Fed up with your horse drifting over a fence or falling so far off his line that he runs out?
The following handy exercise from international showjumper Daniel Moseley will help iron out this problem. By teaching a horse to stay straight when jumping at home, he will be ready to record a clear round on competition day.
1 Place two single fillers on a line five strides apart. Daniel measures this as 20 yards, making it a short five-stride distance.
2 Begin with guide poles resting on the edges of the fillers to help funnel your horse over them.
3 As you become more confident, place the poles on the floor, before taking them away completely.
“Don’t get too hooked up on the distance in between the fillers,” says Daniel. “The main focus is how straight your horse is from filler to filler, and keeping him between your leg and hand.”
Hartpury College's Fizz Marshall explains how a polework exercise called "The clock" works and what you can get out of
4 Daniel prefers to approach the fillers in a short, bouncy canter. Green horses, or less experienced riders, might prefer to trot.
“Slowing the canter as much as possible means I can control where the horse is going and make sure he isn’t drifting out through the shoulders before jumping,” adds Daniel.
5 The primary aim is to keep the horse straight, resulting in five even strides between the fillers.
Horse & Hound Newsletter
Never miss out on the latest happenings in the equestrian world
“It really doesn’t matter if he goes on five or six strides, as long as he is straight.”
6 Young horses, particularly those who are tall, are likely to be wobbly at first. As a result, it is easy to lose the shoulders and allow them to drift.
“Keeping the horse between leg and hand, maintaining a good rhythm and an even stride, should iron out this problem,” concludes Daniel.
For more easy-to-follow jumping exercises that can be done at home, don’t miss the current issue of H&H Ask The Trainer, on sale now
Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now
Aimi was responsible for Horse & Hound’s showing, pointing and veterinary pages, as well as assisting with eventing content. Aimi also edited Horse & Hound’s popular occasional magazines, Ask The Vet and Ask The Trainer. She is the former deputy editor of Eventing magazine. She left Horse & Hound at the end of 2017 to take on new challenges in the publishing industry and is now editor at Your Horse.
