What dressage exercises can I use for my livelier standardbred?

I often think the "simplest" exercises are underrated. The key to a really good session is usually presence (being in the moment and not thinking about, say, what you will have for dinner) and self-correction (paying attention to how you use the aids, how the horse responds, and your own body control). Here are exercises that are simple but can make a dressage session superb through presence and self-correction:

• Transitions (ride the horse forward off the leg in walk, trot, canter and so on)
• Halting
• Lengthening and shortening the tempo (practise doing it using your seat alone)
• Changing direction (aim to use your body only), for example across the diagonal, or a circle to change the rein
• Leg-yield work (turn on the forehand and turn on the haunches, leg-yield)
• Riding a circle correctly (so the horse tracks up, bends correctly through the body and takes a soft contact on the outside rein)

For everything mentioned above you can of course find different exercises for each point. Good luck! ☀️🐴