At the Spring Gathering “AA” show last weekend, I couldn’t help but notice how many riders cut off their corners in the schooling arena. Steve and I witnessed at least fifteen narrowly-averted train wrecks because competitors couldn’t manage to use the arena.
It is a good idea to teach riders to use their corners as soon as possible. If riding instructors wait until late in the educational process, their students will have a tough time breaking their bad habits.
The Basics of Corners
Two concepts are used to teach students to use their corners, and they go hand in hand:
- Inside leg
- Pressure and release
Once your students understand that horses are pressure-release animals, and that applying pressure is the basis for all human-equine communication, you will have established a firm foundation for riding. If you neglect this crucial fundamental, however, your students will have difficulty using their corners and with other maneuvers later on.
The inside leg is key to teaching students to use their corners, and by this I mean pressure with the inside leg. In order to ride a corner, students need to use their inside legs to keep the horse on the rail.
I like to introduce this concept on a circle. You can either have your students ride 20-meter circles on their own or you can put each individual rider on a lunge line. Either way, the circle is analogous to a corner, and the lesson will therefore translate.
They don’t need to engage the inside rein just yet, and in fact it’s better they don’t if they are young or inexperienced riders. Bend is a subject for a future lesson. Instead, have your students squeeze with their inside legs at the walk every time the horse puts his front outside hoof on the ground.
This exercise accomplishes two goals: first, the rider learns how the inside leg is instrumental in using their corners; second, the rider begins to feel the placement of the horse’s hooves, which will later become automatic.
When your students are ready to use their corners on the full arena, I suggest setting up orange traffic cones in the corners of the arena, about ten feet off the rail. This will help them watch where they’re going and set up their corners, and it will provide a guidelines they can use for the rest of the lesson.
Advanced Application
I always like to give students real-world applications for the concepts they learn in class. Even if they don’t fully understand them, they will eventually figure out how everything works together.
Students need to learn how to use their corners for a variety of equestrian sports. Take jumping, for example.
In the diagram to your right, we’ve got two fences. Fence #1 is taken toward the rail, then the rider comes around two the left and takes Fence #2 toward the center of the arena.
If the rider uses his corner coming off Fence #1, he will be set up perfectly for Fence #2. He’ll have a straight shot at the center of the second jump and plenty of strides during which he can set his pace and choose his distance.
If, however, he takes the route marked in green, he’ll have much less time to set up Fence #2. This might shave off a few seconds in a show jumping course, but it’s sloppy horsemanship and it’s dangerous. Riding instructors should make this clear.
Use diagrams like this one or live demonstrations to show your students why it is important they learn to use their corners. If you do this early enough, you’ll never have a problem later on.
You might also like:
- Teaching Your Students to
Mount and Dismount - Teaching Students Soft Hands
- Teaching Students to Post on the Correct Diagonal
- Teaching Students to Post the Trot:
Part One - Teaching Students Horsemanship
About the Author: Laura Jane Thompson is the Chief Equestrian Officer of Riding Instructor University and the Feature writer for the horses section at Suite101. She believes that any horse business can succeed provided its owner practices smart strategy.
