Whether she’s working with a training-level mount or an experienced Grand Prix partner, dressage trainer and competitor Jessica Jo “J.J.” Tate starts most rides with a simple 20-meter circle exercise to gain her horse’s focus and enhance responsiveness.

“My goal is that the horse sort of yields and softens its rib cage on the inside, so I can get control of the inside hind leg, so I can create a little bit better access to the horse’s bend, as well as his mind,” said Tate, who is based in Landrum, S.C., and Wellington, Fla.