How often do you find yourself riding endless circles in your schooling sessions? There are lots of benefits to riding circles.However, they can encourage your horse to fall onto their inside shoulder, rather than stepping through from the inside hindleg and pushing forwards into a good uphill balance.To correct this, you need to work on improving the engagement and check your horse is bending through their body, not just their neck.This is much easier to do when youre riding in a straight line, rather than on a circle.It is also very easy to spend so much time working on a circle, that we forget to ride in straight lines and there are more straight lines in a dressage test than there are curves.I know I do a lot of circles when Im schooling different sizes, in various places around the arena or field, sometimes spiralling in and out.At the end of the day, though, theyre all circles. Do I practise riding in a straight line? Rarely. Do I score a perfect 10 for a straight entry at A?I never have to dateRiding cornersDressage rider and trainer Dan Greenwood challenges riders to ditch the circles and try his exercises using only straight lines.Straight lines inevitably involve riding around a corner, and these need practising too theres plenty to ride in a dressage test, after all.When youre riding a circle or making a turn its all too easy to pull your horse around the corner using your inside rein.All this does is place your horses head and neck around the corner while their outside shoulder drifts in the opposite direction, says Dan, who explains that to ride a turn correctly, you need to use your outside aids: Move your outside rein so that its against your horses neck and apply gentle pressure.Then use your outside leg to steer your horse around the corner. Your inside leg is there to keep the impulsion, while your inside rein guides and creates the bend to the inside but it doesnt pull.Learn to ride corners from your outside aids and youll have much more control over the position of your horses shoulders, adds Dan.This makes riding circles much easier as youll be able to maintain the shape and quality of the circle by riding the outside of your horses body rather than just the inside.Straight lines: square exerciseThe first straight lines exercise involves riding a large square. Pick a place in your arena or field to ride the square.How to ride itBegin by riding a square in walk a few times, so that you get a feel for riding an accurate shape. Remember, squares dont have any curves!Next, ride a square in trot. Make a transition to walk just before one of the corners. Ride the turn and then ask for trot again.Do this several times and youll begin to find your horse will start to anticipate the walk transition, says Dan. Their upward transition to trot will become more balanced too.Mix things up by riding a near-walk transition at every other corner. According to Dan, thisis a great way to develop your half-halt.Things to focus onMake sure the lines of your square are straight. Keep your horses head and neck straight.Just before you turn, position your shoulders to the inside and put a little more weight into the outside of your seat.Ride a slight leg yield through the turn and picture pushing your horses tummy to the outside.Straight lines for collectionDans next exercise involves riding half a diamond in canter.Its a good way to start teaching your horse to shorten their stride without you using too much rein and holding onto them, he says.How to ride itRide a half diamond wherever you like.For example, on the right rein, turn off the outside track at E and ride a straight line to G.Then turn right again and ride a straight line to B.Alternatively, you could ride a longer half diamond from C to E and then E to A.Vary where you do it to keep it interesting for your horse.Things to focus onDan recommends focusing on the following while riding this exercise:Keep your horses neck straight and use your legs to keep their body straight.Just before you turn at the point of your diamond, turn your shoulders in the direction of the turn.Keep your horses neck straight through the turn and use your outside aids. Resist the temptation to pull them round with your inside rein.Ride your horses inside hindleg through the turn.After a few attempts, youll feel as if you can let go of the inside rein, says Dan.To test your horse is in self-carriage, and that youre not holding onto your inside rein, try giving and re-taking the inside rein while riding your diamond.Straight lines: engagethe outside hindlegIf you stay on a constant circle when schooling, your horse is likely to become heavy on your inside hand, advises Dan.To prevent this, Dan suggests riding leg yield in canter away from the outside track.This will encourage your horse to listen to your outside leg. It also improves engagement of their outside hindleg so that they become lighter in your inside rein.Depending on your horses level of training, you may need to do this in trot first and build up to leg yielding in canter as your horse develops.How to ride itLeg yield away from the outside track by about 2m. Then continue down the long side.As you ride off the track, have a little more weight on your outside seatbone.If youre riding this exercise on the right rein, the aim is to have the right side of your horse straight and the left side in a slight curve. The horse should be moving to the right.As you ride the leg yield, youre aiming for equal weight from your horse on all four feet and not on their inside shoulder, which can sometimes happen.Improve your connectionAnother exercise to encourage your horse to be reactive to your leg aids while remaining straight in their body is a turn on the forehand, states Dan.The exerciseRide a large square in walk a little off the outside track.At each corner ride a turn-on-the-forehand.Depending on your horses level of training, you dont need to halt.Simply steady the walk before each corner before riding the movement.Once youve mastered this in walk, add a trot transition out of the corner.How to ride itShorten the stride until your horse almost halts.Ask for a little flexion to the inside.Have your inside leg at the girth and your outside leg a little behind the girth.Use your inside leg to ask your horse to move their inside hindleg to step under their body. They can now pivot around their inside front leg, which steps ever so slightly forward, and move their quarters around their front end.Look up where you want to go.Keep your hands level as you turn.Your inside rein gently leads, balanced by your outside rein to avoid too much bend in the neck.Once you complete the movement, ride your horse forward in walk.Repeat in the next corner.Benefits of riding straight linesThe more you practise and concentrate on straight lines in a schooling session, the better and more accurate you will get.They will automatically become a regular part of your routine without you really having to think about riding straight lines too.Remember to do it outside of the arena too, so that youre not always relying on an arena fence to keep your horse straight.Its actually a lot trickier than you think when youre in an open space, because its easy to overthink it and therefore over-ride, which causes your horse to wobble and lose balance.Yep, Im talking from experience. Now Im off to practise for that perfect 10Dressage trainer and rider Dan Greenwood has won numerous national titles and has competed for Great Britain in small tour and big tour. He is based inthe Cotswolds.Main image: copyright Your Horse Library/Kelsey Media/Matthew RobertsRelated contentHow to ride turn on the forehand *VIDEO*What is give and retake and how do I ride it?Learn to ride better corners on the flatWhy riding on the correct diagonal is important for keeping a horse soundWhat are the Scales of Training for horses in dressage and flatwork?The post Practice makes perfect: four flatwork exercises using straight lines appeared first on Your Horse.