Ah, bexter, you've stirred some wonderful memories. When I was a young teen my grandmother paid for several years of riding lessons for me at the Cornell University polo arena. I recall the exercises that you describe. The instructor was a woman in her sixties, less than five feet tall, voice of a drill sergeant, uncompromising in the ring, but sweet and good-humored. There were about fifteen horses for students to ride and about ten polo ponies stabled there. What a treat to learn the personalities and quirks of all those horses. The polo ponies summered in a pasture within easy bicycling distance of my home. Though not allowed into the pasture, a friend and I would daily hang over the fence, coaxing our short-maned pals to relieve us of carrots, apples, and sugar cubes.