The Fifteen/Ten
This exercise works
on : suppleness,
contact and
balance.
The fifteen/ten exercise
is a simple one. All you do is ride large in the ring and at each
at certain points do a fifteen meter circle, and then a ten meter circle
inside the fifteen, then you ride large. This asks the horse to bend
and to travel true on the fifteen circle then uses that to ask the horse
for more in the ten meter circle. This is a good exercise for horses
who tend to get bored in training because you are not just riding
down the side of the ring, for those who like to get fast down the long
side, horse's who are stiff, lock their jaw, or have trouble doing smaller
circles.
The fifteen/ten on the side of the ring, ideally
two or three of them should be done per side.
For fast horse's it breaks
up the long side of the ring teaching the horse to wait and be patient,
for stiff horse's it asks them to bend then bend more, stretching and relaxing
through the circles then to relax and ride straight. For horse's
who tend to get bored it breaks up the ride, and can easily be thrown into
the daily ride when horse's get bored, or tense and spooky. For stiff
horse's it releases their jaw from the going straight to the bend to the
straight again (when you ride straight after the circles ask for a counter
flexion once you reach the wall to unlock the jaw even more.