THE CANTER ZIG ZAG So, you're thinking about moving your horse up to Intermediare II. Congratulations! It's an exciting step. You've been schooling all the movements and systematically building up to this point. Everything is falling into place so you're completely dumbfounded when you go to put those counter changes of hand in half pass together and everything falls apart. Don't be too hard on yourself. We've all been there. Now I know I have this reputation for positive thinking to uphold...and, really, I don't mean to be negative...but let's think about this movement that's called the counter change of hand...this thing we've so fondly nicknamed the canter zigzag. Twenty-four strides. Yep! Twenty-four chances to make a mistake. Ride any one stride poorly, and it's sure to have a ripple effect throughout the rest of the movement. I've ridden zig zags where I've made a mistake on the third stride and feel like I'm playing catch-up for the rest of the movement.--kind of like the way a snowball gains momentum as it goes down a mountain. And then you wonder, "Where's the justice?" What kind of distorted law of equity grants a simple flying change at X the same 10 points as those 24 zig zag strides? Let's take inventory of everything you have to do to earn a mere 6--a satisfactory score. First you need to ride a decent half pass in both directions. The bend must be uniform from tail to poll, and your horse should bend equally easily in both directions. Plus, he needs to be aligned correctly. Specifically, his body should be parallel to the rail, but with the forehand ever so slightly in advance of the hindquarters. And while you're concentrating on all this bend and angle stuff, keep in mind the quality of the canter. You'll want an active canter with a clear 3-beat rhythm rather than one that progressively degenerates into a flat 4-beats. In between each of those half passes, you're required to do a clean flying change. It s even better if those changes are big, forward, and uphill. And don't forget about geometry. Each of those half passes should cover the same amount of ground so that the zigzag is equidistant from the centerline on both sides. And, to top it all off, you have to count strides! Four to the left, 8 to the right, 8 back to the left, and four to the right. That s a lot of work for just a 6. Can you believe it? Oh? You say you'd like a 7? Try covering more ground sideways or ride more expressive flying changes without losing any of those qualities that gave you that 6.
What's that? You say you'd like an 8, 9, or 10? What hubris! Okay. Well, do everything that gave you a 7, and then collect your horse more. You know, collection...the loading of the hind legs...the shifting of the center of gravity towards the haunches. In theory collection sounds fairly simple. But think about the challenge here. Your horse would be perfectly balanced if all he had to cope with were legs and a body. But if your horse is like my horse, he has a head and neck stuck out on the end of this body. It's because of this "appendage" stuck out in front of him (which, by the way, can weigh at least a couple hundred pounds) that he's built with his balance to the forehand. Now I realize that variables like conformation and breed cause some horses to be built more to the forehand than others. But the fact is that if your horse has a head and neck, his center of gravity is more towards his forehand. So, here's the dilemma. It's against the nature of the horse to collect. (No, Virginia. I did NOT say dressage is a crime against nature.) I'm just saying you've really got your work cut out for you as you plan to collect and sustain that collection throughout those 24 strides of the zig zag. That's the bad news, and thank you for letting me vent. Now, here's the good news. We're gonna break those 24 strides down into details, and I'm going to walk you through it one step at a time. While learning the zig zag, you won't have to eat the whole pie at once. You'll digest it piece by piece so that it's manageable. GETTING READY TO GET READY The neat thing about these preliminary exercises is that you can do them months ahead of attempting an entire zigzag. You'll simply be laying a solid foundation for the movement. Exercise #1: The Half Pass Check the quality of your half passes by riding travers in canter down the long side. Take care that your horse flexes at the poll to the inside, bends around your inner leg, and travels on three tracks where his outside hind leg lines up behind his inside foreleg. Make sure his front feet are pointed straight ahead parallel to the wall as if he's simply cantering down the long side on a single track. Also, check that you re not overbending his neck to the inside by keeping his forehead perpendicular to the wall. When you can do good travers on the wall, turn onto the diagonal. Imagine that the diagonal is just as solid as the wall and ride travers on the diagonal line. Your aids and
the feeling from your horse should be the same as when you were on the rail. Check that his front feet and his ears are pointed straight towards the letter you're aiming at (K, F, H or M). If you find that the position of the front feet has shifted and they're aiming towards the corner or even towards A or C, you've lost the bend. Exercise #2: The Turn Down the Centerline A correct turn will set you up for your first half pass. In preparation for the turn, practice collecting your horse as if you were going to canter on the spot. Do the turn itself in "first position" where the inside hind leg steps ever so slightly to the inside of the inside foreleg. This allows you to be straight as well as collected. If you don't love your turn, go back and do it as many times as necessary until you can do it easily. This is a very important detail that contributes to a well executed zig zag. Exercise #3: Shoulder-fore on the Centerline Canter the entire centerline in shoulder-fore. Be sure you can do it on both leads, and your horse doesn't drift to the left or right of the centerline. This is a straightening as well as a control of the inside hind leg exercise. It insures that your horse is straight, engages the inside hind, is between your aids, and waits for you before stepping sideways. Anticipating sideways movement means that he's taking over and is probably running through your inner leg. If he's running through your inner leg, chances are he's unloading his inside hind leg, and you've lost collection. Exercise #4: Half Pass to Travers The purpose of this exercise is to make sure you have control of your horse's inside hind leg as well as making you aware of your new inside leg. It gives you lots of time to get organized while working out your horse's positioning and the application of your aids. And it's helpful for the keen horse that likes to take over during the movement as it makes him listen and wait for you to give the signals. Remember that this is simply a schooling exercise. The final zigzag won't look anything like this. The exercise has 4 parts, and you'll want to be able to do it in both directions.
1. Come down the centerline in left lead canter in first position. When you feel in control of the left hind leg, start a left half pass. 2. Interrupt the half pass and canter straight forward in a SLIGHT travers left. During this step you've stopped moving sideways towards the long side and are now headed towards the short side. The forehand will be moving parallel to the long side, and your horse is flexed and bent to the left. Think about your right leg here. 3. Keep the haunches slightly over to the left, but straighten your horse's neck. Maintain the focus on your right leg. Keep it in close contact with your horse's side as it slides forward onto the girth. 4. When you feel in control of the right hind leg, ask for the flying change and STAY IN RIGHT SHOULDER-FORE parallel to the long side for several more strides. As you're able to do the exercise easily, gradually decrease the number of strides between the second and third step. Do this exercise in both directions. THE AIDS Now let's zero in on the half pass and flying change aids. Once you've completed the turn onto the centerline, bend your horse and take him sideways by stepping down into the inside iron, pressing lightly with your outside leg and bringing your outer fist towards the withers. Although all of your aids have a job, the predominant aids in the half pass are inner leg and outer rein. If you use your outside leg too strongly, you'll risk pushing the hindquarters in advance and losing collection. Also, pressing with a strong outer leg can make your body weight shift to the outside. Instead, use the outer leg to initiate sideways movement and to help maintain the bend around the inner leg and support the outside leg with the outside hand and by sitting in the direction of movement. If you find yourself getting "left behind" and your body weight is over to the outside, visualize taking your outside seatbone and placing it in the middle of the saddle. This will help you to get yourself centered and in balance.
Don't worry about counting strides at this point. Just do a good half pass to the left. After a few strides, change your focus from your left leg to your right leg as you step into that slight haunches-in position. Your right leg, which will become the new inner leg, starts to slide forward on the girth as you begin to straighten your horse. Make sure you don't take this leg off. Keep it in close contact with his side as it slides forward. You'll have the feeling of riding from this new inner leg to your new outer rein. The pressure of the inside leg on the girth will be used both to make the flying change big and expressive as well as being used in the very next stride of a zigzag for the bend of the half pass. As a schooling exercise, ride several strides, which are straight ahead at a slight angle to the long side. Be sure that you feel in control of the right hind leg and there is no sensation of the horse leaning on or "falling through" your right leg. When you're ready to change, maintain control of the right hind with a firm right leg on the girth so that the change is forward, straight and engaged. Keeping that right leg firmly in place, give the aid for the change by bringing the left leg behind the girth in a windshield wiper-like action. At that same moment, quickly close your left hand in a fist as if you're snatching a fly out of the air and soften the right hand forward. Your horse should land with his body in a shoulder-fore position. If you get overly anxious and bend your horse during the change, it will suffer by being short, on the forehand, or even late behind. Once you've done your flying change, ride a few strides of right shoulder-fore as a control-of-the-right-hind-leg exercise. As soon as you know your horse is waiting and listening to your inner leg, bend him around your right leg and take him sideways by stepping down into the new inside iron and by placing your left fist towards the withers. Think about placing your left seatbone in the middle of the saddle as you step down into the right iron. After a few strides to the right, think about making him straight in preparation for the change back to the left. Transfer your focus into your left leg as it slides forward. When your horse is at a slight angle to the rail, ask for the change by pressing your left leg on the girth while your right leg swings behind the girth. At that moment, close your right hand in a fist and soften your left hand forward. For schooling purposes, ride shoulder-fore until you feel in control of the left hind and your horse doesn't anticipate going sideways. COUNTING
Now you need to learn how to count. I find the easiest way is to think of the first three half passes in the zig zag as 2-6-6 rather than 4-8-8. The 2-6-6 steps are very bent and sideways. On stride 3 of the first half pass and stride 7 of the second and third half passes, begin to straighten your horse. By strides 4 and 8, your horse should have his haunches slightly toward the wall and his neck should be straight so his whole body is at a slight angle to the wall. It s during this step that you give the aid for the flying change. It takes a moment for your horse to compute and react to the aid so he'll change on the first step of each of the next "zags". Your horse's body should remain straight (at a slight angle to the wall) during the flying change. Wait until the second stride to bend him and take him sideways. Learn how to count out loud in a regular rhythm while saying, "1-2-straight-change, 1-2-3-4-5-6-straight-change, 1-2-3-4-5-6-straight-change, 1-2-3-4. Repeat this over and over until counting becomes automatic. Pretty soon the words "straight" and "change" will cue your body to do the right thing automatically. "Straight" will trigger you to focus on your new inner leg, and "change" will signal you to give the actual aid for the flying change. You can even practice cantering this zigzag on foot while counting out loud. It saves a lot of wear and tear on your horse while you're learning the thought process involved in counting. You'll also want to learn how to feel the position of the horse's body so that you can keep your eyes fixed on C. Looking at C will help you to ride equidistant from both sides of the centerline. Crossing T's and Dotting I's Congratulations! You've fit the whole thing in before running out of arena, and you counted every stride. Your half passes and changes were commendable so you let out a big sigh of relief and think, "Phew! We're done." Right? Wrong. Make sure you finish by cantering straight forward on the centerline before riding an organized flying change at G. Now you're done, and the finished product looks polished from the first turn onto the centerline to that final flying change. When dissected into its parts, the zigzag doesn't seem so overwhelming. Just break it down into details and take yourself through it a
piece at a time. When organized and well executed, it flows quite beautifully. So, dance with your partner and go for those 8's, 9's and 10's!