Riding Cloverleaf in a balanced, forward, symmetrical way is always a challenge. (In Competition #10) it is set balanced between jump, side pass and the corner of the ring so your ability to make the circles using the space to fullest so you can stay fluent and forward is the trick. It is a play between keeping your horse out off the inside leg while gently, clearly pointing their head on the line of travel, this will create bend, then the timely use of the outside aids to shape and send the horse forward as he comes off the inside leg in the direction of a point between the two sides of the bit.
When we use inside leg it is to send the horse sideways and slightly forward through his body which then takes his legs with it hopefully equally with forehand and hindquarters. The question much of the time is: was there ‘enough’ quality sideways response to the inside leg through his body or did the neck just bend pointing the head further in and therefore causing a ‘cut in’ on the circle? To have a quality enough sideways response to the leg that can be independent of the hand is the ticket to success.
These excerpts are from Facebook posts that we have compiled for your reference:
Going to miss my view of the past 2 weeks being a captured, catered to judge of the EOH in our latest competition. Quite the experience to have time to thoroughly judge 57 rounds. Grateful I did not have to cram it into one week – to have the luxury of time to proof read and ponder was wonderful. (Proof reading took 4hrs). Absolute highlight was to see the improvement in the partnerships that have done multiple VWE competitions. It was not at all the riders just learning the patterns better but some real understanding of the appropriate balance and degrees of difficulty for their horses at the stage of training they are at. This so justifies all the effort and time. It proves that this is a powerful format for helping people and horses. We have effectively joined the experience of ‘a show’ and ‘a clinic/lesson’ together in just the right amount of each. Big decision now is what do we do next and how to move forward from here. I keep buying Lotto tickets to see if ‘the planet’ would like to finance it forward but no joy yet so obviously more work to be done. As we develop the format and put parameters on the different areas we can then attract like-minded people to help with the judging. It is not at all like judging a ‘live’ show. You can replay as many times as you like, comments can be as extensive as you like and most of all you can offer ideas on how to move forward. This done within the parameters of getting the horses more OK and confident means the riders are not having to decide too often ‘what is my horse going to be open to in a calm manner’. I am so so so looking forward to tripping around over the next 3 – 4 months and seeing all these now familiar faces in real life. I will learn so much and then be able to take that back to judging the next competition.
Maree McAteer – January 2021 (in NZ quarantine hotel)
After 20 yrs of using WE to help teach people about how horses learn I am still in awe of the effectiveness of the obstacles to cover all areas that are needed to gently guide the training of horse and rider. The VWE course for Competition 3 is tight in a 20m x 40m arena but quite doable if you plan and prepare quickly and thoroughly then act gently. This I think is the essence of riding/training well. The ability to prepare the horse so well that when you ask for the task it is easy for the horse. I watch 100’s of rounds every month and am in constant amazement of the ability of horses to learn obstacles and courses and be happy doing it. The horses that are in balance and self-carriage in their bodies and calm and understanding in their minds will many times when given some preparation as to ‘where’ they are going nail a course beautifully and for sure have it down the 2nd time. If we as the human part of the partnership can be as in the moment and ready as the horses are what an ‘Avatar’ feeling that could be. If you are finding the course challenging think of what you are learning rather than how hard it is. Get ready, get ready, get ready until you can do the whole course and be always ready on time or maybe early so the horse can then help you out – how great is that feeling when your horse so happily goes and does.
Maree McAteer – October 2020
Having a lovely time right now watching the challenge videos and comments and thinking about all the fine details of what we are learning from the exercise. It has made me think back to the early 80’s when I was first exposed to Nuno Olivera and his training. I got endlessly fascinated in the exercise of shoulder-in and then quarters-in all on a circle. All the endless questions – how much shoulder-in is achievable before it become leg yield or quarters out? To change to quarters-in which part do you move first and how much? Gently over and over again. What can my horse do? What is he telling me? The conclusion…….there is both exercises in each exercise – there is a feeling of the minutest quarters in in shoulder-in (inside the horse) and a feeling of shoulder-in in the quarters in…….then the how much question and from that comes the moments of Holy Grail.
Maree McAteer – August 2020
Rhythm is a word you hear a lot especially in the lower levels of training. How do we create nice rhythm on our horses? Some horses have it naturally better than others just like some people can dance to any beat and others struggle. Several things go into finding and polishing your horses natural rhythm. As all these things come together a nice rhythm will slowly appear:
– relaxation while moving,
– straightness – the gradual feeling that your horse goes the same both ways,
– to be comfortable and understanding to stay between the aids – not dull to the leg or heavy and held slow by the hand,
– a degree of balance that makes all the above get easier all the time – most horses will have one persistent habit that disturbs their balance, i.e. falling on a shoulder while turning,
– as riders our sense of an achievable rhythm and our ability to gently and persistently hang onto it even though the horse can’t – this is done through the feel of moving in our bodies that the horse can begin to relate to.
– it takes strength and a degree of fitness in a horse to hold a consistent rhythm for an extended period of time/distance – it is our judgment as trainers to work out does he need more strength or more fitness. Gaited horses and Standardbreds are specialized movers who can go greater distances efficiently without tiring, when we ask them to slow a little and use more strength to create a degree of suspension it is hard and takes time to develop. When this is achieved they are quite beautiful.
As you can see to develop a beautiful rhythm is a complex dance and no two horses are the same. Be kind to yourself and your horse when you think it should be easier than it is. Happy dancing!!
Maree McAteer – July 2020
With the launching of our 2nd Virtual WE Competition this week I would like to start the discussion ball rolling with some ideas/thoughts on Single Slalom. In Preparatory for this Comp we have stipulated first Single Slalom is at walk and the 2nd time is trot. Our reasoning for this is: a. that we get to see the horses do one obstacle in walk and can give feedback on walk quality, b. Single Slalom is hard to do well and easily at trot unless your horse is immediate to bend through his body off your leg, seeing one effort in walk we will be able to see where you are in this process, c. if practiced slowly at walk to get order of aids correct it will get easier at trot. i.e. bend from inside leg (without rein aid) and turn from seat and both reins.This attention to detail enhances the process of developing your ride to be from the back/body of the horse to the front instead of the head/neck aids first and the body aids 2nd. The development of this is a gradual mindful process. Have fun.
Maree McAteer – June 2020
Maree McAteer Webinar interviewed by Wendy Murdoch
Here is a challenge to work on shortening steps and riding up to the halt. This exercise involves slowing and reducing the length of steps before the halt, which will help the horse come to a balanced halt. Instead of leaning into the halt and dropping the chest, the aim of the exercise is to encourage the horse to keep their chest lifted and their front to back balance evenly distributed.
Set up poles in the arena down each long side 8m from each short side that will provide a set of four halt-over-pole obstacles.
Ride around the arena halting over each pole. After each pole, develop a feel of riding your horse ‘up’ through his body and pay closer attention to straightness from nose to tail until the halfway point between the poles then keeping that ‘up forward’ feeling, gradually reduce the length of each step to finish with a halt over the next pole. Slow and small steps without stopping prior to the halt will improve balance and coordination as the horse will not be using as much momentum to keep their balance.
As you build on this maybe put a trot or canter circle in at B and/or E.
Here is a challenge following on from the previous training exercise of straightness and diagonals. This exercise is a 3 obstacle course to practice navigation, preparation and transitions, straightness, turns, and halts. You will need 2 poles (halt over pole in both directions), 2 cones/posts (switch cup), and a barrel/table (jug lift). This exercise is only completing the halt of the obstacle so you do not need the props (the cup and the jug). Our configuration has the poles in the middle, but feel free to swap the obstacles in each position to mix it up (having the barrel across the diagonal would remove the requirement for a second pole).
Gait between obstacles can be walk, trot, or canter. You can spread out the course further into the arena to give yourself more room between obstacles and/or combine it with the previous challenge #4 to walk shoulder fore turns in the corners.
Start on long side towards K on the left rein.
Halt between two cones (1.2m apart).
Continue straight at your selected gait between obstacles around the arena to B and quarter turn towards X
Halt next to barrel at X (this is set up for right hand).
Continue straight at your selected gait between obstacles towards E. Turn across the diagonal and either take a straight line or make a serpentine left then right and into a half circle to line up straight towards the pole.
Halt over the pole for 5 seconds.
Continue straight at your selected gait between obstacles towards the corner.
Change the rein through a balanced turn at the corner or a serpentine (left then right) or a circle (right) around using the space you need. Repeat on the right rein coming around the corner from F. The line up to the barrel will now be on the left.
Here is an exercise for developing your transitions between walk and canter. In a walk to canter transition the horse needs to load the back legs for springing up into the canter. This is useful for developing a balanced transition preventing the horse from being able to move faster and fall into the canter from a trot. Balance of the rider is also important to help the horse manage this transition which may be difficult at first. Visualise having weight to the back (without leaning back) and becoming light in the seat (think of your head being pulled upwards to the sky and stretching your spine upwards) to help the horse engage their hind and lift themselves up at the front.
To strike off on the correct lead, the horse needs to start pushing with the hind leg on the diagonal from the front canter lead. The order of footfalls for a left lead canter is:
right hind.
left hind/right front.
left front.
The rider position for the aids are generally given as:
Leg on the same side as the canter lead (typically inside leg if not a counter canter) at the girth.
Other leg slightly behind the girth. This is to keep the quarters from drifting out and the horse bending around the leg on the side of the canter lead, which helps the horse strike off on the correct lead.
The aid is typically given from the inside leg between the time the outside hind is leaving the ground and before it returns to the ground (i.e. when the barrel of the horse swings to the outside). A half-halt on the outside rein may also be given prior to the aid for canter.
Sometimes the horse needs more help loading the outside hind leg that will push into the start of the canter gait. You can also try to slow down the pushing hind leg (diagonal hind from the canter lead), with either one or two half-halts on the outside rein in the walk strides preceding the aid to canter, or a weight shift at the hips or in the stirrup during the walk strides before the aid is given. Note that during the aid to canter the rider seat bones should be in horizontal balance or very slightly weighted to the side of the bend (this is done without leaning over to the inside, so if muscle isolation around the hips is not easy for you to do then it’s better to stick with the even balance in the seat).
You may have a few steps of trot as you are learning this exercise, but keep the trot part short or you will lose the effect of the hind-weighted balance in the transition up to canter. Similarly, in the downwards transition, you want to encourage engagement of the hind, so visualise that as you transition to the walk, sitting deep to slow the steps, allowing a few steps of trot if necessary to balance the transition.
How to ride this exercise
The solid lines are canter, dotted lines are walk, bending lines with arrows are 1/4 or 1/3 turns with the front end (pirouette style). Every 2nd turn is a canter transition. The play of a walk turn and then a walk/canter turn develops the horse in this exercise. For a warm up you can do the exercise in walk only with quarter turns in each corner and then build to trot for the canter part until you are ready to do the walk canter (or walk trot canter) exercise. The transitions to walk are to be done on a straight line with enough time to be in a steady balanced walk before the turns in the corners. Keep getting ready early and ride the canter lines with straightness.
FOLLOWING THE GREEN LINES, START FROM A AT WALK ON THE LEFT REIN
1. AT THE FIRST CORNER TRANSITION TO CANTER LEFT LEAD AND CANTER THE LONG SIDE.
BETWEEN B AND M TRANSITION TO WALK.
WALK THE SHORT SIDE
2. AT THE NEXT CORNER TRANSITION TO CANTER LEFT LEAD AND CANTER THE LONG SIDE
BETWEEN E AND K TRANSITION TO WALK
WALK THE SHORT SIDE
3. AT THE NEXT CORNER TRANSITION TO CANTER LEFT LEAD AND CANTER THE DIAGONAL LINE
BETWEEN X AND THE CORNER TRANSITION TO WALK.
CHANGE THE REIN TO THE RIGHT
(NOW FOLLOWING THE BLUE LINES)
WALK THE SHORT SIDE
4. AT THE NEXT CORNER TRANSITION TO CANTER RIGHT LEAD AND CANTER THE LONG SIDE.
BETWEEN B AND F TRANSITION TO WALK
WALK THE SHORT SIDE
5. AT THE NEXT CORNER TRANSITION TO CANTER RIGHT LEAD AND CANTER THE LONG SIDE.
BETWEEN E AND H TRANSITION TO WALK
WALK THE SHORT SIDE
6. AT THE NEXT CORNER TRANSITION TO CANTER RIGHT LEAD AND CANTER THE DIAGONAL LINE
This exercise is designed to mobilise the shoulders of the horse with 90 degree turns, practice a reinback in a straight line, and work on an egg-shaped turn that will start building into a more laterally balanced turn for outside the stockpen. It is called the Cathedral due to the shape. We have used some markers and a corridor for the reinback. This is not necessary to setup, but it maybe helpful to use markers for green or inexperienced horses to keep the lines straight and circles even. It is recommended to use the poles to mark the arena sides if you don’t have a solid barrier in your riding area.
It is best to start on the long side with the ninety degree turn to practice moving the shoulders of the horse in a moving turn on the haunches, making a tight turn with the arena sides (or poles) as a visual barrier. The purpose of this exercise is to keep the horse upright and in balance as you do the turn. The speed may slow down at first through the turn, but as you practice more, the aim is to do it in the same rhythm as the walk. Then you have a straight line up the center, halting at the end of the parallel poles (placed approximately 1.5m apart). Gather the horse and ask for a reinback 3 – 5 steps in a straight line. As you progress in reinback the horse should be collecting themselves which will feel like a forward movement backwards, and using diagonal steps (a front and opposite hind going back at the same time).
The final piece is to make an egg-shaped circle in 5 – 10m diameter (larger to start with and aiming for a smaller diameter as a more balanced execution can be achieved). Around the tip of the circle move the shoulders inwards just slightly to direct the horse on a slightly smaller bend. Then continue straight down the long side of the arena (on the quarter line for a 5m diameter and on the track for a 10m circle).
Repeat the exercise in the other direction.
This exercise is available in a pdf download here.
Start on the long side walking from E to K (or alternatively B to F).
Make a right angle turn at the short side.
Make another right angle turn up the centre line.
Halt at the end of the poles (or a few steps after K)
Reinback 3 – 5 steps.
Continue Straight.
Make a turn before X (Left or Right) creating an egg-shaped circle of 5-10m diameter so that the turn is slightly sharper at the tip.
Continue straight either on the quarter line or long side track (depending on your half circle size).
Repeat in the other direction.
If you would like to film it we would love to see your video posted to our Virtual Working Equitation Competitors group on Facebook. **To join the group our policy is to submit a video either via a competition entry or one of our training exercises – please email entries@virtualworkingequitation.com with your name, horses name, and a short introduction to submit your first video.
Right Angle turns, reinback, and Egg-shaped half-circles.
These exercises work on movements in bending on a straight line and counter-bend which is a preparation for lateral work. Lateral movements are introduced at the Preliminary (Canter between obstacles level) with the side pass over pole obstacle, as well building into a laterally balanced turn outside the Stock Pen.
We have devised 3 parts to this challenge so you can start at any part, and go as far as you feel ready to do with your horse.
Part 2 and 3 exercises are available in a pdf download here.
Walk down the edge of the wall (or poles used to create an edge) bending to the left in Shoulder fore (right fore between hind leg tracks) or Shoulder In (3 tracks with right fore on same track as left hind).
RIGHT BEND ON A STRAIGHT LINE
Walk up the edge of the wall bending to the right in Shoulder fore (left fore between hind leg tracks) or Shoulder In (3 tracks with left fore on same track as right hind).
The aim of this exercise is to develop consistent footfalls within tracks of the Shoulder Fore or Shoulder In movement. Starting with a few steps and building up the number of quality steps over time.
If you would like to film it we would love to see your video posted to our Virtual Working Equitation Competitors group on Facebook. **To join the group our policy is to submit a video either via a competition entry or one of our training exercises – please email entries@virtualworkingequitation.com with your name, horses name, and a short introduction to submit your first video.
Bending on a Straight Line – Shoulder Fore and Shoulder In.
Part 2 – Figure 8 with Counterbend
FIGURE 8 LEFT BEND ONLY FOR BOTH CIRCLES AT WALK
Ride the left circle first with the horse bending to the inside of the circle. On changing direction stay in left bend (counterbend) and ride the right circle.
THEN FIGURE 8 RIGHT BEND ONLY FOR BOTH CIRCLES AT WALK
Ride the right circle first with the horse bending to the inside of the circle. On changing direction stay in right bend (counterbend) and ride the left circle.
A pdf download of this exercise is available here.
Slalom markers are 7 – 10 m apart depending on the space you have or the level of challenge you need (minimum distance for more difficulty).
LEFT BEND ONLY SLALOM AT WALK
Enter the Slalom bending left around the first marker. Continue in left bend making a Shoulder Out movement across the diagonal to the next marker. Counterbend around the second marker. Continue across the diagonal with a Shoulder In movement to the next marker. Bend around the next marker with inside bend. Continue in this pattern through the rest of the slalom markers.
RIGHT BEND ONLY SLALOM AT WALK
Enter the Slalom bending right around the first marker. Continue in right bend with a Shoulder Out movement across the diagonal, then counterbend around the next marker. Continue across the diagonal with a Shoulder In movement across the diagonal to the next marker. Bend around the next marker with inside bend. Continue in this pattern through the rest of the slalom markers.
A pdf download of this exercise is available here.
This is an exercise to work on straightness, the figure 8 circles, and halt. All you need is two barrels or markers to make a Figure 8 obstacle.
Set two barrels or markers 4m apart at the center of the arena.
If you would like to film it we would love to see your video posted to our Virtual Working Equitation Competitors group on Facebook. **To join the group our policy is to submit a video either via a competition entry or one of our training exercises – please email entries@virtualworkingequitation.com with your name, horses name, and a short introduction to submit your first video.
Place the camera on the short side of your space (at C if you have an arena).
Try riding this first at walk and then when you are ready, do the exercise again at trot.
Ride a straight line down the centre for 10m.
Ride a right circle bending around the marker. Make your circle as big as needed for your horse to do it well and stay in balance.
Ride a left circle bending around the marker. Keep the circle the same size as your previous circle.
Virtual Working Equitation 