Circles

In the horse community circles are one of those little secrets everyone knows. NOT! People spend hours working their horses in circles without ever understanding their true importance and, even more importantly, their limitations. People who practice dressage especially spend hours and hours working circles. But they are not the only ones who do so. Nearly all horse people, sooner or later end up going in circles on their horse.

The big secret is this - working on a large (20 meter) circle calms and relaxes a horse. The slight bend created stretches the muscles of the horse's body on the outside of the circle, and contracts those to the inside. This is the reason you always need to work the same amount of time both ways of your circle. Working 20m circles is how you achieve true straightness in your horse. Going truly straight is one of the more difficult things you can ask of a horse or a human for that matter. Without careful training and conditioning true straightness does not exist. All of us are naturally crooked, or off-center; favoring one side more than the other and this is true of our horses as well.

In order to properly understand just how much bend is needed to correctly work a twenty-meter circle it is best if you create one while you are on the ground. Use a rope that is ten meters in length (about 32 feet) and then either have someone hold it, standing in the center of the place you want your twenty meter circle, or tie the end of the rope to a stake or solid object. Walk around the center marking the path as you go. Lime makes a nice white line for you to see and follow. Once you have created your circle get your horse and stand it on the line. It will probably surprise you how little bend is needed in order to properly work a 20m circle. It's really just a hint of a bend.

Once you see just how little is needed to properly work a 20m circle you can try to do it following the clear line you created by laying down the lime. Incidentally, flour works too except that horses will lick it up if you don't keep them away from it. Try riding the 20m circle and then look to see where your horse's hoof prints are in comparison to your white line. At first you will be off of course, but as you practice you will begin to get a real feel for just how much rein, leg and seat aids to use to obtain a good 20m circle.

A ten-meter circle, or medium sized circle, improves a horse's strength and flexibility. It also perks him up a bit because he has to drive his inside hind leg up under him to successfully negotiate the circle. This increases his power. You should not begin extensive ten-meter circle work until a horse is very good, and comfortable, with the twenty-meter circle.

In order to learn just what is required to effectively use 10m circles use a five meter (about 16 feet long) rope and the above method to create a ten meter circle pattern. Again, when you stand your horse on the arc of the circle, you will probably be surprised at how little bend is involved when it comes to doing a good ten meter circle. The practice will be similar to what you did with your twenty meter circle though. Once you are doing both 20m and 10m circles well you can try a five meter circle.

A warning here five-meter circles are only for the well-conditioned horse. He must be good on both the twenty and ten-meter circles before you tackle a five-meter circle. These smaller circles also rev a horse up. In order to work one correctly the horse has to collect itself and drive the hind leg well up under itself. This creates rounding and energy. If you really need to get a booming response out of your horse you begin by working a small circle for a few minutes.

The length of rope needed to create a five meter circle is 2.5 meters or about 8 feet.

Remember big circles calm a horse and small circles energize.