101 Drill Team Exercises for Horse & Rider

Edited by Sarah Guare and Deborah Burns

Art direction & book design by Cynthia N. McFarland

Text production by Liseann Karandisecky

Cover & interior photography by © William Shepley, except for back cover & page 1 by © Phelps/Hathaway Enterprises, Inc.

Arena diagrams by Chuck Galey, with additional illustrations for Exercises 8 and 16 by Bethany Caskey

Riders in chapter opener photos: Riata Ranch Cowboy Girls

Indexed by Christine R. Lindemer, Boston Road Communications

© 2009 by Debbie Sams

Special thanks to Heather Comerate of Drill Fever!, www.drill-fever.com, for initial photography research.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages or reproduce illustrations in a review with appropriate credits; nor may any part of this book be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or other—without written permission from the publisher.

The information in this book is true and complete to the best of our knowledge. All recommendations are made without guarantee on the part of the author or Storey Publishing. The author and publisher disclaim any liability in connection with the use of this information. For additional information, please contact Storey Publishing, 210 MASS MoCA Way, North Adams, MA 01247.

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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA

Kay Sams, Debbie.

101 drill team exercises for horse and rider / by Debbie Sams.

   p. cm.

Includes index.

ISBN 978-1-60342-143-0 (paper with comb bdg. : alk. paper)

1. Horses—Training. 2. Horsemanship. I. Title. II. Title:

One hundred one drill team exercises for horse and rider.

III. Title: One hundred and one drill team exercises for horse and rider.

SF287.K29 2009

798.2—dc22

2009001485

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The mission of Storey Publishing is to serve our customers by publishing practical information that encourages personal independence in harmony with the environment.

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CONTENTS

Introduction

ONE Basics of Drill Team Riding

1. Move Off & Halt

2. Closed & Open Formation

3. The Z

4. Square Corner

5. Partners

6. Riding Corners in Pairs

7. Tricycling

TWO Curves

CIRCLES

8. Circle/Turn through the Circle

9. Goggles

10. Bubble

CURVES

11. The Wave

12. Powwow

13. Carousel Pairs

14. Spinner Carousel

15. Synchronized Circle Pairs on Diagonal

16. Circle Right

17. Add & Subtract

18. Heart

19. Fishhook

20. Half-Circles to Pairs

21. Freeway Ramp

22. Mama & Twins

23. Opposing Carousel Turn-Through

24. Figure 8 with Merge

25. Do-Si-Do

26. Four-Leaf Clover

27. Four Reverses & Four Lines into One

28. Wedding Ring

29. Swing Your Partner

30. Reel to Reel

31. Spin-Off Carousel

32. Pierce the Circle

33. Carousel Switch-Up

SPIRALS

34. Simple Spiral

35. Cinnamon Buns

36. Swirly Melt

37. Chocolate-Vanilla Swirl

SERPENTINES

38. Three-Loop Serpentine

39. Serpentine to Centerline

40. Hourglass

41. Quarter-Line Serpentine

42. Double Serpentine

43. Dizzy Serpentine

44. Gopher Holes

WHIPS AND WHEELS

45. Whip

46. Whip Away

47. Pinwheel

48. Four-Spoke Wheel

49. Four-Spoke Suicide Wheel

50. Wheel to Thread-the-Needle

THREE Linear Exercises

OBLIQUES

51. Single-File Oblique

52. Abreast Oblique

53. Reverse & Merge Back on the Diagonal

54. Centerline Meld

55. Bow Tie

56. Split Oblique

57. Oblique Merge

58. Fork

59. This Way & That

60. Head On

61. Oblique Suicide

ABREAST

62. Abreast Columns

63. Salute

ARROWS

64. Arrow

65. Broken Arrow

66. Double Arrow

67. Butterfly Arrow

68. Metamorphosis

SWEEPS

69. Abreast Sweep

70. Sprinkler

71. Peel the Apple

72. Posse Roll

73. Tumble & Sweep

LINEAR

74. Pairs Split

75. Star

76. Meet & Greet

FOUR Interlacing

WEAVES

77. Sewing Machine

78. Single-File Weave

79. Zipper

80. Basket Weave

81. Circle Weave

82. Pairs Basket Weave

THREAD THE NEEDLE

83. Thread the Needle

84. Thread the Cross

85. Interlocking Lines

86. Shazzam

87. Thread the Line

88. The Box

89. Four-Way Box

90. Thread to Buttonhole

91. Double Thread

92. Four-Way Thread

93. Thread & Do-Si-Do

SUICIDES

94. Simple Suicide

95. Suicide Merge

96. Warriors Advance

97. Suicide to Arrow

98. Suicide Do-Si-Do

99. Arrow to Suicide

100. Beehive

101. Pinwheel Fan

FIVE Drills

D1. Good Vibrations

D2. The Accordion

D3. Peel the Apple

D4. Threads & Pinwheels

D5. Powwow

D6. Starlight Express

D7. Lines & Reels

D8. Winter Wildness

D9. Do-Si-Do

D10. Zip

Glossary

Index

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INTRODUCTION

DRILL TEAM EXERCISES are fun and a good way to improve your riding skills and to enhance your horse’s training. They foster commitment, leadership, teamwork, and good horsemanship.

Riders of all disciplines with horses of all breed types can use the exercises in this book, which have been designed for groups of four to twelve riders. These exercises can even be used in designing individual freestyle patterns.

Components of a Good Drill

Riders know that their drills are done well when they look easy to the audience. Drills should flow smoothly and evenly from one exercise to the next.

Riders should exhibit even rating and spacing. Thread the Needle, for example, should look as if two very straight, evenly spaced lines mysteriously penetrate each other and then emerge as straight as they were. For a magical look, riders should avoid swerving, yanking, or kicking.

STARTING A DRILL TEAM

It is essential that your drill team have:

Ground Work and Direction Walk through the drill on the ground to learn new moves or to refresh the riders’ memory before the mounted practice. This is a good time to go over adjustments to improve the visual or technical aspects of the drill. On the ground, it’s easy to stop, back up, or reposition partway through an exercise. An unmounted drillmaster is crucial. She is the team’s eye on the ground. Riders are directed through the pattern by the drillmaster, who must have a view of the team as a whole. At difficult spots, break down your steps and do the exercise several times until everyone feels comfortable performing it. The drillmaster should remember to solicit feedback from team members, who will often have great ideas for improving the drill. Most importantly, remember to laugh at yourselves! Your drill practice is guaranteed not to go perfectly every time, but that’s part of the fun. Place Safety First When you are riding a drill, safety should always be paramount. Here are some rules that will help keep you safe. CHAPTER ONE BASICS OF DRILL TEAM RIDING AT EACH OF YOUR TEAM’S first few practices, you will do well to go over the basic exercises outlined in this chapter. Review them again every year and every time a new member joins your team. They will help your team to ride with accuracy and precision. Once you’ve mastered the basic moves, you can increase the level of difficulty. For example, a simple centerline move could incorporate haunches-in, shoulder-in, or tempo changes. A straightforward serpentine could become a counter-canter. Small circles could become rollbacks, turns on the forehand, turns on the haunches, or spins. Obliques could become leg yields, haunches-in, or half-passes. You can also increase the speed at which you perform it to make an exercise more difficult. Follow these five tips for mounted work: 1. Walk through the first four or five exercises. 2. After riding through several exercises in a drill, such as numbers 1 through 4, begin again with Exercise 1 but go through to Exercise 7, and so on, increasing the number completed each time. 3. Ride the entire drill at a walk. 4. After the riders have a good general idea of the exercises, trot the simple exercises and continue to walk the more difficult ones. 5. Gradually work up to doing the whole drill at performance speed. This can be entirely at trot or canter, or you may choose to mix it up. RULES FOR DRILL TEAM RIDERS BASICS OF DRILL TEAM RIDING EXERCISE 1 ♦ Move Off & Halt Practice moving off and halting as a unit. BASICS OF DRILL TEAM RIDING 1. Move Off & Halt STARTING POINT BASICS OF DRILL TEAM RIDING EXERCISE 2 ♦ Closed & Open Formation This exercise gives practice in transitioning into and out of drill movements and working as a team. BASICS OF DRILL TEAM RIDING 2. Closed & Open Formation SETUP Closed Formation. Horses stand about 1 meter (3 feet) apart. When riders look between their horses’ ears, they should see the top of the tail in front of them. Open Formation. Horses stand about one length apart. When riders look through their horses’ ears, they should see the fetlocks of the horse in front of them. STARTING POINT BASICS OF DRILL TEAM RIDING EXERCISE 3 ♦ The Z BASICS OF DRILL TEAM RIDING 3. The Z STARTING POINT BASICS OF DRILL TEAM RIDING EXERCISE 4 ♦♦ Square Corner BASICS OF DRILL TEAM RIDING 4. Square Corner STARTING POINT Keystone Dressage and Combined Training Association of Central Pennsylvania BASICS OF DRILL TEAM RIDING EXERCISE 5 ♦♦ Partners PAIRS ON CENTERLINE BASICS OF DRILL TEAM RIDING 5. Partners PAIRS ON CENTERLINE STARTING POINT BASICS OF DRILL TEAM RIDING EXERCISE 6 ♦♦ Riding Corners in Pairs BASICS OF DRILL TEAM RIDING 6. Riding Corners in Pairs STARTING POINT BASICS OF DRILL TEAM RIDING EXERCISE 7 ♦ Tricycling Ride this any time when you are doing pairs but have an odd number of participants. BASICS OF DRILL TEAM RIDING 7. Tricycling BACKWARD TRICYCLE STARTING POINT Keystone Dressage and Combined Training Association of Central Pennsylvania CHAPTER TWO CURVES TO CORRECTLY RIDE A CIRCLE, bend the horse along the arc of the circle to create balance. To ensure that your horse is balanced, communicate Bending, Rating, Accuracy, and Timing, which will improve overall Teamwork (BRATT). Bending When your horse is bending, his spine should follow the line of travel. Keep in mind that the inside is the side closer to the center of the circle or turn and the outside is the opposite side. CIRCLES EXERCISE 8 ♦ Circle/Turn through the Circle CIRCLES CIRCLE 8. Circle/Turn through the Circle CIRCLES STARTING POINT CIRCLES EXERCISE 9 ♦ Goggles CIRCLES 9. Goggles STARTING POINT CIRCLES EXERCISE 10 ♦ Bubble CIRCLES 10. Bubble STARTING POINT Fort Worth, Texas CIRCLES EXERCISE 11 ♦♦ The Wave CURVES 11. The Wave STARTING POINT CURVES EXERCISE 12 ♦♦ Powwow IN CREASING DIFFICULTY: SLIDING STOP CURVES 12. Powwow STARTING POINT CURVES EXERCISE 13 ♦♦ Carousel Pairs CURVES 13. Carousel Pairs STARTING POINT Royal Canadian Mounted Police Ontario, Canada KEEP IN MIND CURVES EXERCISE 14 ♦♦ Spinner Carousel CURVES 14. Spinner Carousel STARTING POINT Fort Worth, Texas KEEP IN MIND CURVES EXERCISE 15 ♦♦ Synchronized Circle Pairs on the Diagonal CURVES 15. Synchronized Circle Pairs on the Diagonal STARTING POINT CURVES EXERCISE 16 ♦♦ Circle Right CURVES 16. Circle Right STARTING POINT CURVES EXERCISE 17 ♦♦ Add & Subtract on a Circle CURVES 17. Add & Subtract on a Circle STARTING POINT Fort Worth, Texas CURVES EXERCISE 18 ♦♦ Heart VARIATION: HEART TO PAIRS CURVES 18. Heart STARTING POINT CURVES EXERCISE 19 ♦♦ Fishhook VARIATION: HOOKED FISHHOOKS CURVES 19. Fishhook STARTING POINT CURVES EXERCISE 20 ♦♦♦ Half-Circles to Pairs VARIATION: HALF-CIRCLES TO 4S CURVES 20. Half-Circles to Pairs STARTING POINT Keystone Dressage and Combined Training Association of Central Pennsylvania CURVES EXERCISE 21 ♦♦♦ Freeway Ramp CURVES