Back to Back Ds

When I rode Ben this afternoon I worked on a new exercise with him to allow him to collect more and work on his hind end engagement. I rode him on a 20 meter circle at the trot and then turned it in to back to back Ds. This seemed to work really well for him since it gave time while on the center line to be straight before we had to collect and make a turn toward the wall. This allowed more collection on the outside aides and while turning I incorporated swing turns to engage his hind even further. He was very willing throughout this whole exercise.

Afterwards, I worked on his lateral work by leg yielding down the center line toward the wall. If he started to resist at all I would stop and either make him do a turn on the forehand or back up for a few steps until he was once again engaged.