Making Every Ground Session Improve Your Mounted Work

A lot of groundwork can be wasted effort. Lunging in circles for 20 minutes to "burn off energy." Practising leading because "it's good manners." Drilling any skill can both bore and frustrate your horse.

I love groundwork, but at this stage with my new OTT horse, I am focused on riding or getting into the saddle. If your groundwork isn't directly improving your riding, you could be wasting time and energy without building the skills you actually need.

Effective groundwork for transitioning a horse from the track to pleasure riding has one purpose: to teach specific responses on the ground that transfer directly to mounted work. Every ground session should answer the question: "How does this make it easier for my horse to understand me when we are undersaddle?"

If you can't answer that question, you might reconsider the type of groundwork you are doing.

The Transfer Principle

For groundwork to transfer effectively to riding, it must:

1. Use the same cues - e.g. Hand pressure on the ground becomes leg pressure mounted

2. Teach the same responses - e.g. "Move away from pressure" on the ground = "move away from leg" when mounted

3. Build the same neural pathways - The learning mechanism should be identical

4. Create the same emotional associations - Calm confidence on the ground = calm confidence when mounted

Random groundwork violates these principles. Lunging in circles doesn't use the same cues you'll use when riding. It doesn't teach the responses you need when mounted. It doesn't transfer.

Three Groundwork Exercises That Actually Transfer

Exercise 1: Yielding Shoulders from Light Rein Pressure

What you're teaching: When you apply light pressure to the bit with the rein and the rein is touching the horse's neck, the horse elevates their shoulder and steps over with their front leg.

Why it transfers: This is exactly what you need when asking for:

• Shoulder-in

• Turn on the hindquarters

• Stopping the horse from falling in on a circle

How to teach:

Once you have taught Give to the Bit, and your horse understands to follow their nose in the direction they are facing, move your position to halfway up the horse's neck, place the rein against the neck and ask for a step slightly away from the bend (in reverse arc).

Always start with the simple 'follow your nose' exercise, with your horse on a 20m circle. Only ask for a step or two of reverse arch a few times on each circle. Repeat 3-4 times on each side. Shape this behaviour by asking for one step and then adding steps until your horse is moving one front foot in front of the other. Always ask your horse to come back to the 20m circle again after your reverse arc steps. Don't drill and remember to build on small successes.

Common mistakes:

• Pushing on the neck when they don't respond (teaches them to lean into pressure, and this is something you can not do from the saddle)

• Asking for multiple steps before they understand a single step (creates confusion)

• Inconsistent pressure (makes learning difficult because the release and reward are not consistent)

Mounted application:

Within days, that same light pressure from your rein will produce the same response. They already learned what this pressure means, how to release it, and that a reward follows. You've just shifted positions from ground to saddle.

 Exercise 2: Forward from Minimal Cue

What you're teaching: Voice cue + light tap equals immediate forward movement from halt to walk.

Why it transfers: This creates:

• Responsiveness to voice or light leg cues

• Understanding of "forward now" vs "forward constantly"

• Accurate transitions

• Reduced need for strong driving aids

How to teach:

Stand at your horse's shoulder with the lead rope or rein. Give voice cue "walk" or a single "cluck" and, if needed, lift the dressage whip or lightly tap on the hip (the same place you'd tap if you were riding). The horse should walk forward immediately.

Practice halt → walk and walk → halt repeatedly. Focus on instant response to minimal pressure signals. Always use your voice first.

The key: If your horse learns to respond to minimal pressure on the ground, they won't magically need more pressure when you're mounted. But if they learn to wait for three taps and a voice cue and lead rope pressure, that's exactly what they'll need in the saddle.

Mounted application:

Voice cue "walk" plus a whisper-light whip tap produces immediate forward movement. No kicking. No nagging. Clean, sharp transitions from the start.

Why Random Groundwork Doesn't Transfer

Lunging in circles:

• Doesn't use the aids you'll use when riding (lunge whip and lunge line aren't on your body)

• Teaches "run in circles" not "respond to subtle signals"

• Often increases anxiety rather than creating calm

• Frequently, the horse practices travelling with their head in the air and bent to the outside
• Teaches the horse to pull on the pressure of the lunge rein or lead rope

Exception: Long-reining can be valuable for fitness, assessing soundness, or teaching vocal cues. But it's not the best place for teaching the responses you need when mounted.

Liberty work:

• Can be lovely to watch, but it isn't really teaching useful undersaddle skills

• Doesn't transfer to under saddle

None of these skills is "bad", and I'm not suggesting you don't teach them, but they're just not the most efficient way to spend your time if you want to transition your OTT horse to riding. If you have limited time (most owners do), I suggest you prioritise groundwork that directly transfers. The groundwork exercises we learn in the Race-2-Ride Training Passport Program will build a strong bond with your horse, help you to understand their behaviour quickly and effectively and transfer directly to your ridden work.

The Pressure-Release-Reward Principle

All these groundwork exercises share one learning mechanism: pressure-release-reward (combined reinforcement).

Apply light pressure → Horse responds correctly → Release pressure immediately → Reward the horse

This is combined reinforcement in learning theory terminology (removing pressure to increase behaviour - negative reinforcement, and adding something that the horse wants, a reward - positive reinforcement). It's the foundation of nearly all riding communication.

When you train using this principle on the ground with clarity and consistency, it transfers perfectly to mounted work. Your horse already understands: "Light pressure applied, correct response removes pressure and gets rewarded."

This is dramatically faster than trying to teach this principle for the first time when you're on their back, where communication is less clear, and balance, or lack of it, adds complexity.

How Much Groundwork?

Five to ten minutes daily of purposeful groundwork teaches more than 30 minutes of random activities.

Focus on quality, not duration:

• Three perfect repetitions of yielding the shoulders (both sides)

• Five clean halt-walk transitions with instant response

• Three soft backward steps from light pressure

That's a complete session. Stop while they're succeeding. Repeat tomorrow.

Within two weeks, these responses become automatic. Then they move to mounted work, and you can reduce the frequency of groundwork, revisiting only when you need to reinforce or refine.

Key Takeaways

• Groundwork should directly teach the responses you need when riding

• Use the same signals, teach the same responses, build the same neural pathways

• Light pressure on the ground = light cues from the saddle (pressure level transfers)

• Two key exercises: yielding from pressure and forward from a minimal cue

• Pressure-release-reward learning transfers perfectly from ground to mounted

• Five minutes of purposeful groundwork beats 30 minutes of random activities

Groundwork should be efficient, purposeful, and directly connected to your riding goals. Every ground session should make you think: "That's going to make tomorrow's ride so much better because....."

If you can't finish that sentence, question whether you should be doing it at all.

Want complete groundwork progressions that transform your riding? Join the Race-2-Ride waiting list for systematic training that transfers directly to the saddle.