Beginner English Equitation Patterns

Once you are feeling confident in your seat, balance, and steering on the rail, then it is time to take your english riding up to including patterns. When you first start practicing these patterns, set the cones really far apart to give yourself time to fix a wrong diagonal or lead. As you get better at the idea of patterns, then rework the with the cones closer together before you ever move on to the intermediate level. The closest distance that I have ever seen a judge set a pattern is giving you 5 strides of a set gait (a canter stride is about 6 feet in length so that would be 30 feet) in the distance between cones. Normally, if you are entering a novice age group or in the 13 and under the judge will set cones at farther distances to help out. Adults just learning to ride english, however, have the greatest challenge as the judge often assumes you have been showing since teens, especially if there is no novice division and it is just an open class. Make sure that you have successfully ridden all of these patterns at the shorter distance of cones before you enter to have the best success at a show.