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Working Equitation Trail – The parallel slalom

The parallel slalom is another obstacle from the Working Equitation Trail that involves riding in serpentine lines. Depending on the distance and gait, the level of difficulty can be varied very well. You can find out how to elegantly weave your way through this exercise in this blog post, divided into:

  1. Construction
  2. Task
  3. Tips & Tricks
  4. The parallel slalom in the tournament competition

Construction

If you have professional trail equipment, you can build this obstacle out of five or seven (depending on your performance class at the tournament) 2-metre-long poles that are placed vertically on stands that are not anchored to the ground. Cones are again the best way to recreate this at home. Here, too, as with the simple slalom, we ask that you do not use jump stands as an obstacle, as in the parallel slalom, depending on the level of difficulty, the turns around the obstacles are quite tight. The poles or cones are arranged in two parallel rows with a distance of 6 or 9 metres between the rows (again: depending on the performance class at the tournament). The poles or cones in one row are always placed in the middle between two cones in the opposite row. At the beginning, it is advisable to work with fewer poles and larger distances.



Task

This obstacle involves riding a slalom around the poles or cones that are set up parallel to each other as described above. The ridden line looks like the track figure 'snaking through the track with three or four bends', only in a smaller space and with more bends. Each turn around a cone is ridden as a half volte, and the horse should be as straight as possible between the obstacles. The change of hands always takes place in the middle of the straight line between the cones. Beginners are best advised to try this obstacle at a trot first. Those who dare to canter can either do a simple canter change via walk or trot or a flying canter change between the cones.


Tips & Tricks

At first glance, this is not a complicated task, but anyone who tries it for the first time will quickly find that this obstacle is more difficult than they thought. We would like to give you some tips that can help you with this exercise:

1. It gets tight at the back

You probably have the same problem here as with the simple slalom: the curves are too big and in the end you just barely make it past the last cone.

Here's how it works: To avoid breaking a sweat around the last cones, try to approach the first cone with a greater distance at the beginning. But ride quite closely around it so that your distance to the cone at the end of the half volte is as small as possible. This will ensure that you can approach the next cone with a slightly greater distance. Even if the curves shift a little, you should still be able to get around the last obstacle elegantly and appropriately with this trick.

2nd bend

The horse should also be able to bend as well as possible at this obstacle in order to be able to achieve the necessary agility for this obstacle. If the turn feels more bad than good, there are obviously still deficits in position and bend.

Here's how it works: Basically, it is recommended to work on rideability and reaction to the aids away from the Working Equitation obstacles. Your horse should accept the inner leg well and be able to implement the aid. In addition, you can encourage better yielding in the poll and jaw and thus a better position and rounder bend by raising the positioning hand. This means the parade takes place in the corner of the mouth and it is easier for the horse to follow the aid and give in accordingly. Once the horse has accepted the bend and/or has gone around the cone, the hand can be lowered to a normal position. The hindquarters can also be prevented from swerving with the outer leg.


Photo: Nora Smith

The parallel slalom in the tournament competition

according to WED eV tournament regulations as of 2023

The individual performance classes for this obstacle differ in the number of poles, the distance between them, the gait to be ridden and the type of hand change. The rider must pay attention to which side the obstacle should be approached from. In addition, in the speed trail, you receive a 5-second penalty for each pole that is ridden over.

  • Performance class WE: The obstacle consists of five poles 9 meters apart and is ridden entirely at a trot.
  • Performance class WA: The number of poles and distances remain the same as in WE, but here the horse is ridden in canter with a simple change of hand via trot or walk.
  • Performance class WL: From here, the number of poles increases to seven, but the distance remains at 9 meters. In this class, too, the obstacle is of course overcome at a gallop. The rider can decide here whether he/she wants to do a flying change or a simple canter change over the walk.
  • Performance class WM & WS: Now there is the full program with seven poles and a distance of only 6 meters. The obstacle must be ridden at a gallop with flying changes.

Well planned is half the battle

This Working Equitation Trail obstacle requires increased concentration and forward thinking from the rider. Anyone who plans and implements each section well can shine with a smooth ride. The horse becomes more agile, smoother and more refined in its implementation with each lap. The parallel slalom is therefore another great exercise to promote rideability and suppleness.

Verena and Moritzburg mare Cora in parallel slalom (Photo: Irena Huber Photography)

Here I have put together a small selection of products with equipment for Working Equitation:

Leonie Bauer
Leonie Bauer

My name is Leonie Bauer, I was born in 1993 and come from the greater Munich area. I have been addicted to horses and equestrian sports for almost 20 years. From 2012 onwards I was lucky enough to be able to immerse myself more intensively in a real and horse-friendly riding lesson in a small but fine riding school. A year later I bought my then 5-year-old Lusitano stallion Desejo, whom I trained in many different ways with my trainer over the following years. Our focus is on dressage - but classical work in hand, lunging and small gymnastic jumps are also part of our training program. In 2018 we were able to get a taste of Working Equitation for the first time and were both immediately enthusiastic about this practical application of dressage. We are very happy that since 2020 we have had the opportunity to train more intensively in this area. Competitive sport has never appealed to me. For me, the ultimate goal is to promote and maintain healthy riding.

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