If you currently don’t do groundwork with your horse, you might reconsider. It provides an ideal opportunity to connect with your horse in a very different way than you’re able to from his back and will improve your partnership and ensure you’re both thinking the same way.

Five-star eventer, natural horsemanship advocate and performance coach Chelsea Canedy uses groundwork in every aspect of her training program and finds that quality work from the ground carries over to your under-saddle work.

In Part 2 of Canedy’s groundwork series from her video collection on EQUESTRIAN+, she demonstrates how to introduce your horse to lateral work and circle transitions from the ground and explains how these exercises translate into valuable training tools in all your work. She also shows you how to navigate groundwork with a horse who’s on the less-motivated side.

Groundwork to Move Your Horse Laterally

“Teaching your horse to move laterally in response to pressure from the ground is an extremely useful tool to prepare him for under-saddle work. Under saddle, we might call this exercise a leg yield to the wall. You’ll approach your horse from a 45-degree angle with his head pointing toward the wall so that he’s moving away from your pressure on the ground or what would be your outside leg under saddle. I prefer to use a wall for the exercise because it provides a boundary so that when you go to apply pressure with your hand or stick, your horse understands you don’t want him to go forward. You want him to go sideways.

“This exercise also helps loosen your horse up a bit and by getting him to use and cross his hind legs over, and it keeps him light in response to the pressure you’re adding to his side.

“To start, I move my horse toward the wall at a slight angle and when I start to apply pressure with my stick, I do it up in front of his eyes so he starts to notice that I’m going to be stopping the pressure to prevent forward movement. Then as he paws and attempts to do something different—which is totally logical on his part—I just wait until he moves away from the little bit of pressure I’m applying near his flank.

“In an ideal world, I would get one movement from the small amount of pressure I apply. This horse tries really hard and will do a lot of things with a little pressure. But I would really love to be able to apply a small amount of pressure at his flank to get him to take one small step to the side. He tends to overdo it a bit, which is fine. Some horses are just that way. With other horses you might have to increase the pressure to get a response.

“If your horse tries to barge ahead or misinterprets your stick cue, apply pressure from the halter to indicate you don’t want him to go forward. The moment he’s gotten something right, make sure your body posture is very calm and relaxed. You’ll see how my horse here licks and chews and relaxes his eyes and ears, and I give him a little rub so he doesn’t get worried or overly sensitive.

“In the long run, I’d like to keep my horse more at a 45-degree angle rather than having his hips swing around, but I’m still going to reward him for moving laterally in the way I’ve asked him. Even though he’s a little distracted by the door here, I love that simple, quiet movement of his hip, so I’ll reward him by just letting him be for a bit.”

Transitions On a Circle From the Ground

“I use circling from the ground as a tool to continue building the connection with my horse and not so much for exercise or getting excess energy out. When you start circle work, keep your horse relatively close to keep his attention focused on you. The farther away your horse is, the more likely you’ll lose his attention.

“I start by backing my horse away from me, so I can send him on a circle around me without him intruding into my space. On circle work, always start with the lightest pressure or signal you can use and only increase that pressure as necessary. For my horses, I use one cluck for walk, two clucks for trot and a kiss for canter.

“I don’t use a barrage of aids because that’s like constantly putting your leg on and getting no response. I want one aid and one response. If I don’t get a response from the aid I’ve chosen, I back it up with a stronger cue until I get my horse to try. Then, I immediately go back to the lightest aid I was hoping to utilize.

“During circle work, I want to be able to stop my horse in his tracks or draw him back into me, because I’m always trying to balance the drive of my horse with the draw of him to me. When I draw my horse toward me, I take a step back and look for him to follow me with eyes and ears until he wants to walk toward me. When I feel like he’s in the right space in relationship to me, I ask him to stop. If he doesn’t, I put a little pressure on him until he does.

“To practice downward transitions, I simply slow my body down and breathe out. This is also a great way to see if your horse is paying attention to your intention. He should read my body language to understand we’re slowing down and stopping.

“You can change directions on your circle work without making any major adjustments. Simply ask your horse to come toward you by getting a little bit in front of him. Then, I’ll use my hand to lead him in the new direction. It’s about bringing your horse in and then pushing him back out based on your body position and where you’re focusing your energy. This requires you to have confidence in your energy and pressure. You can’t come in with hesitancy like ‘I don’t know if this really going to work,’ because your horse will read that and doesn’t know if you’re really sure about what you’re asking and if he should respond.”

Navigating Groundwork With a Less-Motivated Horse

“Here, I’m demonstrating how to manage groundwork with a horse who’s less sensitive and maybe a little lazier than the gray horse I was working with earlier. This guy, by nature, is slightly less self-motivated. For this kind of horse, the stick and string is a really good tool. It’s different than a longe whip because it’s shorter and has less flexion, but it has a nice, long string attached to it, so it allows you to reach out touch your horses’ hind end if you need to.

“I ask Kenny to move out on a circle by leading with my hand and adding a little pressure behind where my leg would go. Nothing happened, so I’m going to add a little more pressure. Then, I get a livelier walk and am careful to keep my energy behind what I refer to as the drive line or where my leg would be on the horse. Pressure behind this line will send the horse forward, and anything in front of that line should slow the horse down.

“When your horse is doing a good job, keep your arm relaxed, the stick down and stay quiet with your body. If you want to increase his pace, add a leading motion with your hand and double cluck. There he didn’t go, so I reach out and give him a light touch with the stick. Here, I’m demonstrating it slowly so you can see, but in real time, I would lead with my hand, cluck and apply pressure quickly if he doesn’t follow through the first time. This way, the horse associates the touch with the stick and string with the aid I just gave.

“What you don’t want to do is start throwing a bunch of aids at your horse all at once, pulling on him or saying ‘whoa’ over and over again. Settle your energy until your horse thinks he should slow down and stop. Then, quietly send him back out with a double cluck and he reacted much quicker.”

For More:

• To watch these episodes and Chelsea Canedy’s full EQUESTRIAN+ video collection on groundwork, click here.
• Read Part 1 of Canedy’s groundwork series on how to improve your connection with your horse by building trust from the ground here.
• For her tips on introducing cross-country obstacles from the ground, click here.