What are some good exercises at the walk?

There are TONS of things you can (and people should) do at the walk - as a matter of fact, people tend to underestimate how much can be accomplished mentally and physically for the horse at the walk. Here's a short list:

Walk on and halt transitions, flexing laterally while walking straight, shoulder fore, haunches in, haunches out, shoulder in, leg-yield, riding square corners, riding "perfect" circles, spiraling in and out, side pass, flexing (but not overflexing) at the poll whilst maintaining impulsion (not shortening the hind leg strides underneath him so he's still engaged and not backed off the bit), rein back, rein back and turn on haunches, hq yielding. You get the idea. Make it fun for her, by not drilling her on any one thing and giving her nice walks on a long rein as rewards. So these are basically a lot of single and multi-track exercises. Just make sure she's always moving well forward.

(PS WHAT are you talking about? Cheesy? No, that video was excellent and really cool. And I want the pony!)

The answer would be yes and no. It really depends how you define "exercise". There's "exercise" as in anything that burns calories. And then there's "exercise" which is an activity that keeps your heart rate up for 20-30 minutes at a time so that you are building cardiovascular endurance (as in, strengthening your heart). The good news is, you are burning a ton of calories with all the walking you are doing. But if you are walking at a leisurely pace and not keeping your heart rate up, it's not really an effective workout. Someone suggestion power walking. That's a good idea. Also, you could try walking in intervals--walk at a normal pace for a few minutes then walk at a faster pace for 1-2 minutes then slow back down to your normal pace. Changing things up while you are walking turns it into an effective workout.

Pony Exercise Lady

Hello,

It is great that you can ride again! Congrats!

There are many things you could do at the walk to get yourself back into riding, as well as teach your pony some respect. The first thing I would do it just get the pony walking, get back into things, especially since you have not been able to ride. Some exercises you could try with Lady are bending exercises, serpentine, figure eights, walk poles, a trail course, weaving cones, and a variety of others. Use your imagination!!

When I first get on my horses, I always start with bending exercises. I just start by walking, then when you reach each corner, bend the pony in a circle. Make sure you make Lady bend around your leg, and round her ribcage. This will keep her thinking, as well as teach her to respect your signals and your leg.

You could also try serpentine. If you don't know what a serpentine is, it is also a bending and control exercise that teaches your horse to listen to your leg. You start at one end of the arena, and head towards one side of the arena (long side) then when you reach the wall, you make a turn, using your legs, aided by your hands, and turn to face the other direction, and repeat, (kinda like a snake lol) If that did not make sense, you could always google it.

A figure eight is kinda self explanatory, and if you rode before, I am going to assume you know what that is.

You could also set up walk poles. Walk poles are similar to trot poles, only you walk over them. I would distance them about the same as trot poles. This will teach Lady to shorter/lengthen her stride to fit the length you set the poles, teaching her more control.

Trail courses are my favorite! Often times you see trail courses at 4-h shows, Quarter Horse Congress, and other big circuit shows. Most have a gate, a box, poles, a bridge, a mailbox, and many others. The possibilities are endless! Working with your horse through a trail course teaches you horse control as well as listening to your ques. Often times trail courses can get difficult, but it will help in the long run and they are fun! You can use google to find possible trail courses to set up, that is what I do to prepare for shows!

You could also try weaving cones, similar to pole bending poles, but you might not have poles available. Just weave through the cones, as if they were poles.

If at any point you feel you are putting too much pressure on yourself, I would suggest to not continue. You do not want to further complicate your condition. You are a strong person for waiting 4 months while you recovered to ride! I would not have been able to do it! Keep up the good work!

*I am not an expert, but I am happy to help*

Set up a mini obstacle course. Have a bridge, poles to wind through, an "L" to back through, a box to spin in, etc. You could also practice collecting her at the walk, and then when you are feeling up to it, carry that into the trot and canter. You could also go on short trail rides (she will be less likely to get bored when she has more than the 4 walls of an arena to look at).

I'm glad you are feeling better. Have fun!

Everything QH Lover said, plus:

walk-halt-back transitions

Turns on the forehand/haunches

Leg yields

Practice keeping her at exactly the pace you put her on at the walk

Nice square halts

After your halt, getting her to march on at the exact same pace as before the halt (in other words, not shuffling forward)

Ride her bareback (with your doctor's permission;) maybe even bridle-less: see if you can control her with just your weight and legs.

Also, take her on nice, leisurely trail rides at a walk

I have a little cheeky pony of my own , i do alot of foot work with her and you should try doing some simple exersises with your horse by walking with him/her slowly your horse should follow you slowly try not to pressure your horse to quickly (you should use a heavy rope and halter for this exersise). if your horse is walking too fast then flow a wave throught the rope to make it slow down...

then as you speed up your horse will feel like your pushing it (this is called driving) and will speed up to a trot (always walk with your horse) , when you start to slow down your horse with start to feel calm and will slow down with you. once completely stopped always make shore you horse does not turn in, if so make it walk again, stop, if not still working start to walk again untill your horse understands what you meen.

hope ive helped xx

Stunning pony, Amazing county side. I guess walking will be hard to do with all that canter land around. Swim her in the ;lake with you on her good for you both.

Set up cavalete poles and walk over them.