The zigzag is a series of counter changes performed from the center-line. As the horse progresses in his training, the dressage tests demand more and more complicated movements to demonstrate his suppleness and collection. In the zigzag, the important thing to remember is that each time you change the bend and move in a new direction, you run the risk of losing the impulsion, swing and bend. Only a well-muscled and responsive horse can perform this movement with ease.

In the beginning you need to keep your “zig” relatively small. Ride your first half pass about 5 meters from the centerline, and straighten the horse for a couple of steps before asking for the new bend and the new half pass. In this way you do not make a sudden change, but instead give the horse time to reorganize his weight and to move into the “zag.”

Ride the second part of the movement, the “zag,” five meters past the centerline, straighten, and ask for the original direction. In the beginning, it’s likely you will not achieve four changes of direction as required in the tests. That doesn’t matter. The important thing is that the horse remains calm and that he can shift his weight and bend while maintaining a trot that is full of energy.

Related posts:

1. Horse Training Exercises – Counter Change of Hand

2. Essential Exercises for Horse Training – How to Leg Yield Your Horse

3. Horse Training Exercises – Renvers (Haunches-out) On and Off the Wall

4. Horse Training – Shoulder-In On and off the Wall

5. Horse Training Exercises – How to Turn on the Haunches

6. Advanced Horse Training Exercises – Flying Changes

7. Training Your Horse in Hand

8. Horse Training Exercise – Advanced Canter Departs

9. Horse Training Exercises – Rein Back

10. The Small Circle in Walk with a Turn on the Haunches to Canter on the Same Circle