Clockwork

Clockwork is a training exercise that can be done both at liberty as well as on a line. The idea is to have precision in lunging with transitions, change of direction and stopping. This exercise can sharpen cues given vocally but also through body language.

Think of the roundpen like a clock, and most importantly make a mental note of the areas that you would consider to be 12:00, 3:00, 6:00, and 9:00. These are going to be your places of change. It’s important to note that since the areas of change are the same, the horse will anticipate the changes. So, play around with different asks as the horse gets confident in their answers and even change which four places that a change is asked for.

First, start off with the horse at a walk so that the exercise does not begin to be stressful due to speed. If the horse breaks into a trot, do not fight them. Instead, try to bring them down through body language or being the exercise. Once a horse reaches a “time” on the roundpen, ask them to turn in and halt. Next, the horse can either be asked to continue in the direction that they were previously headed, or to switch direction. Repeat this at each “time” around the roundpen and be sure to skip a few “times” in between.

Once the horse masters this, try to ask for transitions of gaits at the different places around the roundpen. The horse should transition to quicker or slower gaits off voice and eventually should be able to skip gaits and perform walk-canter, canter-walk, halt-canter, trot-halt, and many other transitions. Once the horse is comfortable, combine transitions, stopping, and changes of direction. Horses should perform these things with precision. It also helps with learning and practicing timing when training horses.

The last step of this exercise would be to work the horses in precision off of less large cues and with correct timing. Halting off of breath, changing direction through body language, and a quick change of gait off of voice is the goal.