Five groundwork exercises worth knowing

There is a version of groundwork that involves a lot of equipment, a lot of terminology and a horse doing something eye-catching in a round pen.

This is not that.

These five are ordinary, they need a headcollar and a lead rope, and none of them will impress anybody watching over the fence. What they will do is make almost everything else in your year easier: the vet visit, the farrier, loading, the ride where he spooks and you need him listening, and quite a lot of what you are trying to achieve in the saddle.

I put groundwork in most of my lessons, and the reason is simple. A problem is much cheaper to solve on the ground than it is at trot with you on board.

First, how to ask

This matters more than the exercises do.

Ask small. Start with the lightest possible version of the aid. Not because it will work, but because if you always start light, he learns to listen for light.

Build if you need to. If nothing happens, ask slightly more clearly. Then more clearly again. Steady increase, not a jump from nothing to a lot.

Release the instant he tries. This is the whole thing. The release is what teaches him, not the pressure. And "tries" means a shift of weight, a turn of an ear, a thought in the right direction. Not the finished movement.

Stop while it is going well. Three good repetitions and then something else is worth far more than twenty repetitions and a horse who is now sour about it.

Everything below is that same loop.

1. Moving the shoulders

Stand at his shoulder, facing him. Bring your hand or the end of the rope towards the point of his shoulder and ask him to step his front end away from you, crossing one front leg over the other.

Looking for: one clean crossover step, then release. Build to two or three.

Why it matters: a horse who will move his shoulders off a light ask is a horse who can be steered rather than pulled. It shows up directly in turns, in straightness, and in whether he walks into your space when something startles him.

2. Moving the quarters

Same idea at the other end. Stand level with his ribs, look towards his hip, and ask his hindquarters to step away from you so the inside hind crosses over.

Looking for: one crossover step behind, with his front end staying more or less where it was.

Why it matters: this is the one that gives you a way to disengage a horse who is getting worried, and it is the ground version of a great deal of what you ask for in lateral work later. It is also, practically, how you get a horse to stop standing on your foot.

3. Backing up

Face him, ask him to step backwards. Start with a light pressure on the rope or a raised hand, and build only if nothing happens.

Looking for: three or four straight, unhurried steps. Straight is the hard part. Most horses back up crooked, drifting one shoulder.

Why it matters: backing up is the single most useful thing to have installed when a horse is in your space. It also asks him to shift weight onto his hind end, which is quietly good for him.

4. Leading properly

Not being towed, and not towing.

You walk. He walks, with his shoulder at your shoulder, matching your pace. You stop. He stops, without you pulling. You walk on. He goes.

Looking for: transitions from your body rather than from the rope. Halt by stopping walking, not by hauling.

Why it matters: it is the exercise people skip because they assume their horse already leads, and it is the one that pays out most often. Every vet visit, every farrier appointment, every time you need to get past something he does not like.

Try walking a few metres, halting, walking on, halting, changing pace. If he is guessing, that is worth knowing before you are somewhere it matters.

5. Standing still

Yes, this is an exercise. No, most horses have not been taught it.

Ask him to halt, and then just stand there. Do not fiddle with him. Do not lead him off after four seconds. Stand next to your horse and let nothing happen.

Looking for: thirty seconds, then a minute, of genuine stillness. Not frozen and tense, just settled. Head lowering and a sigh are what you are after.

Why it matters: a horse who can stand is a horse who can be mounted safely, held at a gate, waited with, and left alone for a moment. And a horse who has learned that stillness is a legitimate answer is far easier to bring back down when he has got worried about something.

This is also the one riders find hardest, because doing nothing on purpose feels like wasting the session. It is not.

Putting it together

Ten minutes. Not every day, but often.

A sensible order is leading, then shoulders, then quarters, then backing up, then finish standing. That gets him moving, gets him listening, and ends somewhere calm.

The thing I would most like you to take from this is that none of this is separate from riding. Moving the quarters on the ground and moving them from the saddle are the same conversation held from different places. When a rider tells me their horse will not go sideways, my first question is usually whether he will do it in a headcollar, and often enough the answer is no. There is no point drilling something at trot that he does not yet understand standing still.

Frequently asked questions

How often should I do groundwork? Ten minutes, a few times a week, is more useful than a long session now and then. It is short enough to do before a ride rather than instead of one.

My horse already leads fine. Do I need this? Try the halt-and-walk-on test without touching the rope. Plenty of horses who lead perfectly well are actually reading the rope rather than you, and that difference shows up on the day something goes wrong.

Can I do this in a paddock or does it need an arena? A paddock is fine. Flat, safe footing and a space he is settled in is all it needs. None of these exercises cover much ground.

Is groundwork just for young or difficult horses? No. It is maintenance for any horse, and it is often the fastest route into a problem an experienced horse has developed. It is also one of the better things to do with a horse who cannot be ridden for a while.

What if he does not respond at all? Check you are asking clearly and that nothing physical is in the way, then build the ask gradually rather than sharply. If a horse consistently cannot do something you would expect him to manage, that is worth a conversation with your vet rather than more repetition.