Not everything in riding is glamorous. Not everything is special, magical, and brilliant.
Much of the most important work we do, as riders, is work that is simple - even mundane - in its simplicity. But it is where the real treasures lie.
It is one thing to teach a horse a new concept, movement, or skill set. This is important work, too, but at first, it will come with many rough edges. When you introduce it to the horse, you get it in its crude, unpolished form. It is far from “finished” and the real work unfolds from there.
This is the work where you lovingly, attentively polish. You seek out the rough edges - the places where there are bobbles in the rhythm or balance, where transitions are not smooth and easy, where the horse holds habitual tension, or where YOU hold habitual tension - and you smooth these over bit by bit.
I have an exercise I like to ride that I call Polishing the Pebble. It looks deceptively simple, but it is powerful.
I ride it first in the trot. Later it can also be ridden in the canter. And, theoretically, you could ride it in the walk, if you had many things you needed to “polish” in the walk.
Start on a single track going “large”. This means going around the perimeter of the riding arena, along the wall. Then choose a place to begin your first 10m volte.
Ride this volte as round as you can. You can use the arena markers and counting strides to perfect the roundness - but at first, it may be all you can do to ride an amoeba-shaped volte-ish figure and that is okay. This is your starting point.
On that volte, focus on:
Keeping your and the horse’s ATTENTION and FOCUS exactly the same during each stride of the volte.
Keeping the ENERGY LEVEL exactly the same.
Keeping the TEMPO exactly the same.
Keeping the RHYTHM exactly the same.
Keeping the BEND exactly the same.
Keeping the BALANCE exactly the same.
Keeping the SOFTNESS exactly the same.
Making sure the transition from a straight line to turning on the volte is as smooth as possible.
Making sure the transition from the curved line of the volte to the straight line afterward is as smooth as possible.
When that volte is completed, continue straight along the perimeter of the arena again until you come to your next target spot to begin another volte.
Where you place your voltes is entirely up to you. I tend to choose circle points and arena letters (it is helpful to have a landmark to use as a visual), but you can also choose fence posts or cones you have placed beforehand around the arena for this purpose.
At your discretion, you could repeat a volte in the same spot before going straight, as this can be a good way to really polish the quality of your bend on the volte. But, it’s equally acceptable just to accept any mistakes and bobbles that happened on the volte, make mental note of it, and continue on - working on polishing those in the next volte along the line.
You can go all the way around the arena with voltes “decorating” the arena. Then, at some point, you can change direction and repeat it on the other rein.
You could change direction any number of ways, but try to do it in a way that is mindful to maintain the horse’s balance. In other words, don’t just throw the horse in the other direction, but use a correct arena pattern or movement. You are working on riding mindfully and that means not just while you are actively “in” the exercise, but in every other moment, as well. Here are some suggestions for ways to change direction:
On one of the voltes, ride a figure-8, change the bend on the centerline and go the other way.
Ride a half-volte at some point, returning straight to the track you were on. This looks like a teardrop.
Go straight across the full diagonal (H-X-F) or half diagonal (H-B) to give the horse a little recuperative time on a straight line.
You may also choose to give the horse a walk break at this point and then continue with the exercise in the trot in the other direction.
Keep in mind, if your horse is not accustomed to riding many voltes in a row, or is not very advanced, this may be surprisingly strenuous for the horse’s inside hind leg. In such a case, you may find that the horse struggles more and more with each consecutive volte. In that case, finish your current volte as best as you can, and then either ride a down transition to give the horse a walk break or ride a straight line. Alternatively, if the horse enjoys the canter, this could be a good time to ride a canter transition as a nice relief from the gymnastic work of the voltes.
With a well-conditioned horse, however, you will likely find that the voltes get better and better and become very regular like “pearls on a string”. At this point, the exercise will start to feel very “easy.”
Not everything in riding is glamorous. Not everything is special, magical, and brilliant….unless you redefine what you think of as special, magical, or brilliant. Even the mundane “Chopping Wood, Carrying Water” work like Polishing the Pebble can be magnificently beautiful - in its own way. It all depends on how you look at it.
You could say there’s nothing special about this exercise, and it’s true that there’s nothing special about this exercise. What IS special is what you bring to the exercise.
