Training Tips from Sara-Jane Lanning Dressage
Riding Circles
Circles might sound easy but are often badly ridden or poorly shown so let’s discuss!
Circles need to be the correct size! Sounds obvious but often aren’t!
If you have too much neck bend the horse is likely to drift out through the outside shoulder and then even if you have aimed for the right place you will end up falling out. Make sure you have a uniform bend through the whole horse and only enough to follow the line of the circle that you are on.
The horse should be around your inside leg and into the outside rein. Practise being able to give the inside rein and stay on the line of the circle without the bend changing or the circle size changing.
Size matters!
To get the correct size you need to understand the placing of the markers in an arena. In a short 20 x 40 metre arena it’s easier as a 20 metre circle from A or C goes through X. If it’s from E or B it goes half way between the end of the arena and X both times when crossing the centre line.
It becomes more complicated in a long 20 x 60 metre arena. So many people ride a 20 metre circle from C through the SIP line but this is incorrect. There are 6 metres from the corner to the first marker (H or M), then 12 meters to the next marker (S or R) so this line is only 18 metres from C. Therefore you must go 2 metres past this line. Likewise a 20 metre circle from E or B needs to go through this exact same spot, 2 meters inside the SR and VP lines. As judges we often see the circles at the ends far too small and the ones in the middle giant eggs!
Think of different points around the circle and joining the dots! There are no corners on circles so make sure your circles are different from your corners! See my previous top tip for more advice on this.
Look around your circles! You won’t find the right place by simply hoping for the best. Plan ahead!
Use your legs and keep the contact on the outside rein to turn, instead of simply pulling on your inside rein!
Different horses take longer to turn than others! Know you horse and how far ahead you need to prepare. A bigger or greener horse may well need more warning
Practice makes perfect and again you can use some videoing to see what it looks like from a judge’s perspective. Good luck!