going to be too much and overwhelm him, you don’t want to push it that far. But play around to see if it helps him learn to engage and bend his ribcage to the right.

“In the beginning, it’s going to feel a bit messy, but eventually you’ll be able to clean it up. Right now, you’re just focusing on finding that little bit of connection in the hind end. You can even make a fish tail of it when changing directions—anything to be creative while also getting his end moving more.

At the Trot: Lateral Work for Leg Desensitization with OTTBs

“The moment you feel a reaction like when he actually wants to bend a little bit toward the right, that’s when you should start changing direction, because it looks like he tends to be a little more hollow on the left and stiff on the right. So we need connect on the left rein.

“As you connect on the left rein, think about using your right leg to push him left and maintain a small connection on the right rein to help support your right leg. And this is going to be hard for him because he’s still trying to figure out where all his body parts are moving.

“He’ll probably want to go faster because it’s harder for him, but he doesn’t need to go any faster. So just wait it out until you feel that moment of give and that’s where you want him.

“Eventually, you want him to get desensitized to your leg, so you can encourage him with leg contact without him running away. Sometimes with Thoroughbreds they can get a little bit tense and tight when trying to understand this, especially after being racehorses. Your leg ultimately must be an aid to put his body in the proper position and not a cue to go guns blazing.

“Now, he’s become less sensitive to your leg, so you can actually think about putting your leg on with him feeling so electric. With more forward Thoroughbreds any type of lateral work you can do to get him used to your leg being on is really useful. And it also reiterates your hands, so you feel like you have a solid connection. At the trot, it’s the same idea—just feeling like your inside leg pushes him over and out of the circle.”

At the Canter: Work Through the Kinks with Your OTTB

“As you ask for the canter, keep your leg and seat down and stay connected on the right side. Keep him on a circle for the canter and be prepared that he’s probably going to try and break because this is physically hard for him as he’s building up these new muscles.

“Keep your outside rein super steady and your hands soft, and if he comes up like that, just push him back into your hand and continue to work through it. Then, give on the inside rein for just a moment. I know it feels really wonky, but it’s almost like you need to keep him cantering while you set his body up into the correct position.

“Even when he wants to get a little fussy, use that encouraging leg, but don’t change your hands. You can maintain a little bit of pressure just to have that connection, but you have to have that bit of leg and eventually he’ll start to drop down.

“These small things are great to work on to get him more aware of where his hind end is because ultimately as you’re doing all these serpentines and changes of direction, you want to be able to engage and push him over and into the bit versus having him hollow out against the bit.

“All of this can feel like super tedious stuff and people feel like they’re not progressing at all. But sometimes, especially with Thoroughbreds, even getting them to move their hind ends from the halt through light pressure is a big win because you can always build from there. When your guy wants to get a little high and is doing his racehorse turning stuff, don’t work too much in that moment because you don’t want to get him too worked. Just focus on small reiterations that will lead to long-term progress.”

For More:

• Watch the full episode of Kasey Perry-Glass working with this rider and her OTTB here.
• For more hands-on training videos and interviews with Perry-Glass, click here.
• Click here for thousands more training videos from top dressage riders and trainers on EQUESTRIAN+.
• Learn more about retraining OTTBs for a career in dressage here.

“This exercise can really help your horse become more adjustable,” he said. “And it’s an excellent training tool for riders because it keeps your eye moving and teaches you how to use your track, pace and momentum—all those good things that we need for the show ring.”

To set this exercise up, position three raised cavalletti (the height isn’t important here; you just want them slightly raised so your horse creates a little shape over them) on a curved line in the center of your arena so you can easily ride it from both directions. When you walk it, Hesslink notes that it should walk a very forward four or a very tight six, so it’s right on the half stride.

“The footage between the jumps stays the same,” he said. “But you’ll learn how do a variation of different stride numbers between each by collecting and lengthening your horse’s stride and by changing your track. I hope you have fun doing it.”

Here’s a highlight of Hesslink’s top tips on how to navigate this exercise in five, four and six strides and how to increase the difficulty with stride and track variations. Try incorporating this exercise into your regular training routine to improve your and your horse’s overall performance in the hunter ring.

Warm Up on the Flat

“When you’re warming up on the flat, practice collecting and lengthening your horse’s stride to make sure he’s listening to you. I ask Stewie to lengthen his stride by getting into a light seat or two-point position and then encourage him to almost go on in a hand gallop. Then, I’ll sit up and ask him to collect.

“Next, I’ll do a few upward and downward transitions to make sure he’s on my aids and doesn’t break to a trot when I ask him to slow and collect the canter. I don’t want him going sideways or looking around. He should go straight and forward when I ask him to extend. If you do this flatwork correctly, it will set you up for success when doing this exercise.”

Finding Five, Four and Six Strides

“To begin, I have my riders practice doing a set number of strides riding this exercise in both directions to encourage the horses to use the muscles on both sides of their bodies evenly. Like we talked about in the warm-up, this exercise requires you change your pace. You need to have a forward canter for the four, a collected canter for the six, as well as what I call a normal or ring pace for the five.

“Doing the exercise in five strides is going to be the more natural stride. In the six stride, your horse will have to collect himself and sit more on his hind end to add the extra stride, so you’ll want to slow your pace and use the wider track. The four stride will be the opposite. You’ll want to ride a more direct line and take the bend out of the curve per se. It’s also important that your horse is engaged, paying careful attention and looking for the next jump for those more forward rides.

“Ideally, you want your horse to land on the lead you’re tracking on, but if he doesn’t, it’s not the end of the world. You’re not going to get the lead you want every time in the show ring, so it’s important to practice and work through those moments.

“When collecting a horse for this exercise, it’s crucial that you don’t lose the quality of your canter. While it’s tempting to just pull on your horse’s mouth to get him to go slower, you want to make sure he continues to engage his hind end. You don’t want him to ‘tranter’ where he’s going more in a four-beat canter. He needs to maintain a true three-beat canter, which requires him to use his core and back muscles to make his stride physically smaller with sacrificing the quality of the gait.”

Up the Challenge With Stride Variations

“After doing the four, five and six strides in both directions, I have my riders start to do different variations of those strides to make the exercise more challenging. So, we might do four strides between the first and second cavalletti and six between the second and third. Then, we might do a five to a four. This is where your track really comes into play. The more direct the line you take the less space you have to make the four stride. When you take the wider or outside track, the more space you have to fit in the six strides.

“Again, make sure you establish a true canter for the forward four stride, but here it’s even more important that your horse is balanced. You don’t want him too low or inverted. Make sure he’s focused and his attention is on the jump in front of him. That way, he’s able to do the more direct track. If he’s a bit distracted going in at the more forward canter, he’s more likely to land on the wrong lead than when he’s collected.

“Riders of all levels in this sport utilize this exercise or some variation of it because it’s so beneficial for finding your pace, eye and track. But it’s not easy. It’s a very difficult exercise, so it’s important not get frustrated. It might seem simple, but every horse is different and tends to prefer one way of going over the other.

“When you work on bending lines like this, your approach to the first element is very important. For example, if I’m doing a six to a four, I might approach the first jump from the outside track and then move to the inner track across the jump to eliminate some footage to make the second part of the line in the more forward four strides.

“On the other hand, if I’m doing a four to a six, I would approach the first element from the inside track and then hold him straight or even slightly out on an angle to ensure I have more space to kind of exaggerate the line to allow the collection for the six to appear almost invisible.

“From the rider’s perspective, it’s essential that you remain balanced and centered on your horse to help him land on the correct lead after each jump. If you’re unbalanced or meet the jump at an awkward angle or you’re out of stride, your horse is more likely to land the outside lead which will through you off and create a domino effect. From that point, it’s going to be pretty hard to complete the exercise correctly. I hope these tips were helpful to you and your horse!”

About Geoffrey Hesslink

Geoffrey Hesslink owns and operates Hesslink Williams farm in Wellington, Florida, with his partner Brendan Williams. He is one of the leading hunter riders in the country and is a top trainer for juniors and amateurs in hunters, jumpers and equitation. Some of his most recent accolades include being named 2023 Pennsylvania National Horse Show Leading Hunter Rider, winning the 2023 $100,000 WCHR Central Hunter Spectacular at Traverse City Spring and placing second at the 2023 USHJA International Hunter Derby Championship, both aboard Drumroll. And in 2022, he piloted Mon Tresor to the win in the prestigious $100,000 USHJA/WCHR Peter Wetherill Palm Beach Hunter Spectacular. 

For More:

• To watch Geoffrey Hesslink’s full lesson on changing your pace and track on a curved line of three raised cavalletti on EQUESTRIAN+, click here.
• To check out his lesson on how to ride gymnastics to improve your hunter rounds, click here.
• You can also watch his brand-new training lesson on how to execute proper hunter lines here.
• Learn how Hesslink fosters a positive training environment to instill confidence in both his students and horses here.

Coming soon: Be on the look out for more video training lessons with Hesslink, a barn tour of his stunning facility in Wellington, Florida, and for our exclusive interview with him and his longtime friend and business partner Bethany Lee, founder of My Equestrian Style.

Dressage trainer and USEF “S” judge Melonie Kessler answers a reader question about the advantages of going sans saddle every once in awhile, and then we look at eight bareback exercises that your can incorporate into your riding. Plus, going bareback is tons of fun and a great way to change up your regular training routine.

How Bareback Can Improve Your Riding

Q: I watch kids at the barn ride their horses bareback, and they seem to have such secure seats. It makes me wonder if I should start incorporating some bareback rides here and there.

— Becky E., Vermont 

A: Bareback riding has many benefits for both horse and rider. Getting back to basics by developing your balance through effectively following the mechanics of your horse’s gait is invaluable to the discipline of dressage. The blending of two beings into one in order to perform smooth, harmonious exercises is only achieved when the rider has complete control of her own balanced body.

As in other sports, riders must rely on strong muscles and supple joints in order to support their balance, but with horseback riding, one must be constantly aware of the movement of the horse through the most elastic, supple seat and steady, supportive leg aids. This is what is referred to as “feel.”

Developing your feel through riding without a saddle is the easiest way to learn to comprehend the natural movement of each gait. The horse moves differently in the trot than in the walk and canter. Bareback riding can help you learn to catch the beat of the trot (a two-beat gait), which, for many riders initially, is their biggest challenge. If you are able to catch the beat of the trot, you have learned to use the right amount of isometric muscle tension.

An additional way to practice suppling your seat and coordinating your timing is to straddle a large yoga ball and bounce gently to emulate the motion of your horse in a steady, rhythmic trot. Work to keep the ball in motion with the rotation of your hips as you practice “sitting” the trot.

More Bareback Benefits

After successfully being able to sit the trot without bouncing, you can learn to influence your horse’s gait by understanding the principles of a closed seat and thighs to slow or stop your horse, and then to drive the horse forward by opening your hip angle and pushing him with your seat and back muscles. As in bareback riding, there is no saddle to buffer the aids, and you will learn to use smaller aids to achieve a greater response. Remember, this can be a difficult lesson to learn as your horse is a very sensitive creature and your legs without the additional layer of the saddle between your horse and your body might frighten the horse and create a nervous, tight back, resulting in negative tension and bad behavior.

When you are ready to work on the canter, remember it’s based on the same mechanics as the walk. This means that you swing your seat from back to front, and the bigger the swing, the bigger the stride. Bareback riding will open your hip angles and allow you to feel as if you are sitting “in” the horse as opposed to on top of him.

Bareback riding can be a lot of fun and it is a great workout for the hips and lower back. As you learn how to turn, start and stop your horse from your seat, the pieces of the puzzle will start to fall together soon and you will learn why the seat is the number-one aid.

I highly recommend that anyone interested in beginning to learn to ride bareback start on a school horse with experience in this style. If your own horse has not been ridden bareback before, you will want to have a helper steady him until he is comfortable with the feel of your legs and seat. After he accepts your weight without the saddle, he can be taught to understand your muscles’ meaning as they contract and relax, and his response time will become quicker.

Lessons from a qualified instructor with experience is also important as the safety of you and your horse is always most important. As with all sports, it looks easier than it is, so take it slowly and steadily, and enjoy the bonding you will have with your partner as you embark on developing and refining your aids.

Melonie Kessler is a USEF “S” dressage judge and a USDF bronze, silver and gold medalist. She is a graduate of Pleasant Hollow Farms Horse Career School in Coopersburg, Pennsylvania. A successful competitor and trainer through Grand Prix level, she trains out of Spirit Equestrian in Somis, California.

For Safety & Success Going Bareback

• Helmet: Always wear a certified helmet to reduce your chances of head injury.
• Enclosed area: It’s always safest to ride in an enclosed space while bareback. You might feel more comfortable starting in a round pen and then progressing to an enclosed arena.
• Suitable mount: If your horse tends to be hot-tempered, spooks easily or he’s otherwise unsuitable to ride bareback borrow a more suitable mount.
• Bareback pad: If your horse has pronounced withers, an uncomfortable back or you’d prefer a little added grip for security, start in a bareback pad.
• Start sans stirrups: In preparation for going bareback, practice riding at the walk, trot and canter without stirrups. You might have underestimated how dependent you are on your stirrups for balance.
• Grab mane: Get in the habit early on of grabbing your horse’s mane for balance or consider a neck strap. This will help keep you anchored until you develop a more secure seat.

Bareback Exercises to Get You Started

Bareback demands superb balance from both you and your horse. Your weight and any small shifts in your weight will feel different to him without the barrier of your saddle. When riding bareback, make sure to sit upright and directly in the center of your horse’s back. Maintain a slight bend in your knees and allow your legs to lengthen and drape naturally around your horse, making sure not to pinch with your knees.

The below exercises start off super easy and then get progressively more challenging, and for many, you can increase or decrease the level of difficulty depending on your balance, skill level and progress.

1. Toe-Touches

At a standstill, hold both your reins in your left hand; extend your right arm above your head, reach over your horse’s withers and touch the toe of your left boot. Hold the stretch for several seconds. (If you can’t touch your toes, go as far as you can until your balance and flexibility improve.) Now, reach up with your right arm again and stretch down to touch your right toe. Repeat with your left arm.

• Benefits: You’ll learn how to balance in the center your horse’s back while shifting your weight from side to side.
• Up the challenge: Practice at a walk.

2. Walk

Simply practice walking in straight lines to get a feel for your balance while your horse is in motion. Continue walking straight until you gain confidence.

• Benefits: You’ll learn how to balance and get in rhythm with your horse while he’s moving and you’ll start to understand how your movement affects his balance.
• Up the challenge: At the walk, incorporate wide turns, circles and half-circles to feel how your balance changes as your horse turns.

3. Airplane

At a standstill, extend both arms directly out from your sides and slowly twist your upper body from side to side. Now, place your reins in one hand and extend your free arm forward toward your horse’s ears; then, stretch the same arm back toward the top of his tail. Repeat with your other arm.

• Benefits: Twisting at the waist will help you balance while your upper body moves; the stretches will help you balance as your weight shifts forward and backward—and both will help stretch and relax your lower back, which will allow you more freely move with your horse.
• Up the challenge: Practice at a walk.

4. Paddle & Scissors

Tracking to the left, hold both reins in your inside hand and extend your right arm directly out from your side. Each time your horse’s outside (right) front leg comes forward, bring your arm up above your head. Reverse and practice to the right. Next, instead of extending your arm up when your horse’s outside leg steps forward, bring it directly across your body in front of your chest so the motion is back and forth instead of up and down.

Benefits: The arm movements while in motion will further test your balance.

5. Ground Pole Square

Use four ground poles to build a large square in the center of your arena, leaving around 6 feet between each pole. Walk a large circle around the entire square in both directions; then, practice smaller circles inside the square. Next, circle each pole. You can circle in the same direction at first; then, circle right around one pole, left around the next and so on.

• Benefits: You’ll learn to balance while guiding your horse around circles of varying sizes, and the specific tasks will help you and your horse stay focused while riding in a larger area.
• Up the challenge: Once you get comfortable at the trot bareback, you can also practice this exercise at the faster gait.

6. Trot

Once you’re confident at the walk and are ready for a new challenge, add some speed. To get a feel for the quicker pace, start by trotting a short, straight line, from point A to B (use cones or elements of your arena to mark points). As you feel more secure, trot from point A to C, and so on until you’re comfortable at the faster gait for longer periods of time.

• Benefits: You might feel a little unstable at first, but learning how to remain centered at the faster, bouncier gait will help solidify your bareback seat, preparing you for more challenging work.
• Up the challenge: Practice collecting and extending your trot and try posting to really give you inner thigh muscles a workout. Then, practice trotting wide turns and circles to get a feel for the faster gait as your horse turns.

7. Ground Pole Chute

Place two poles parallel to each other about 6 or 7 feet apart and walk through the middle of the “chute” using your legs to keep your horse straight. After several passes, have a helper gradually move the poles closer together so that each time you have to navigate a narrower space.

• Benefits: This will show whether you’re sitting in the true center of your horse’s back. He’s going to have a difficult time remaining straight if you’re leaning to one side or the other. If you lean left, for example, it will be easier for him to “escape” your weight by moving to the right; as a result, he might hit or step over the pole to your right.
• Up the challenge: You can also do this exercise at a trot or canter.

8. Serpentine

A basic serpentine, this pattern involves walking a series of connected S’s back and forth across the width of your arena. Pick up a walk along the fence line at either end of the arena; if you’re tracking to the right, slightly bend your horse to the right as you approach the end of the arena and then execute a smooth half turn so you’re now walking in the opposite direction. Straighten your horse back up; this time, as you approach fence, bend your horse to the left in preparation for a half turn to the left. Continue until you reach the end of the arena.

• Benefits: Even though it’s crucial that you remain centered on your horse while bareback, this exercise will teach you how to sit slightly to the outside of his back in order fluidly stay with his motion as you execute smooth, balanced turns. It will also sharpen your rein and leg aids, because it forces you to focus on setting your horse up for a new turning point with each loop of the serpentine.
• Up the challenge: Once you master this at the walk—and well after you’re confident trotting bareback—you can do this exercise at the faster gait. At the trot, make your turns wider at first and then challenge yourself by making them tighter

Over time, as you gain confidence and solidify your bareback position and balance, you can progress to canter work and even going over poles or small jumps. However, if you’re still new to going sans saddle, it’s always best to ride bareback under the supervision or your trainer or another professional. Above all, have fun!

For More:

• To check out several bareback riding demonstrations and training exercises, watch this video series on EQUESTRIAN+.
• Learn more about the biomechanics of riding bareback here.

In this new video on EQUESTRIAN+, Hesslink demonstrates how to ride his gymnastic and bounce exercise to improve your hunter rounds and position over fences and explains how it can benefit both young and more seasoned horses.

How to Set Up the Exercise:

Gymnastics: Set up a ground pole 9 feet out from a small vertical, with another 9 feet to a second vertical, and then 18 feet to a slightly higher vertical. You will trot into the ground pole and then canter through the bounce to the final vertical.

Bounces: Through the middle of your gymnastics, set four slightly raised cavalletti as a set of four bounces, all 9 feet apart. You will do this exercise at the canter. (See “Improvement at Every Level” below for a full aerial view from our drone footage on how to set up the exercise.)

Navigating the Trot-In Gymnastics

“When you first start incorporating gymnastics into your horse’s program, it’s important to not rush or make him nervous. In the beginning stages of learning gymnastics, most horses will try to anticipate or rush through it. So stay relaxed and just allow your horse to work through it until he figures it out.

“This exercise is designed to teach horses how to create their own shape, how to gauge the jumps themselves, and eventually they will learn their own pace needed for the exercise.

“Throughout this exercise, I strive to work on straightness while also encouraging my horse to push off his hind end, so it’s also good for strength conditioning. My job in this exercise is to keep my position correct and stay out of my horse’s way to allow him to make the best jumps possible. Especially be quiet with your hands to stay out his mouth and allow him have a little bit freeness in his neck and his back.

“Maintain enough leg so your horse understands to go forward through the exercise, but don’t apply too much pressure or spur him in any way because you don’t want him to increase his pace through the exercise.”

Combining the Gymnastics With the Bounces

“Once you’ve gone through the gymnastics several times and your horse has somewhat figured out how to gauge his distances while staying straight and maintaining an even pace, start to incorporate the bounces. It doesn’t matter which lead you start with. If your horse has a favorite lead and that’s easier for him the first time that’s fine. Or you can simply go the direction you land on or challenge your horse to land on his harder lead.

“Here, I’m traveling left, so I approach the four bounces off the left lead. Again, I focus on keeping my horse as straight as possible, my position correct and balanced, and I try to not interfere with my horse and just let him flow through the bounces.

“Gymnastics and bounces are really good for young horses. For example, green horses don’t yet know how to create shape over jumps. This exercise forces them to really use their hind ends, which helps them learn how to figure out that shape.

“Plus, some green horses aren’t focused or mature enough—or are too spooky—to jump full courses or lines yet. So, this is a perfect exercise to help them stay focused while using their bodies correctly, and eventually they’ll learn to just take a breath a cruise through it.”

Practice Landing Both Leads

“The way I’ve set this exercise up, you can ride it in a figure-eight type fashion so you can change directions frequently depending on which lead your horse tends to land on or needs more practice with. So the idea is you connect the two exercises, so you can condition your horse evenly on both sides.

“My horse Stewie prefers his left lead, so I practice making him land right to help him get used to using both sides of his body more evenly, which can also carry over to your course work when you need to land on your horse’s stickier lead.”

Improvement at Every Level

“This exercise is also excellent for older or more seasoned hunter horses. Because they have to push off each hind leg so evenly, it’s great for conditioning and maintaining that hindquarter muscling.

“The horses learn by making mistakes through the exercise. It teaches them to develop their own jumping style—what’s most efficient and what’s not—and then they start to retain what they’ve learned and do it on their own.

“Most importantly, this exercise can help riders at every level of the sport whether you’re an amateur, just starting to show or competing at the highest levels because it directly carries over to your course work. I often use it to prepare for courses or specific events because it serves as a tune-up to help horses sharpen up their shape over jumps and helps direct their focus.”

About Geoffrey Hesslink

Geoffrey Hesslink owns and operates Hesslink Williams farm in Wellington, Florida, with his partner Brendan Williams. He is one of the leading hunter riders in the country and is a top trainer for juniors and amateurs in hunters, jumpers and equitation. Some of his most recent accolades include being named 2023 Pennsylvania National Horse Show Leading Hunter Rider, winning the 2023 $100,000 WCHR Central Hunter Spectacular at Traverse City Spring and placing second at the 2023 USHJA International Hunter Derby Championship, both aboard Drumroll. And in 2022, he piloted Mon Tresor to the win in the prestigious $100,000 USHJA/WCHR Peter Wetherill Palm Beach Hunter Spectacular. 

For More:

• To watch Geoffrey Hesslink’s full lesson on how to ride gymnastics for better hunter rounds, click here.
• Watch his new video on adding strides and changing tracks for hunter success here.
• You can watch his other brand-new training lesson on how to execute proper hunter lines here.
• Learn how Hesslink fosters a positive training environment to instill confidence in both his students and horses here.

Coming soon: Be on the look out for more video training lessons with Hesslink, a barn tour of his stunning facility in Wellington, Florida, and for our exclusive interview with him and his longtime friend and business partner Bethany Lee, founder of My Equestrian Style.