Julie, I believe I understand what you are aiming to accomplish: You just need to:

1. Practice more.
2. Change your timing… as the horse improves.
3. Go both ways of the pen…using many different patterns.
4. Vary the gaits as you do 3. (what’s 3????)
5. Mix it up!

Take colored duct tape and mark your pen. I use four colors…makes it easier to mentally picture your next turn. I use green, blue, yellow and red. The middle of every other panel gets a color. The ‘solid’ are three bands of duct tape…the panels directly opposite get ‘two strips’ with a space between.

I start with a solid green on the gate…because gate starts with "g" as does green. Going to the right…skip one panel, the next gets a solid strip of red in the middle of that panel. Skip a panel, then a strip of solid yellow, skip the next panel and then a solid strip of blue. After you skip the next panel, you should be directly across from the GATE! This panel gets two short strips of green separated with a space. Continue the sequence with the red, yellow and blue tape. Don’t forget to skip a panel in between. When finished you will have panels with ‘solid color’ and directly across from each a panel with the same color with ‘two strips’. (Provided of course that you have 15 panels and a gate!)

Now when you ask for a turn at solid red…you know that dashed red is directly behind you…if you want to do a turn there. It helps you mentally prepare your next maneuver!

Why do the colors have to be in the order of green, red, yellow and blue? Simply because that’s how I remember them and also it’s my idea and this is my article (and so I can make the rules)! Also, green on the gate in nautical terms is "starboard", red to its left is the "port" side of the boat. Next are yellow and blue…and every Montessori alum knows that yellow and blue make GREEN and that is where you started! Also, red and green go together…they’re Christmas colors! Of course, you can be morbid and use black and blue (brown and red) which is what you’ll be if you and your horse collide! Actually, I’m just messing with your mind. BUT it makes perfect sense to me… knowing the sequence of colors lets me plan and be prepared for the perfect place to ask so I can help the horse answer correctly.

The colors are helpful for my students. I ask them to call out the color of their next turn. It keeps them aware …lets them know how much in advance to make their request to turn and if the horse turns late or early how and where to adjust their requests. It’s obvious where the horse turned and how close it was to the announced target.

First understand the ground rules! Before you start ‘ My Color Exercises’, your horse must be doing inside and outside turns at specific spots. When I say specific, I mean the nose should be exactly where you want it. If you say ‘inside turn at YELLOW’ but he’s already five feet past yellow…just keep practicing. By getting pickier and not being satisfied with a general turn, your horse will become more responsive. Soon you will notice that he begins to turn earlier than you want…like three feet before yellow. Now you need to adjust your request again…giving him more time to get to YELLOW before asking. Asking for turns at specific spots means you’re cleaning up your cues and timing and your horse starts to notice the difference, too. Your signals are becoming clearer to him. At first he was less responsive to your cue and was over running YELLOW. Then he began to get more responsive turning before YELLOW. Now it’s up to you to fine tune your cues!

The following exercises will help you become aware of your horse’s responsiveness to your cues. You may find that your horse has favorite and less favorite parts of the pen. You may see ‘a problem with sides’…one way turning before the color and the other way running past the color. You will be able to improve this and other annoying habits such as cutting sides etc.

1. Use the colors…Going left

   Make an inside turn at single yellow, inside turn at double yellow, inside turn at single blue, inside turn at double blue, inside turn at single yellow, inside turn at double yellow, inside turn at single red, inside turn at double red…now you are back to green. What you did is move around the round pen to the left…

2. Use the colors…Going right

   Do what you did above…just the other way around!

3. Use the colors and crawl left…

   Starting first in the single colors…you will work your way around the pen. These turns will be done at a jog or walk. Start at the solid green gate, inside turn at double

   yellow, inside turn at double blue, inside turn at double red, inside turn at double yellow, inside turn at double green, inside turn at solid red, inside turn at solid blue, inside turn at double green, inside turn at solid yellow, inside turn at solid blue, inside turn at solid red, inside turn at solid yellow, inside turn at the solid green gate. (You’re back at the starting point.)

4. Use the colors and crawl right…

   Same thing you just did in (3)…just the other way. At a walk and jog.

5. Do exercises 4 & 5 and narrow panels down. You will be walking

11. MiX ThEm Up!

    Now is when I ask the horse to turn at the colors…I just mix up the turns. You can do most of these at a walk and jog, but ask the turns get smaller…your horse will be walking.

    a. Going left, inside turn at double yellow, inside turn at single red, outside turn at double red, outside turn at solid yellow. This has given you two inside turns and two outside turns.

    b. Next, if you are still with me…your horse is heading to the left. Inside turn at double blue…ask immediately for him to do an outside turn…before he completes that inside turn. It will look like a loop-t-loop and he will have done the outside turn at the same double blue and he is miraculously STILL moving to the left. When he now gets to the solid blue (across the arena from the double blue) ask him for an outside turn at the solid blue, immediately ask him for an inside turn at the same solid blue point…what do you know…he is still going to the left.

    c. Now, let’s get even more tricky! (Complicated if you are totally lost.) Ask him to do an inside turn at solid red, then an inside turn at solid yellow…immediately into a outside turn at solid yellow, then another outside turn at solid blue…immediately into an inside turn at solid blue, then an inside turn at green. Horse is going again to the left! If you can get this you are ready to move on to 12.

12. Micro movements: yielding the shoulders…with horse focused & glued on you.

You will notice that your horse has become soft, responsive and attentive to your every move. Your cues should be pretty much unnoticeable to anyone watching you and your horse, but your horse is still aware of them! You may also see a connection between this feel and the feel of the Directional Control Lesson (AKA: WESN).

Some concepts in training are really hard to see without a demo or illustrations. This is one of them. I hope you understand this and don’t rip it up in frustration…that will only damage your computer monitor! Good luck in all of your horse adventures!

In addition to classes held at The Farm, I travel throughout Wisconsin, Illinois, Minnesota and Iowa. If you’d like additional information about classes with your horse or mine, you can reach me at 608-868-5432, thefarm@ticon.net or learn more about what we have to offer: boarding, training, Paso Finos for sale by visiting our farm Website.