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Improve your horse’s bend in walk with this simple polework exercise

Martha Terry Martha Terry

    • This simple polework exercise is designed to help you create the correct bend in walk, using just five poles.

    Aims

    • to improve rider accuracy
    • to confirm correct use of inside and outside leg
    • to improve the horse’s coordination and suppleness

    The setup

    You need: five poles

    Setup: place five poles on a straight line with four metres between each. Ensure there is sufficient space to the side of each pole so that you can walk around each end – avoid placing them along the fence line. Down the centre line is the easiest spot!

    Diagram of exercise for how to improve your horse's bend in walk using five poles

    How to set up the exercise

    How to ride the exercise

    1. Once warmed up, establish an active but unhurried walk.
    2. Walk your horse between and around the poles – not over – turning left or right at the end of each one to create a wide serpentine (see diagram above). Your horse should follow the line with a uniform bend through their body through each turn without falling in or out off the line.
    3. When you reach the end of the line of poles, make a three-quarter of a circle turn and ride straight over the centre of the poles before changing direction and repeating the turns the other way.

    The challenge is to do it efficiently with the horse going at the correct tempo and creating the correct shapes, neither falling in or out through the shoulder and quarters.

    Pitfalls to avoid

    1. Keeping discipline

    Stiffer or younger horses who lack control are likely to fall out through the shoulder, or get confused with so many turns, so it’s a good acceptance exercise and requires them to mature in their thinking. Be really clear with your inside and outside leg aids.

    2. Walk quality

    Experienced horses may automatically slow down in this exercise to make this challenge easier, so you must ensure they maintain an active four-beat walk, walking forward through all the bending, but without rushing or jogging. Here are some tips on how to improve your horse’s walk.

    3. One-sidedness

    Nearly all horses have a stiffer side so this exercise gives the rider a good way to work on improving this, by supporting the horse with their legs. The frequent changes of bend should gradually improve the horse’s suppleness on the more challenging side, interspersed with the easier direction so they don’t become sore or resistant.

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    Martha Terry
    Martha Terry

    H&H features editor
    Martha is an experienced journalist who is mad-keen on horses and dogs. Her reporting CV includes the Paris Olympics, European championships, Aachen World Equestrian Festival and World Cup finals. After growing up with assorted liver and white springer spaniels, she enjoyed 14 years with two rescue dogs. Now, her constant companion is Fidget, an extremely energetic and habitually muddy black and white springer. Martha has written on topics as diverse as a top horse’s clone to the best GPS trackers for dogs, as well as equestrian and rural matters for Country Life, The Field, The Times, The Spectator and The Telegraph alongside Horse & Hound.
    Martha Terry

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