The Octagon for Bend
Clay can be dirt in the wrong hands, but clay can be art in the right hands. Mold your horse to the size of the circle you ride like it was clay….
The octagon on the challenge Court is like having your own gymnastic bend tool right in your arena. Using the octagon—or using the octagon with the garracha pole—is an excellent way to teach the horse to bend, and hold the bend, while carrying it forward. The physical presence of the ground poles gives purpose to the horse, more so than he experiences on the Open Court. The octagon is more than a 10-meter bend, even when going around the outside of the poles, so it is more difficult.
The octagon can be used both to teach and to warm the horse up in bend. Riding around the outside of the octagon, ask the horse for bend at each junction of the ground poles by making contact with the inside rein and inside leg at the same time. This is done with rhythm. Once the horse feels good around the outside of the octagon, you can ask the horse to step to the inside and ride him in the smaller circle.
Rather than physically pushing the horse into and out of the octagon, think of it as switching your intention from the inside of the poles to the outside. This is a great way to get the horse feeling your weight and center of gravity. When you are on the inside of the octagon, you can shift your weight to the outside of the octagon, allowing the horse to step over with you. You can tell if the horse is following your seat because he will step out with the outside foot and step in with the inside foot. Often, when riders push their horse out of the octagon with the inside rein or leg instead, the horse steps over first with inside leg. Neither is wrong per se, it is just a useful exercise to help the rider be aware of how the aids are affecting the horse’s feet.
Remember not to spend too much time working on bend in or around the octagon as too much bend kills “forward.” If you feel your horse is beginning to drag or lose the forward impulse, take a break, and allow him to free walk for a time before returning to work on bending the opposite direction.
3 Beat Lope
2 Beat Jog
Remember that all circles are starting and ending with a straight line”. – From “Dressage the Cowboy Way”.
4 Beat Walk
