What does it mean ‘ the corner is your friend’? When I was a teenager and riding in the jumpers my coach always said: “The corner is your friend” He meant that it was my chance to look ahead and get my horse prepared for whatever was coming next.
Today I watched Lynsey Rowan have a lesson on my horse Biasini. Belinda told her she wanted to work on the corners! There can be so many details in each corner.
Lynsey warmed Biasini up with a stretching trot.
Then she and Belinda talked about what they would work on that day. Riding the corners was what Belinda wanted to see Lynsey work on. They started with some canter work.
Here is a video of Lynsey cantering a corner.
Then they moved on to working on the start of the Intermediare 2 dressage test. Lynsey will be competing in this test with the other horse she rides later this summer. Here is a video of the entrance , a nice square halt and left turn to extended trot across the diagonal. Then centerline and half pass.
Once again I was not riding but there was much for me to learn . I know that corners are very important and just as my jumper coach said they can be my “friend” where I can get my horse together and prepare for what is coming next. It is also a pleasure to see riders like Belinda and Lynsey ride my horse. Just FYI Lynsey had Biasini out to the forest yesterday and where there were some tree trunks down on the trails….she just asked Biasini to canter or trot on and he jumped them easily! He is a multi purpose dressage horse.
HorseAddict 
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