Position Exercises: Mirroring in the saddle Part 2

The Second part of this Position Mirroring exercise is to ride straight lines. You can go down a long side of your arena, the quarter lines, or the center lines. You can also do this in a reasonably flat field. The Quarter and center lines are good because they are open on both sides and it's easier to feel if you and your horse drift a bit as well as  become aware of yours and your horses' Shoulder and Hips. First just ride straight and notice things. The drifts left and right. Is it more one way then the other? Don't try to fix just gather information. Ride the lines about 3 times. The next three times I want you to become aware of your hips and shoulders and them staying absolutely parallel the whole way down the line. What did you discover? What did your horse tell you? Keep playing with it and you can progress to trot and canter as you feel comfortable at each gait. If you have tried this exercise, I'd love to hear from you!
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Training Scale: Straightness

Straightness comes after Impulsion in the Training Scale and refers to Straightness in the body of the horse and not just going on a Straight line.

Straightness is confusing sometimes because it is about geometry and how the horses' geometry matches the shape you are riding. For example, If you are riding an actual straight line, the horse is literally straight from nose to tail. He is not looking left or right, and his shoulders and hips are parallel. This gets tricky when we want the same thing on a curve, circle or corner. Often on curves, horses shoulders or hips will be to the side of the shape you are riding. Try riding some straight lines and circles and see if you can notice this. A lot of riding is first learning how to feel and notice things and the figuring out how to visualize and ride the right thing.

If you have worked well in the Previous Training Scale elements, You should have a substantially straighter moving horse. Not perfect, but better. Remember as we add elements we continually dance back and forth with all of them until we can get them fairly consistent. There are lots of straightening exercises but as always I like to keep them simple and straight forward (no pun intended!). Riding pefectly straight lines is a great way to practice straightness and then graduate to curves which I think is harder. Best to get a feel for it on the straight line first.

Once you've found a spot to practice straight lines, pick a visual point to focus on like a dressage letter, cone, fence post, tree, husband, friend, etc. Start by riding toward it and just notice how straight or wiggly your horse feels. Keep riding the same line and gradually become aware of the your own body becoming straighter. Your shoulders stay parallel, and your hips stay parallel. Notice some more passes on the lines. What are you observing? As you improve your straightness, add some halts as this is a good way to learn square halts and practice stopping and starting straight on the same line. Here is a video of the exercise with a clip. Let me know how it goes in the comment section : ).
See clip at link below:
http://fdhorsetraining.com/Dressage.html
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3 Basic Seats part 1