Flatwork Exercises for You and Your Horse

In every discipline, flatwork remains as the foundation required for riders and their equine partners. Many riders may find flatwork boring, but this doesn't always have to be the case.

One of the biggest hurdles when it comes to working on the flat is to not just flat the horse as a form of exercise, or just because you should; oftentimes it is easy to get into a basic walk, trot, canter routine without thinking much of it - just checking off boxes before hopping off and calling it a day. When riders are not actively working on perfecting their flatwork with their horses, they may begin to see cracks in the foundation, such as their horse becoming less supple on the bit, perhaps even running through the bit to jumps. Other issues with shoulder and hindquarter yielding or dullness to leg aids can often arise.

With all this being said, how can we improve the flat? Or, dare I say, make the flat fun!

Adding Transitions

For horses who could benefit from finding more balance, transitions at every gate can be very helpful. These do not have to be just your basic walk to trot or trot to canter transitions, but may also be adjusting the speed of the walk trot and canter as well. For example, when riding in an arena you may consider doing an extended trot down one wall, and a slow trot down the other. You can even try improving your riding by posting the extended trot and sitting the slow trot.

When warming up at the walk, you can pay attention to the speed of your walk and see how well your horse listens to your seat cues for moving forward or slowing to a halt, using the leg and reins as an additional aid. The seat, or the shifting of the weight in the saddle, should eventually be enough alone to cue your horse forward, or to bring your horse to a stop. While this is not always visually obvious in English disciplines, there are many good visual examples when looking at western riding, as shown in this video. Watching the placement of this riders' hips and legs, you can clearly see how his horse responds to his seat cues, even after a malfunction causing the bridle to fall off at the AQHA world champion show.

Of course, canter transitions are important too, and can help your horse become more balanced and controllable up to jumps or in the dressage ring. Practicing a halt to canter, walk to canter, and trot to canter may be extremely beneficial for any horse, along with adjusting the speed of the canter, just like in the walk and trot.

Serpentines and Circles

A serpentine is the term for when riders ride in a "snake like" way, steering in one direction and then changing to the next directions once they reach the long wall - similar to a circle, making a continuing "S" shaped pattern in the arena. Serpentines are often done at the trot, and may be very beneficial to horses and riders with the key focuses of straightness and bending.

I have found in my personal experience, that serpentines can be especially beneficial for green horses who struggle with boredom or maintaining attention on the rider. The consistent change in direction tends to keep them on their toes and pay more attention to the rider, while teaching them to balance and bend when asked. While in the beginning of the exercise the horse may take some time getting used to the direction changes at the wall and may anticipate going to the wrong direction, with time the horse will become more supple and smooth in their direction changes.

Here is an example of a serpentine using poles and cones as visual aids.

Pole Work/Cavaletti Work

Pole work or cavaletti work are both tools that can be great for awareness of your horses' tempo as well as a training tool to teach your horse proper leg placement and muscle use, or even to help the rider to count strides.

Placing poles or cavalettis as you would place a jumps for a course can help you simulate a round of jumping, and can also be a great way to work with younger or older horses that have age or physical restrictions when it comes to jumping.

This type of work is also something that may be done at liberty, in hand, or even on the lunge line or long lines, for those looking to build a connection with their horse on the ground.

Here is a video that gives exercises for both ridden and in hand pole work to help with straitness, rhythm, muscle building, and balance.

Overall, it is important for both horse and rider to make the flatwork engaging!