4 Suppling and Bending Exercises ✨

Winter is the perfect time to work on suppleness, balance and muscle development in your horses. Gwendolen Fer shares four key exercises, suitable for both seasoned and young horses, to improve mobility, hindquarter engagement and the precision of transitions 💪

1. Inter and intra-gait transitions in leg-yield

This exercise begins with a classic leg-yield, then incorporates transitions between different gaits 🐴:

• Example: transition from medium trot to leg-yield at working trot, or the other way around 😉

• Variation: trot-walk-trot transitions while maintaining the leg-yield and crossing 🔥

🎯 Goals:

• Teach the horse to straighten.

• Develop mobility in the crossing.

• Strengthen the horse's responsiveness to the aids and the consistency of transitions.

💡 Tip: Always maintain the crossing and balance, even during downward transitions.

2. 10-metre circle: engagement and bend

The 10-metre circle is an essential exercise for working on bend and impulsion 🔥 Gwendolen offers several variations:

• First circle: normal

• Second circle: outside bend to engage the outside aids

• Third circle: inside bend with medium trot for more impulsion

🎯 Goals:

• Develop impulsion and hindquarter strength.

• Improve bend and precision.

• Encourage the horse to stay active without braking to turn.

💡 Tip: Accept mistakes (horse that breaks, loses balance or picks up canter): they are all part of the learning process 🥰

3. Inter and intra-gait transitions in shoulder-in

This exercise is an extension of leg-yield, applied to shoulder-in 🤩

Preparation:

• Start with a 10-metre circle to prepare the bend.

• Exit the circle maintaining the inside leg and the shoulder-in posture.

Transitions:

• First work the classic shoulder-in, then incorporate inter and intra-gait transitions (medium trot, working trot, trot-walk).

• The aim is to strengthen the inside hindquarters and improve engagement.

🎯 Goal:

• Maintain the shoulder-in angle.

• Strengthen the hindquarter push and the horse's balance.

4. Variations of bend on the circle

To add variety to the work, Gwendolen suggests working on a large 20-metre circle in trot, walk or canter, with different variations of bend 😉:

• Shoulder-in on the circle (shoulders describe a smaller circle than the haunches)

• Outside bend (asking the haunches to describe a smaller circle than the shoulders)

• Trot-walk-trot transitions on the circle, maintaining flexion and impulsion

🎯 Goals:

• Develop precision and hindquarter engagement.

• Check the effectiveness of the outside rein.

• Work on the horse's flexibility and balance on smaller circles or in medium trot.

💡 Watch out: Do not let the horse drift out of the circle or lose the bend. It must remain flexed and engaged throughout the exercise.

By incorporating these four exercises into your winter sessions, you give your horse a complete workout focused on suppleness, bend and impulsion, while sharpening your precision and mastery of transitions.