Coming Back into Work After Winter: Making the Best of Just Walking Your Horse

If like me you don't have access to an indoor arena your horse may also be coming back to work after three months of terrible weather and not being ridden.

We all know we can't pick up where we left off in the fall. Like a human athlete, our horses have to be brought back gradually to peak fitness. And that starts with two weeks of walk, beginning with twenty minutes a day and building up to one and a half to two hours (in an ideal world).

That much walking can get pretty dull! Keeping it interesting and beneficial to both horse and rider can become a real challenge, but there are things we can do to put that single-gaited time to good use.

I start by addressing my personal riding bugbears.

First I practice sitting more quietly in the saddle and not working harder than the horse, to get a bigger and more active stride out of him. I ask him once with my legs, and if I don't get a response I ask more strongly until he's putting the required effort into his walk.

Another issue I have is not lengthening my legs enough. It's hard for me to do this and have them be effective. That's why it's so important for my horse to march forward right from the beginning. It's easy to have long, quiet legs and a quiet seat when the horse is moving actively!

Once I've addressed those two problems, I can get working on my horse. That first week we can't make tight turns or small circles, so after walking him in a straight line on a light contact, I ride him in very large circles and begin to supple him. Asking him to go long and low I bend him left and right - not too much - until he loosens up. After shallow serpentines on the long side I test how well he's listening to my legs with some shoulder-fore and short leg yields.

In week two I introduce shoulder-in, decreasing and increasing circles and longer leg yields. I even get adventurous and try the elusive renvers in preparation for Second Level (I can dream!). Some turns on the forehand and rein-backs, plus a couple of trail rides ridden with more contact, give added interest to our sessions.

By week two and the introduction of trot work, we'll be well in sync with each other and Cruz will be more than ready for the next gear.