The Difference Between Exercising Your Horse and Actually Training Them
Let me ask you something.
When you're working on your horse's crookedness — or their contact, or their way of going — does any of it actually get better?
Or do you find yourself starting from scratch every single session?
Be honest. 🦄
Because for most horse owners, the answer is the second one.
The crookedness that felt a little better on one rein last week is just as sticky this week.
The bend that you worked on for a whole session still needs working on again from scratch the next time.
The improvement just doesn't seem to carry over.
And it's not because you're doing anything wrong.
It's because there's a difference between exercising your horse and actually training them.
And most of us — without realising it — are doing a lot of the former and very little of the latter. ✨
Exercising your horse means moving their body.
Walk, trot, canter. Hack out. Simple schooling. Keep them fit, keep them moving, keep them going.
All of that is valuable. All of it has a place.
But exercising doesn't change the underlying patterns in your horse's body.
It doesn't retrain muscle memory.
It doesn't address the locked short side or the locked long side we talked about last week.
It doesn't build the specific neuromuscular pathways that create lasting change.
It just moves the horse through the patterns they already have. 🐎
Training is different.
Training means deliberately targeting something — a specific muscle group, a specific pattern, a specific movement — with the intention of changing it over time.
Training has a plan behind it.
Training progresses.
Training builds on itself so that Tuesday is genuinely better than Sunday, not just the same. ✨
And here's the crucial thing.
Standard walk, trot, canter work doesn't train your horse out of crookedness patterns.
Not because it isn't useful. But because of how those patterns are established and held in the body — the muscle memory, the compensation layers, the neuromuscular habits that standard ridden work simply reinforces rather than changes.
In fact, without the right foundation work alongside it, regular schooling can actually strengthen the crookedness patterns rather than reduce them. Your horse gets fitter and stronger — but in the posture and movement patterns they already have. Which means the negative posture gets stronger. The crookedness gets more established. The asymmetry becomes more ingrained with every session, not less.
It's the opposite of what we intend. And it's nobody's fault — it's just what happens when the underlying pattern isn't being specifically addressed.
To actually train the crookedness out of a horse, you need specific, targeted exercises that interrupt those patterns. 💪
Exercises that work both sides of the body deliberately.
Exercises that build the deep postural muscles that support correct movement.
Exercises that progress over time so the horse's body genuinely changes — not just feels better for a session and then resets to their default.
This is what separates the horses that steadily improve from the ones that always feel like they're starting from scratch.
Not talent.
Not breed.
Not even how much time you have.
The method behind what you're doing with that time. 🦄
If you want to make the shift from exercising to training — the Core Exercises Course is the foundation. Stable-based activation that specifically targets the deep postural muscles before every session — not just warming up, but actually changing the pattern over time.
Just £9 / $12 — lifetime access.
And if you want structured, evidence-based sessions in the arena — polework is one of the most targeted training tools you can add. Not trotting over random poles — but specific, purposeful exercises that activate core muscles, improve symmetry and build the kind of movement that actually carries between sessions.
Polework Exercises Course — just £35 / $45 — lifetime access.
And if you want to go really deep on this — to understand exactly how to build a structured training plan that actually changes your horse's crookedness patterns for good —
I'm running a free live training on Thursday 3rd September 7-8pm UK time.
Finally Understand Why Your Horse Is Crooked — And What To Do Next
One hour on Zoom. Free. And this is exactly what I'll be covering.
👉 Save your free spot: Click Here
I'd love to see you there. 🦄
And as always, if you have any questions, need help deciding which course is right for you and your horse, or want to chat about 1-2-1 support — just get in touch. I'd love to hear from you. 💛
