I’ve decided not to jump until the hospitals are less overwhelmed and I’m finding it really hard to get motivated to hack my horse. She’s so broke and easy on the flat that she’s kind of boring. I’m a goal oriented person and I feel like I don’t have any goals right now since there’s nothing more I can teach her on the flat short of piaffe and passage, there aren’t any shows, or even the goal to keep my horse fit and ready to lesson/jump since that seems so far off too. For those who are still able to ride, what’s your motivation? What are your favorite flat exercises?
Find some dressage tests, practice the parts and then put the whole thing together. It is a bit like jumping, you need a flow and you can’t stop to fix something once you commit to doing the test. Fun!
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I’m a huge fan of poles. I spent a good couple months (before this crisis) having lessons focusing mainly on poles and small caveletti and I found it made a massive difference when I started jumping again. I had a much better understanding of track and how to lengthen/shorten appropriately. Depending on the day we might do something like set two poles and work on shortening and lengthening or set a small course of poles and practice doing the different options. Another fun thing is to place four poles in a circle (can also be adjusted to two poles) with 4 strides in between and practice your track and pace. It’s deceptively hard but such a good exercise!
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Your horse is broke in the ring. Congratulations! Do you have hacking? Now is a good time to work on fitness and her education outside the ring. The goal is to see new things.
I always find that watching reruns of the Maclay finals flat phase inspires me to get more precise in my aids.
Pretend it’s November, drop your stirrups.
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I can totally relate! My mare is also too easy to flat and quickly grows bored like me. (which leads to silly small spooks…by her not me!). I work on ME during my riding time now. I drop my stirrups and sit and post. I work on my posture and position. With poles, I work on keeping my eyes up (bad habit of watching the pole/jump…ammy!), leg on, straight, track, pace.
With my mare, I work on her habit of drifting to the inside. We do circles, patterns, dressage “tests”, lateral work, serpentines–anything to get her more supple, aware of my aids, moving off my leg…listening to me but not anticipating me.
I love poles too! My mare stepped down from an active AA show schedule with her previous owner to being my “old lady on the safest thing we could find” horse who now has to manage smaller jumps and lots of poles, which she had to be sort of re-taught to do. Still a bit of work in progress for both of us, so this time to bond and build a relationship has been good. I took a full month off, but now am riding solo on the flat twice a week (and man do we have protocols in place at our barn! Kudos to staff!!).
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OP, tell us more about your situation. Do you have your horse at home or at a commercial barn? What facilities are available to you (i.e., trails, grass fields, quiet roads, etc.)?
My horses are at home. I have trails and a mile long driveway and fields to hack around, so we get out of the ring whenever the footing is good and I can convince my DH to take his horse out with me. I’m not comfortable riding out alone.
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I vote for groundwork! There are tons of videos on YouTube of exercises you can do together. Personally (and several COTHers seem to agree with this) would recommend Warwick Schiller videos. There’s some interesting work on building the relationship with your horse. This is something new for me and I’m enjoying the challenge. My horse seems to find it mildly amusing, too.
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There are virtual dressage shows happening, I can dig up a link if you want one. Spend an afternoon setting poles to mark off a dressage ring (you could always do an eventing test if you only have room for a small ring vs a large standard ring). Work on a test, get DH to video you, send it in for comments and a score.
I feel you on the motivation thing. Hang in there.
Does your horse know how to neck rein? Can you open, ride through, and close a gate with your hand remaining on the gate the whole time? Can you back up through an L shaped chute?
Riding out out alone is such a different experience than with another horse and rider. You and your horse are so much more in tune with each other and your surroundings. You might try a little bit here and there.
Ride bareback and do your flat work that way? Bareback pads help. I find doing that is great for my connection and balance and also fitness.
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It doesn’t always have to be a mounted education 
work on the ground with obstacles - tarps, bridges, hulahoops, liberty work. Then to mounted obstacles - backing through an “L”, walk over a bridge, walk the plank, etc. This is great stuff for bonding and building trust. Make the bridge a rocker bridge. Use two jump standards and a rope to make a gate you must pass through. Use a tarp as water to cross with heavy sticks to navigate through. Pool noodles to pass through,
Maybe take this time to work on yourself? There are always ways to improve! When I have been hacking out, I have forced myself to drop my irons, and as much as it has made me miserable, I am beginning to feel more secure in the saddle. (I have also been trying to work out at home, and that has helped as well.) And I agree with what has been said above as well. Try to search up some fun pole exercises, or get creative and make your own. Work on lengthening and shortening, being more precise with the aids. Look up some dressage tests or make your own, and ride or teach those. I recently taught my youngster leg yields and it has really helped with his suppleness! For those of us lucky enough to ride, we will all benefit from all of this flatwork with our horses. It will pay off in the future, even if it doesn’t feel like it now!
Good Luck!
So many great ideas! Hope you are feeling motivated! I do best when I have some type of lesson plan in mind before going to the barn. Cavaletti, obstacles, hacking out, hill work, round pen work, etc. Heck, I even trail some of my husband’s roping steers! It’s fun to mix it up and it can keep both you and your horse fresh. My favorite go to book is “101 Dressage Exercises for Horse & Rider.” It’s filled with tons of ideas! For me, I’m working on fitness - Pilates for myself and lots of long trotting for the boys. That way, when things level out, we are ready! ðŸ‡ðŸ˜€
