When did you last trot to a fence? Canter is usually the preferred choice for finding the perfect take-off spot, but according to Burghley 2022 winner Piggy March, it is useful to regularly try jumping out of trot too and be prepared for it to feel untidy.This is a training exercise that Piggy regularly uses at home with her own horses. It tests rider balance and helps achieve an agile, rideable horse.Piggy demonstrated the training exercise atYour Horse Live. It requires five poles, fivesets of jump wings and your imagination,because there are dozens of lines to rideas you work on honing you and yourhorses skills and youll benefit hugelyfrom doing it in trot.This is a brilliant exercise that I use athome. I do itwith horses of all levels, saysPiggy.Some days Ill be brave with howhigh the fences are that I trot at. I do it topush me; trying to keep in balance overthat extra bit of height. Ive done thisexercise for years and its one I keep doingin order to work on myself.Every time I do it on a new horse I feelall over the place because theyre not usedto it. So dont panic if something goeswrong or its not quite feeling how itsmeant to just keep going, adds Piggy.With all disciplines being so technicalthese days, basic training all rolls into one,whether youre on the flat, jumping orriding across country. I want a nicelytrained and happy horse who is rideable.This exercise works on the riders balance and thehorses, as well as mobility and trainability all thethings you need to have for a confident,rideable horse.Piggys training exercise 1: snaking in and outDiagram shows exercises 1 and 2Set up five uprights without ground linesdown the middle ofyour training field or arena with eachfence on a one-stride distance.Afterwarming up, start trotting your horsebetween the obstacles, varying thedirection that you ride in, changing therein and alternating which fences you ridebetween.Turn one way and then the other, sothat you start to feel like the horse isworking with you and like youre gettingbend around their ribcage, explains Piggy,who says that you shouldnt worry aboutyour horse working in a perfect outlinewhile doing this.You wont be looking likeyoure about to go into a dressage test,because youre doing lots of bending andyouve got longer reins.This is just an exercise to get the horsereally loosened up, on the aids andworking with you, explains Piggy, but you can also makeit what you want it to be. When your horsefeels ready, you can get your reinstogether a bit more and vary the outlinetheyre working in.Exercise 2: transitions between fencesNext start asking for transitions betweenthe fences. Start with trot-walk andwalk-trot.Imagine there is a centre line up themiddle of the fences and do a trot-walktransition every time you cross over thecentre line, says Piggy.Think about yourbalance and preparation. Around thecorner you should already be thinkingabout slightly bringing your upper bodyback and looking for your straight line.Even though its a downwardtransition, it still needs to be forward.Youre preparing it early and throughbody-seat language.If you can get your horse to respond to you rather than going to the bridle [that is, pulling on the reins] it will be a forward transition, which is what you want, continues Piggy.A bad transition stops the forwardmomentum. It happens when its left tothe last minute rather than being preparedfor and is an afterthought of walk.Introduce canter transitionsMove on to riding trot-canter andcanter-trot transitions every time youcross the centre line.Depending on thelevel you and your horse are working at,you could do walk-canter and canter-walktransitions too. Advanced horses can doflying changes instead.Some horses anticipate. If Im on onelike that I just quietly keep doing theexercise until he relaxes and stays on anaid for me, says Piggy.Make sure your horse is straight in their body andhas enough room for the transition too. Afew extra steps of the pace youve changedinto is better than doing only two or threeand rushing the transition, for example.Also dont let the horse get in front ofyou they must wait for the aid.Youre doing this because you want the horseto become sensitive to your bodylanguage [so that they start to slow downand wait when they feel your upperbody sit up], explains Piggy.Piggys training exercise3: trot to a fenceDiagram shows exercise 3Approach one of the fences in your line offive in trot and jump it at an angle.I dont particularly like jumping out of trotbecause its not ascomfortable [as canter] and it can get ugly, confesses Piggy.Thats why I make myself do it; it works on the riders own balance and builds trust between you and your horse that they can stay on a line at this pace. Its slow but the horse is in front of your leg; youre trusting that your horse will stay on a line and youre learning to stay with it.Trotting to a fence can be ugly if theyget in too close; its not an obvious stridelike you get with canter. They can pick up[to jump] early and so you have to slip thereins and try not to fall off the back, orsometimes you get in front of them andthen they dont go.Even on a horse who has done thisbefore, it doesnt mean theyre going to do itvery well the next time you try, continuesPiggy.I dont mind if they knock it down;its about learning patience, havingbalance and staying in a rhythm.If your horse lands in canter, quietly ask themto trot again before approaching thenext fence.Piggy says the aim is for you as the riderto stay in neutral, putting your horse on aline in the best rhythm and then trusting themto jump the fence.Next stepsMove on to jumping more than onefence but continuing to jump at an angle.Fence two to fence four for example.The fences can be as small as you likebut try to stay in trot. It doesnt matterwhich way you do which fence vary thelines, advises Piggy.Piggys training exercise 4: try it in canterDiagram shows exercise 4When youre ready, repeat the previousexercise in canter and try three fences ina row, for example fences one to three andthen five.If yourhorse can make a flying change each timeyou change direction, great. If not, giveyourself time to make a change throughtrot.You can also indicate which leg youwant to land with leading by pushing yourweight down into that stirrup over theprevious fence.With a horse who has a weak canterI sometimes jump the first fence and thencircle, so that I get a bit of bend throughtheir body, and then do the same before thelast fence.It encourages them to try andfind their balance. After a couple of times,they start picking up whats happening.The final stage is to jump down the gridin a straight line.You can go as big or small as you likewith the fences, but dont put them all atthe same height. Vary them, even if itsonly a little difference, so the horse hasto look and gauge what height is where.Jump it in the other direction too andapproach off both reins.Theres no rules for this exercise, makeit up as you go, as long as youre in yourcomfort zone, adds Piggy.It really is sucha good exercise to set up at home becausetheres so much you can do with it. Youcan work on yourself and your horse inso many ways.How high are Piggys fences?The key to this exercise isthat you can adapt it tosuit you and your horse.Lacking confidence or ona green or young horse?Then ride wider lines toeach fence and dont tryto link together too manythat are close together.Choose a height that isbest for you both too:whether its poles on thefloor or 23, its better tostart small and build upthe height andtechnicality as youbecome more confident.Start small even if theexercise isnt new to youtoo, and remember thathorses learn throughrepetition, so making thisexercise a regular part ofyour routine will benefityou both hugely.Trainings not abouthow high you can jumpor how fast you can go,its knowing whats rightfor you, reasons Piggy.Even smaller ones out oftrot can feel quite big.Why doesnt Piggy use a ground pole when training?Piggy chooses to set thisexercise up withoutground lines on any ofthe fences.I dont really knowwhy I dont have them; itdoesnt feel as inviting andis a little upright butcross-country fences thesedays are more upright sothis is good practice.And you know what?Horses generally jumpvery well without aground rail being there.Yogi Breisner did thisexercise with me probably10 years ago and he didntuse ground rails; I found itinteresting and I haventused them myself.However, if she wereriding a particularly youngor inexperienced horse,Piggy would consideradding in ground lines.If its a real baby andI want them to get usedto the exercise then Iprobably will put a groundrail in to start becauseI want to keep themconfident. Otherwise itsreally personal preferenceof ground rail or noground rail.Find out more about Piggy March hereMain image copyright: Your Horse Library/Sally Newcomb. Diagrams: Your Horse Library/Geoff Johnson Design. NB: Piggy March is not pictured riding.Related contentPiggy Marchs routine for a confident and clear showjumping roundOliver Townends training tactics for a horse who is very tense or freshJoe Stockdales tips for success when competing a horse indoorsPoor topline: what it is, plus how to build and develop the correct muscles in your horseThe post Piggy March training: jump out of trot to test rider balance and build trust in your horse appeared first on Your Horse.