When I met Stacey Westfall last year at the Midwest Horse Fair, she told me that her most valuable exercise was the clover-leaf cones pattern, and she explained it to me.

  I began using it and have found it valuable on many levels.  I use the repetition of the same directional turns to teach green horses to move away from the leg.  They learn quickly with this exercise, and it’s fun for me too.

After my horse worked at the trot and in nice balanced turns with this drill,  I noticed that her balance and agility at the canter dramatically improved as well.  My horse also became much more attuned to the shift in my weight as I looked where I wanted to go.
Want to know more about Stacey Westfall?  click here to see her website.  Here’s an excellent video of Stacey demonstrating the cloverleaf cones pattern, and explaining some of her work:  If you are the diligent “trainer type” (always interested in learning more), I highly recommend Stacey’s training videos.  I’ve watched the entire set and they are very good.  Not only is she able to train horses well, she is an excellent teacher and able to explain her methods clearly.