Ebba Johansson’s Exercise for

Balance & Symmetry

”This exercise is ideal for improving concentration, symmetry, and balance.”

Ellinor

Fri 4 Oct - 24

This is how you do it:

“In this exercise, you canter through sets of ground poles in straight and bent lines. The goal is to keep a steady rhythm, to make sure the canter strides are even, and for your horse to land on the correct lead.

First, place two poles on the ground in a straight line, with a distance of 14.5 meters between them. Then, position two poles on a bending line, 14 meters from the second pole on the straight line. 

Begin with four short canter strides between the poles. If the horse lands on the wrong lead, correct this by making a volte in your preferred direction, and then continue the exercise. If the distance on the bending line is too short, slightly extend the curve. 

To increase the difficulty, you can exchange the poles for cavalettis, or heighten the cavalettis if you started with them.  

The next step is to ride three strides between the poles. When you’ve mastered this, you can vary the exercise by changing between three and four strides, which will help enhance your horse's concentration and responsiveness 

If you have a lot of room, like in an outdoor arena, you can increase the distance between the poles to 21 meters and go for six and then five canter strides 

This exercise requires a lot of patience and self-awareness. You need to keep your balance, and it’s important that you are clear with your intentions regarding what you want your horse to do, and in which direction you are headed. 

Always adjust the distances to your horse first, to make sure the exercise doesn’t seem too hard or stressful. Relaxation and balance are key!” 


Download the exercise as PDF here.

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