# Making the Most of Riding Time Without Trainer



## Lizzie_and_North (Nov 17, 2021)

Hello! This is Lizzie! 

If convenient, I am looking for any advice on recommended essential riding drills/exercises to practice between lessons.

I haven't been able to have regular lessons with my trainer, as for right now our schedules don't line up, however I still want to work on improving my riding with my horse until I can get back to regular lessons again. 

My question is if anyone can recommend basic, essential riding drills they recommend to be done every ride? I understand this is probably obvious, but I want to compare my research with other experienced riders to make sure that I am doing what is best to improve my riding and to keep my horse healthy/balanced. With it being a crowded arena, I is important I make the most of my time I get in there! 

Thanks so much for any suggestions/ taking the time to read this. 
Have a great day!


----------



## Part-Boarder (Aug 17, 2019)

I usually practice things I have covered in my lessons - lots of transitions between gaits, circles at the different gaits, some two point and whatever I may have had difficulty with - working on improving my sitting trot right now. I love when I have a chance to ride in the arena between lessons and find that I have a lot more ideas from the lesson drills so the horses find it more fun but still maybe not the most exciting. 

What are you learning in your lessons? Do you find those exercises are not enough or are you looking for something really fun? I’d be interested in hearing other ideas about that too …


----------



## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

English or Western? 

I ride English and one of the things I've learned to make my rides more efficient is work on things during warm-up rather than just sit there as my horse walks around. It's a good time to practice your two-point, for example. You can practice dropping your stirrups and putting your feet back in them (this is an important skill for jumpers who sometimes lose their stirrup over a jump and must get their foot back in before the next one), you can focus on having really long legs if you're a dressage rider and stretching them around the horse, you can think about the weight on both your sit bones and try to make sure it is even on both sides, you can evaluate your hand position, your shoulders, and your heels. 

After warm-up, I will trot circles, figure 8s and sometimes serpentines. Ride every stride actively, don't just sit there. The figure 8s and serpentines are good for practicing your diagonals. I will do a bit of cantering at the end of a ride if the footing allows (I ride outside and there is snow). If you have enough space and are allowed to use poles, place two poles about 20 feet apart end to end (in a straight line) and ride over both poles in a large circle, counting strides between poles. You can do this at a trot or canter. The number of strides between each pole should be equal if your circle is even. Practice putting in more or less strides so you can work on adjusting your horse's stride. This is a great way to practice making nice circles if you ride alone. Adjust the distance between the poles to make your circle bigger or smaller (you should not make a lot of smaller circles though, for your horse's joints). I sometimes do spirals in and out to work on my horse's bend. I do leg yielding down the center line, or along the rail. 

Most importantly, have a plan before each ride. Set goals for yourself. It might be as simple as today, I'm working on my halts. What you don't want is to just go in the ring without a plan.


----------



## ACinATX (Sep 12, 2018)

Cherry Hill has some short books with arena exercises for English and Western. They start at beginner level and go at least through intermediate.

e.g. [(Beginning English Exercises)] [Author: Cherry Hill] published on (January, 2003): Amazon.com: Books

This is another good book: Stay In The Saddle - HorseClass
It's pricy, but the book has QR codes that you can scan to get more info and to watch her to the exercises. 

Me, when I'm not in a lesson, I like to ride bareback. It improves my seat, and it's not something that instructors usually want to do with me.


----------



## knightrider (Jun 27, 2014)

I used the book Centered Riding by Sally Swift and worked on something every time I rode. She has piles of things to practice.


----------

