Caroline Moore, former five-star eventer and British Eventing national under-18 coach and junior team coach, explains how you can use this exercise to develop footwork in your horse’s canter
The aims of the exercise are to:
Develop energy in the canter
Improves horse’s footwork
Develop the balance and obedience between two fences
Improve suppleness
Learn to hold a curving line
I use two sets of three poles on a curving line for this exercise — square poles and also raised, round poles.
Using this exercise has a really good effect on a horse’s hind legs in the canter.
The rider will have to work hard, using their inside leg to help keep the horse in an upright way of going, while making sure the horse stays very symmetrical and straight in his balance.
As the horse opens himself a little bit over the poles, you have to land and shorten the canter up a little bit again, ready for the next set of poles, so that the horse is always in balance.
In another exercise to help teach a horse about turning to a new direction in relation to jumping, you will need:
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Cavaletti or similar
3.2m distance between the two obstacles
A minimum of 20m for the change of direction
Firstly, allow the horse time to work out the exercise and what he will need to do with his feet. The event horse has always got to look and think about his feet and how to use them.
When turning to the new direction, use the inside leg and rein to support the horse and to show them where they are going, to encourage a change of canter lead.
Points to be aware of:
Be reactive
Rider must sight the next fence
A loss of rider balance
The horse falling onto its shoulder between fences
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Former web features editor, point-to-point editor and digital racing editor
Gemma is an experienced journalist, who was a member of H&H staff from 2014 to September 2025. She is passionate about all equestrian sports, including racing and point-to-pointing. She has enjoyed riding out for top trainers Nicky Henderson and Charlie Appleby and took part in a charity Flat race at Epsom in August 2018. Gemma’s has reported from numerous five-star events around Britain and Europe, as well as European championships.
