Ever feel stuck at one level, or maybe run out of ideas of what to do when you are riding? When I get into a rut it’s usually because there is something amiss in my riding that I am unaware of or have simply not addressed and it’s holding me back. Continuous patterns can be a great place to turn because they not only show us where we and our horses are struggling, but also help us learn how to correct it. For more on how riding patterns are so helpful, see my post “Riding Continuous Patterns for Advancement”.
The Pattern
The Compass is a pattern using four ground poles, each placed evenly around a circle, like a compass. I like to set my ground poles about 40 feet (for me about 20 steps) apart on the inside so the circle around the outside of the poles is roughly a 20-meter circle – a size which can suit most any size horse at any gait. You can certainly modify and go smaller for ponies, small-strided horses or beginner riders who will be sticking to a walk and trot, but be sure to leave a rideable size circle on the inside of the ground poles as well.
How to Begin
Always make warm up your horse before a pattern or more involved task. Then to get acquainted with the pattern, begin by walking the circle over the poles. Then pick-up a posting trot while you are between two of the poles. Continue your circle over the four poles at the trot. The ground poles serve as a test because he will only be able to cleanly, smoothly step over the poles on a continuous circle if he has both forward energy and balance, which can be seen in his bend. No bend, no balance.
Common Problem #1: If your horse takes choppy steps over the poles, he is likely not moving forward enough.
Solution: After about two circles over the ground poles, drift your horse to the outside of the ground poles and pick up a canter to get some energy flow from him. After one or two circles outside the poles at the canter, then bring him back to a posting trot and find a good spot to bring him back into the circle of ground poles and let him try again.
Common Problem #2: If your horse is knocking poles, he is likely not holding his bend to get to each pole straight.
Solution: After about two circles over the ground poles, bring your horse to the inside of the poles and ride several smaller circles at a sitting trot. The smaller circle and sitting trot will encourage him to shape his body better and balance himself. Then move him back to the circle over the poles at a posting trot.
Common Problem #3: Horse bypassing poles entirely, ducking to either the inside or outside to avoid them.
Solution: The horse that does this consistently is typically green, or otherwise not confident. He needs lots of support and conversation from his rider. Make sure you have good contact in your reins and that you are using your legs to guide his body appropriately. Inside leg should be very present on any kind of circle, but your outside leg can help keep your horse from running out of the circle – so both legs have jobs. My solution for this horse is to do the whole pattern; meaning start with the ground poles, then alternate moving the horse inside and outside of the circle and back to the poles to give him opportunities to understand forward and bending.
Only go as fast as you can be successful with this horse and build your pace with your success rates over multiple rides. Whether the issue is truly a training deficit on the horse’s end or if he does not feel confident in his rider’s ability to guide him, the continuous nature of a circle allows lots of opportunity for a riding pair to fix themselves.
Beginner rider or green horse adaptation
This pattern can be easily adapted to the beginner rider in a number of ways. Riders can alternate between trotting the ground poles and walking the inside of the circle or walking the ground poles and trotting around the outside of the circle. The poles make a nice landmark to aid in remembering to steer the horse and a circle can naturally help to keep the horse’s pace steadier.
Advanced horse and rider adaptation
For the more advanced riding pair, the entire pattern can be performed at a canter, with a medium canter over the poles, and extended canter around the outside and a collected canter around the inside. For intermediate and advanced hunter/jumpers, raising the poles to small jumps can be a fabulous exercise and fitness routine.
Another way to change up the focus
This might appeal to dressage, ranch riding or show ring pleasure riders in particular. Once your horse is pretty confident with the Compass itself, you can add more transitions in between the ground poles, using the ground poles as your test as to whether you are maintaining good rhythm and balance in your transitions to step over the next pole cleanly. You definitely want to use the full-sized pattern, or even move the ground poles out to a 20-meter circle for this version, depending on the size of your horse’s stride and training level. The smaller the circle is, the harder it is to perform correctly.
Additional Notes
As always, end on a good note! If just walking and trotting the pattern is difficult, and you get one good lap over the poles – praise your horse and be done for the day, or at least go do something else. You can always come back and work on it some more another day with a fresh mind. Remember to build success upon success. Even the smallest successes are better building blocks than battles.
This pattern can be fairly taxing so be mindful of your horse’s exercise tolerance. Don’t be afraid to give your horse walking breaks away from the pattern to think on things and catch his breath before trying again or switching directions.
Even if this exercise sounds unrelated to what you do, or perhaps much too similar to things you have done before, I encourage you to give it at least one focused ride and just see what the outcome is. At worst, this is a fabulous workout for your horse and at best it could help show you the missing link in your pursuit to improve. Usually in riding patterns like this one I can find something to latch onto and work.
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By all means work your horse – with purpose. But never, ever push your horse to a point where he quits trying for you. Keep it positive and achievable for your horse.
