by L Hurley

Created on: December 02, 2010

Riding trot poles can be fun for both the horse and rider. While they are often used as a first step on the path to jumping they can also be beneficial for other disciplines.

Riders can improve their balance and increase their awareness and feel for where their horse’s feet are being placed. Horses improve their balance and rhythm and also learn to focus on where they place their feet.

Poles used for training are usually between ten and twelve feet long. Round poles are the safest to use as they have no sharp edges but they need to be used in a safe environment. A pole on a smooth surface like grass can roll if your horse stands on or knocks it.

If you don’t have a suitable surface you can use rocks, bricks or other heavy blocks to chock the ends of the poles and prevent rolling. You’ll need four chocks for each pole.

Start with four poles on the ground in a straight line. If you use only two poles your horse may try to jump them together. Three poles exercise the diagonals unequally whereas four poles exercise both diagonals equally.

An average trot stride is four feet so place the poles four feet apart to begin. If the distance is correct your horse will take one step between each pole. If your horse puts two steps between the poles or move them a little closer together. If your horse steps or jumps over two poles at once move them further apart.

The average stride is just that an average. You need to work out the distance of your horse’s stride and adjust the distance between the poles accordingly. They will be unable to develop a consistent rhythm and tempo if the distance is incorrect.

With your head up and your heels down take up rising trot and approach on a line that will take you to the center of the first pole. Keep your legs on until you have trotted through the line of four poles.

The aim of this exercise is for your horse to move straight with a consistent length and speed of stride. If your horse is drifting to one side, has a choppy step or speeds up or slows down you need to use your aids to correct them.

For a horse that is a persistent drifter you can add an exercise of moving between rather than over the poles. The poles on either side encourage the horse to straighten. Few horses will choose to move sideways over the poles as it is easier for them to go straight.

Once your horse is trotting over the poles on a straight line with a consistent rhythm and tempo, you can try riding poles on a curve. This is a great exercise to know whether your horse is truly straight and learn how to correct it.

You should start by traversing each pole in the center. A horse that falls to the outside will start in the center and end up on the outer edge of the last pole. One that wants to fall in will end up on the inside edge of the last pole.

When you have your horse going nicely over the center of the poles you can use the inside line or outside line to shorten or lengthen their stride. With more poles you can set up different configurations and move from a line of straight poles to a line on a curve without a halt between.

Pole work can be as easy or as complicated as you wish. It is harder work than work on the flat, so don’t overdo it. When your horse has done the exercise correctly a couple of times reward them with a change of exercise or a break.

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