Spirals are useful exercises for riders and horses at all levels. I’ve been meaning to write this post for a while, but got stuck on the fact that it’s really difficult to create nice spirals! Then it occurred to me to ride them, and film with my GoPro*. Yesterday I filmed Fantazia and me doing several different spiral exercises. After some debate, I decided to begin with these four spiral exercises to do at the walk. Later I will share a post about three more to do at the lope or canter (Training idea # 7: Spiral exercises to do at the lope/canter.)
*Amazon link, and I am an associate, which means I’ll get 3% if you purchase something!
Above: Spiral-in to the left, spiral-out to the right. I ended up using Spirality to draw spirals on my touchscreen. They are far from perfect, but as such, much more realistic. My ridden spirals are not perfect either!
Why do spiral exercises?
If no one has suggested you do a spiral exercise with your horse, you’ve probably not been riding very long, or not taken any lessons. Pretty much all disciplines use spirals as suppling exercises. Depending on how tight you make your spiral, it can turn into a collection exercise. To do a spiral properly, the horse must gradually change its bend without letting its shoulder or hip fall out. When spiraling in, the horse is approximating a half pass. When spiraling out, the horse must leg yield.**
**You can google half pass or leg yield and get to FEI or USDF descriptions, but I have chosen to link to other equestrian blogs in order to bring them traffic 🙂 Here is a great blog post on the value of spirals by Equestrian Writer.
Walking a spiral is very useful for teaching horses (and riders) to do turns on the forehand. You can also spiral in at the walk to a turn on the haunches, or even a rollback. I frequently incorporate walking spirals in my favorite warm-up exercise. I don’t mention them in that post, but I do in my description of its adaptation to a round arena: Training idea # 3: A warm-up exercise for a round arena, though you’ll have to watch the video.
The challenge of the spiral
To do a proper spiral, your horse must be supple through the poll and body. Its bend must be constantly and gradually adapting to the narrowing or broadening arcs of the spiral. This means the horse has to move its barrel out, and step forward under its body. The horse may want to drop its inside shoulder or let its outside shoulder or hip fall out. Keep your inside rein up and your outside leg on… Okay, I’m going to stop here! I’m not a riding instructor, only a provider of ideas. A good instructor can help you perfect a spiral and tell you what you need to do to avoid all the common errors.
As you spiral in and out, your horse should maintain the same rhythm and tempo (see my Training idea # 4: Clover-leaf exercise for a round arena for a description of rhythm and tempo). This means it will have to adjust its stride. As the circle gets smaller, the horse will have to collect. Remember, collection is difficult, and demands a lot of strength! Don’t expect a young, green, and/or out of condition horse to be able to perform a tight spiral. Fortunately, spirals can be adapted to the level of the horse and rider.
Above: It’s always more of a challenge on a fresh horse! But spiraling is an excellent way to help a distracted horse to focus.
The four spiral exercises to do at the walk
Exercise 1: Spiral in, spiral out
This is the simplest. Start on a large circle and gradually decrease the diameter to the smallest circle your horse can do without falling out of frame and rhythm, then spiral gradually back out. I generally do walking spirals starting with a 10-15 meter circle, but you can start wherever you are comfortable. If you are working in a round pen, just start on the rail.
Exercise 2: Spiral in to a turn on the forehand, spiral out.
Many instructors will use spirals to help beginning riders (or horses) to learn to do a turn on the forehand. When performing a turn on the forehand, the horse should keep all four feet moving; the inside forefoot simply moves in place while the others move around it. At the beginning, the horse will narrow down to s small circle, rather than leaving that forefoot in one place. It can help to start with something in the center, such as a cone or barrel.
Start with only a 1-2 steps of the turn on the forehand (or once around the cone/barrel). As the horse progresses, you can make a full turn or more. Once you have completed the desired turn on the forehand (one step… full turn or more), start spiraling back out. Do the exercise in both directions (to the left and to the right).
Exercise 3: Spiral in to a turn on the haunches, spiral out.
Although I usually teach the turn on the haunches without spiraling in, the spiral can help perfect or teach a good turn. Because the spiral encourages the horse to bend properly, it is more likely to carry that bend into the turn on the haunches. To perform a turn on the haunches, the horse pivots around its inside hind leg. It should be bent in the direction of the turn.
In the video below, Eitan Beth-Halachmy explains how to perform a turn on the haunches.
When spiraling into a turn on the haunches, you will have to slow the horse and encourage it to get its weight back. Start by asking for just 1-2 steps on a turn on the haunches, then spiral back out. Increase how many steps you ask for as the horse gets more proficient, building slowly up to the full turn. Remember to do it in both directions.
See below for the video of us spiraling in to a turn on the haunches to the left.
Exercise 4: Spiral in, stop, spiral out in the other direction.
This is what I usually do as part of my warm-up routine, if I don’t change direction with a half pass morphing to leg yield. I spiral in to a turn on the haunches, but you could also do a turn on the forehand. Make sure you stop for at least several seconds before changing your horse’s bend and spiraling out in the other direction.
Above: I incorporate spirals into my favorite warm-up exercise.
Have fun! I’ll add to this when I’ve got more time. Coming soon: Spiral exercises at the lope or canter.
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