Taiwan On!

(“There are dozens upon dozens of possible reprises to use.”)

In my last blogpost I wrote about using reprises or pre-established patterns as you school your horse. It unclutters your mind from trying to think “what should I do next,” and you can repeat the same pattern until you squeeze all the good out of the exercise before moving on to a related one. I mentioned there are dozens upon dozens of possible reprises to use, but let me call your attention to a basic one in case you haven’t encountered it before.
Here’s a riddle: what do all these celebrities have in common?

  • Cary Grant
  • Fred Astaire
  • James Bond
  • Winston Churchill
  • Irving R. Levine
  • Archibald Cox
  • Bill Nye
  • Gene Shalit
  • Orville Redenbacher
  • Pee-wee Herman
  • Buckaroo Banzai
  • Krusty the Clown

If you haven’t figured it out, here’s the the Mother of All Hints:
That’s right. Bow ties! And below is an arena diagram showing the bow tie pattern. The black lobe towards M and the blue lobe towards F are the “bows.” The red circle at B is the “knot.”

Before getting fancy, be sure you can do the foundation pattern in walk and in trot: Ride B to M along the track. At M, ride a 10 meter half circle to the center line at G and from there a straight line back to B–a teardrop or ice cream cone shape. Then at B, a 10 meter circle to the right followed by a straight line from B to F. At F, 10 meter half circle to D, a straight line back to B, a left 10 meter circle at B, and then the entire pattern can be repeated.

Now some variations:

1. Start with the 10 meter circle to the left in the walk. Coming to the track, ride from B to M in leg yielding nose to the wall (yielding from the right leg at an angle of 30-40 degrees to the track). Ride the half circle at M and back to B. After a left 10 meter circle at the “knot,” proceed from B to F in nose to the wall leg yielding (away from the left leg). Finish with the half circle to D and ride straight back to B.

2. Repeat Exercise 1 but now in the trot.

3. Ride straight from B to M. After the half circle, reposition your horse to the right and follow the line from G to B, keeping him parallel to the track as you leg yield from the right leg. After riding the “knot” at B, do the mirror image of the exercise, riding B to F and leg yielding from the left leg from D to B.

4. It’s usually a bit more difficult to ride the B-M and B-F arms in leg yielding tail to the wall, but it’s a good preparation for the shoulder-in which is ridden in a similar way but retaining the bend from the B circle as you yield down the track.

5. Bunches of additional possibilities: mix and match! One yielding up the track, a different one from the center line back to B. Or do the pattern in reverse: yield parallel to the center line from B in to G, half circle right to M and then follow the track back to B in the lateral movement of your choosing.

6. If your horse is further along, shoulder-in, travers, or half pass can replace the leg yielding.

7. To build energy into the system and to test your horse’s suppleness and obedience, before proceeding to the second lobe, canter a 15 meter circle at the knot, transition back to trot as you finish the circle and continue on.

(A Training Level horse can make a larger “knot circle.” An upper level horse can make a volte.)

8. As appropriate to the horse’s experience, much of the Bow Tie patterns lend themselves to canter. Return to the track from the first loop and trot at B for the circle, then take up the new lead for the loop at the F end of the ring. Or at B, make a change of lead through the trot. Later a simple change. Later a flying change.

Or after returning to the track from G to B, leave out “knot” and continue B-F in counter canter. Transition to trot at F or ride a change of lead as fits your horse’s state of training.

There are many, many alternatives to the exercises described above. This is just a starting point, and you can use your creativity from here. Remember, if an exercise isn’t working, go back and simplify it. None of them will do your horse any good if he’s over faced and made tense. Do the exercises correctly and they will train your horse.

And now there are thirteen