Spiral Exercises – support balance & suppleness in the horse
The
Spiral Exercise, done correctly on the longe line or under saddle,
has the potential to teach softness and create better balance in the
horse. It must be built up in intensity over a gradual period since the
movement itself requires strength and lateral stepping that is both
tiring and stretches the musculature deeply.
On
the longe, your horse needs to have the basic discipline of circling
you at even paces, remaining at a set distance from you on a
consistently round circle. To spiral in, you drive for a bit more energy
by stepping slightly toward his haunches as you shorten the line just
a bit – asking him to make a smaller, concentric circle just inside
the base circle by stepping half his energy forward, half his energy
sideways.
Do
this in stages at first, maintaining the next size circle once
around, then ask for a bit smaller bend – until you have brought the
horse to a smaller, but not tight circle (the tighter the circle, the
more stress there is on joints, especially the stifle – so build up
gradually to condition the horse). Then spiral out by feeding a little
line as you lean toward his middle to encourage the horse’s whole
body to step outward, creating the next concentric circle, and so on…
For
the longe work, you can place cones to mark the circles (small,
medium, large circles) that you direct the horse through by placing him
between cones that establish the desired size circle.
These
exercises (on the longe and when ridden) should be schooled well at
the walk before trot and schooled well at the trot before canter.
To
spiral under saddle, establish your base circle at the walk. Ask the
horse to move in gradually with your weight on your inside sitting
bone, active outside leg pressure just behind the girth (to maintain
bend and keep the haunches from swinging) and an active, spongy inside
rein; stretched, supporting outside rein. Your horse should
“half-pass” in – maintaining the inside bend that increases as the
circle becomes smaller. Driving aids are needed (encouragement!)
because the tighter bends require more energy. Think of half his
energy going forward, half his energy going sideways. Imagine that a
man is standing at the center of your circle with a rope tied around
your waist and is slowly pulling you and your horse inward from your
center.
Spiral
out by shifting your weight to the outside sitting bone, inside leg
becomes active, inside rein actively maintains bend and the outside
rein is stretched to regulate the horse’s forward motion. You do a
“leg yield” out. Imagine the man in the center of your circle now has a
pole and he is pushing you and the horse outward from your hip.
Do
these exercises equally in each direction (to the left and to the
right on the circle), even if your horse is stiff to one side. Doing
them equally each way really will even him up over time because the
exercise stretches the outside of his body, contracts the inside of his
body and weights the “power leg” (the inside hind leg) and doing this
evenly will help his stiff side. Working a stiff side “extra” to
develop it can actually make the horse even more stiff in that
direction.
A
great spiral exercise to use after the horse is going well and he
seems supple and content is to spiral in at the trot to a medium size
circle (15 meters or about 45 feet diameter), ask for a canter depart
and then spiral out at canter; return to trot on the large, base
circle.
When
you feel that your horse understands the spiraling and he is enjoying
the process, you can move on to other lateral exercises and his
balance will be really great!