Lesson Plan Sneak Peak!!! Loop, Rein Back, Diagonals
Why we do this:
Horse
We are combining exercises to target different areas of the horses bodies and how they use themselves. The 10m loop really works to supple and lengthen the back which tends to put the horses onto the forehand, especially in the early days of the exercise. This makes it a perfect exercise to combine with the long and low/seek the contact. We add in the rein back just to reset them back on their hindquarters.
The regular change of reins can also help to ensure our horses don't get too deep, stuck and forehandy.
Rider
This exercise can seem so basic and simple it is often skipped and only done because its in the test. I remember never quite knowing how to do the 10m loop properly either. Do you change your rise? Do you change your bend? What are the judges looking for? How does this help our horses? The most important part of this exercise for the rider is to feel the shift of weight distribution and the change of bend because this is the hardest part for the horse and what stops our horses moving forward in their development and why this exercise is so important.
If our horses don't learn how to shift their weight distribution and change of bend here and now they almost always end up fake bending to the right and not developing proper engagement of the inside hind. We feel this when we are riding our bend to the right and can not get the connection of inside leg to outside rein and our inside/right rein is heavier than our outside/left rein. When we do get the rein soft its because our horse has sucked behind the bit instead of truly bending.
Note that it is nearly always the right rein because most horses are supple but weak to the left and strong but straight to the right. Our job is to get the strength and straightness of our horses left rein to match the right and the suppleness of the right rein to match the left. This is what developing straightness in our horse means and what this exercise starts to work on.
How do we do this?
A: medium walk
H-X-K: 10m loop
C: halt rein back
F-X-H: take the rein out or into long and low, transition to working frame
A: halt rein back
