I am a huge fan of arena work. Most of my
training and conditioning come in the form of riding in the arena and a ton of
cross training. I am not sure how one would say so many hours of arena work is
the same as so many hours of trail. HOWEVER if done correctly arena work will
not only work the horses body but their minds as well.
The horses that I have in training not only
go in endurance, but every other weekend they are hauled to a local gymkhana, I
team pen, Tuesdays I spend 5 hours riding the young colts in a training class,
it teaches the horses manners and something else besides going down the
trail.
I myself like to get the horses off the rail
and do a ton of circles, transitions, roll backs, backing up, leg yields and
lead changes. Just because we trot out on the trail doesn't mean our horses
shouldn't know how to lope off in a nice collected frame on the correct lead
from a stand. If you see those veins in the rear gaskin area popping out, you
will see just how much good arena works does. Just going around and around isn't
"arena work" and can get a rider and a horse bored very quickly.
For people that want to start doing arena
work but not sure what to do, there are a ton of great books out there that give
detailed instructions on patterns you can do. Riding a true circle and a
straight line are far more difficult then one can imagine. Keeping your horse
straight and true, arched to the inside of the circle, going on a lose rein with
the same stride length takes great time and training. This really does pay off
on the trail, when you can sit your horse and slow them down, when you can toss
the reins away and have your horse set at your chosen speed, when your horse is
waiting for you to make a decision, this all can be taught in the arena.
The key is to make sure your doing it
correctly, here are some key things to remember.
What ever you do one direction you must do
on both sides. You don't want a one sided horse and or rider
Switch those diagonals, if you don't know
how, get a lesson from a knowledgeable person
Stop when you don't want. I.e.... when your
having fun, when the horse is getting what is being taught, that's the time to
quit
Don't do the same thing over and over, mix
up the days. One day to work on circles and transactions, the next work on
ground poles
Make your horse do the right thing, keep
them collected, keep their bodies in the correct frame. Remember what you teach
in the arena plays out on the trail. A horse that's moving un collected
and lopsided in the arena will do the same on the trail. Practice the correct
thing...
KEEP IT FUN for both you and your horse and
STOP on a GOOD NOTE
