Latest from Horse & Hound in Daily-training-inspiration

Teach your horse to canter on the correct lead – and improve the transition – with this leg-yield exercise

bethany.stone@futurenet.com (Bethany Stone) — Sun, 05 Jul 2026 07:21:46 +0000

Young, weak or unbalanced horses sometimes pick up canter on the incorrect lead. Over time, this has potential to become a habit.

Thankfully, there’s a simple flatwork exercise that requires you to ride a few steps of leg-yield to help your horse pick up the correct canter lead.

Aims

Correct your horse’s flexion
Connect the horse into the outside rein
Improve the canter transition

The setup

You need: a 20x40m or 20x60m arena

(Image credit: creditUnknown)

How to ride the exercise

Once warmed up, turn onto the three-quarter line in trot.
As you pass X, begin to leg-yield to the track. You can sit or rise, depending on what’s best for your horse. Aim to hit the track just after the corner marker.
Ask for canter as you reach the track going into the corner.

Things to note

1. Avoid over-flexing

When ridden correctly, your horse should show slight flexion away from the direction of travel. Too much flexion often leads to the shoulders leading, and often means the horse drifts rather than crossing the legs.

However, ensure you maintain the flexion, and the connection into the outside rein, into the corner. Alongside balancing him, this is what helps set your horse up to lead with the inside leg in the canter.

2. Ensure your horse’s body is straight

While the shoulders should be slightly in advance of the quarters, they should not be dramatically so. Likewise, the hindquarters should not lead.

3. Maintain the rhythm

Look to maintain the same trot you had while riding large up the three-quarter line and throughout the leg-yield.

Some horses lose their engine in leg-yield, dropping behind the bit, while others might rush forward and away from your inside leg aid.

Ultimately, the contact and rhythm should be consistent. You may need to adjust your aids to help maintain them, or remain in a rising trot to help keep to a regular rhythm.

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Try this asymmetric in-hand exercise to build your horse’s topline and strengthen his weaker side

Martha Terry — Tue, 30 Jun 2026 07:25:20 +0000

Groundwork exercises can be highly effective for building your horse’s strength as they can develop core stability, balance and muscle tone without needing to compensate for the added weight and restriction of a rider.

All horses have a dominant side – like us being right- or left-handed – and with this exercise you can target developing the weaker side as well as building overall core strength. The use of raised and angled poles make horses lift their knees and bend the hocks, think where to place their feet, engage their core and and open their shoulders.

Aims

Develop weaker side
Engage core and get horse working through the back
Improve proprioception

The setup

You will need: a training halter, lunging cavesson, or your horse’s usual bridle

Setup: You can use as many poles as you have time to lay out, but six is a good number. Arrange them in a zig-zag as shown in the diagram, raising the points where the poles meet on to 15–20cm blocks on one side.

Because this is a walk exercise, don’t worry too much about the spacing – they can be quite close together or at right angles. It’s up to your horse to work out where to put his feet.

The poles are raised on blocks on one side. (Image credit: creditUnknown)

How to do the exercise

Before you try the polework exercise, warm your horse up by leading him on both reins for about 10min. You should do transitions from walk to halt, to check he is paying attention to you. You can also ask him to rein-back from the ground or do some basic lateral work. Your horse should be walking actively forwards and straight, as you would expect under saddle.
Approach the zig-zag directly in the centre. As you are working in-hand, you should keep yourself parallel to your horse’s head but outside the poles, rather than stepping over them as this may affect how you lead and balance your horse.
Because the spacing between the poles varies, and they are higher on one side than the other, this will encourage your horse to think about where he puts his feet, constantly adjusting his balance and stride length. Stepping over uneven, raised obstacles asks your horse to lift their core, thereby building topline.
You should do this exercise several times in each direction, bearing in mind one side is higher than the other. To work on your horse’s weaker side, do more lines where he has to lift that side higher. For example, if his weaker side is the left, have the raised side on the left.

Tips and troubleshooting

1. Alternate raised poles

This exercise is equally effective if you alternate the raised sides, so your horse has to keep adapting as they go down the line.

2. Don’t overface

If your horse has never done this exercise before, he may find the visual challenge of a line of asymmetric poles offputting. You can build up from three poles rather than going straight into six.

Likewise, don’t underestimate the impact of this polework exercise, even though you’re not riding. It requires plenty of physical and mental effort.

3. No drifting

Although you’re leading your horse and cannot use your legs and hands to keep him straight, the asymmetric layout should do the job for you as the angled poles channel the horses into a straight line. Give them plenty of freedom with the head and neck to assess the layout and use their back.

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Develop your horse’s extended canter with this simple exercise on a 20m circle

Martha Terry — Mon, 29 Jun 2026 11:54:08 +0000

Extended canter is all about energy. Dressage judges want to see an increase in stride length and ground cover, not just more speed, with the horse staying straight and connected.

The same applies when jumping: you want lift, airtime and adjustability, maintaining your rhythm – not simply a faster canter that’s flat and hollow.

This very simple flatwork exercise works on boosting the quality of the steps in extended canter – not the quantity.

Aims

Increase stride length and ground cover
Develop an uphill, open frame
Maintain the rhythm while increasing the reach
Stay straight and connected, both into the extended canter and back out again

The setup

No setup required – simply the space to ride a 20m circle on the flat.

Short, repeatable efforts help develop the extended strides, rather than a long straight line where your horse may flatten and lose balance (Image credit: creditUnknown)

How to ride the exercise

Many riders try to practise their extended canter by firing off down the long side of the arena. However, it’s best taught over short, repeatable efforts where the horse can learn to make a distinction in stride length.

Warm up in walk, trot and canter on both reins, including plenty of transitions to make sure your horse is listening and responding to your aids.
Establish an active working canter and go large.
Now go on to a 20m circle in working canter, and make a transition to five or six bigger strides, before collecting back to working canter. Use your inside leg to push the shoulder up without blocking. The circle should encourage your horse to step under with the hindleg, rather than running flat on the forehand.
This short effort discourages the horses from becoming flat and running, because they’ll anticipate the re-collection. It also teaches riders to feel a few good steps as the quality is developing and not chase for more.
Each horse will vary on how much you need to push and how much to hold. By practising, you’ll find your own horse’s sweet spot.
Repeat a few times on each rein.

Tips and troubleshooting

1. Running

Keep the increases short, before collecting back. While the horse is developing the extended canter, he may only be able to manage a few good strides, then unravel, losing balance and energy. It is better to make the transition back before that happens. Prioritise quality over quantity.

2. Flattening

To extend properly, your horse needs to lift. Think shoulder-fore going into the circle, so you encourage you horse to keep his inside shoulder up, without establishing a full shoulder-in. The frame needs to be open to be able to extend, not overly flexed.

3. Too much hand

Some riders hang on to the reins to try to control the canter, so you need to work on your hands being independent. Work on giving and retaking the rein on a circle. And when you come back to a more collected canter from the increased strides, don’t just pull! Use a half-halt and soften.

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The versatile in-hand pole setup that will give your horse plenty to think about – even in walk

Martha Terry — Sun, 28 Jun 2026 07:30:42 +0000

This groundwork exercise is handy for keeping your horse engaged and stimulated in walk, because of the constant changes of direction combined with negotiating poles.

Aims

Provide mental and physical stimulation
Strengthen core and hindquarters
Focus on changes of bend while negotiating poles

The setup

Setup: Three sets of two poles set up in like chevrons, with about 4m between the points of each set.

You will need: training halter, lunging cavesson, or your horse’s usual bridle

(Image credit: creditUnknown)

How to do this in-hand exercise

Just because you’re working in hand doesn’t mean you don’t need to warm your horse up. Before you start the polework exercise, spend 5–10min in walk. Your horse should be walking actively, as you would expect if you were riding. Incorporate plenty of transitions to check your horse is focussed and working with you, not being distracted.
First, approach the chevrons on a straight line (orange line above). The poles should draw the horse into the point.
Approach the points in the opposite direction, aiming for the points. Without the poles guiding you both into the point, you need to be accurate so the horse doesn’t meander to the side.
Now you can play around with the formation. Do circles and loops making a cross-section through the chevron, varying whether you cross near the point or where the poles widen out (green line). Taking the poles on an angle like this will increase the emphasis on footwork as the horse needs to work out how to lift and put down his feet.
You can also approach the sides of the chevron at a right angle, then dogleg off to the opposite arm of the next chevron (blue line). This works on changing the bend while negotiating poles. All the time, you are asking you horse to assess, react, be supple and precise with his footwork.

Make sure you work equally on both reins.

Tips and troubleshooting

1. Layout

If you only have four poles – or are short on time – just two chevrons will also provide a great workout.

2. Accuracy

Striped poles are really useful for keeping disciplined on accuracy. If you decide to cross from, say, white stripe to white stripe, can you stick to it?

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Develop the quality and rhythm of your lengthened trot strides with this back-loosening, hindleg-engaging drill

Martha Terry — Sat, 27 Jun 2026 06:30:21 +0000

Lengthened or extended trot strides are often seen in a dressage test across the diagonal. The consequence is that many of us practise them by speeding across the longest straight in the arena, inadvertently encouraging our horses to become flat, hollow and rushed. The trot strides don’t so much lengthen as simply speed up.

Instead, we want to encourage our horse to push off the hindleg, with the strides getting longer but, crucially, not quicker. To do this successfully, the horse needs to be supple, which will produce longer steps with more airtime thanks to a looser back and more engaged hindleg.

This flatwork exercise works on suppleness alongside lengthening the steps to improve the latter.

Aims

Longer, but not faster, trot strides
Increased suppleness

The setup

No setup required. All you need is sufficient space – and an arena is ideal. If you are riding in the field, it’s helpful to lay out arena boards, poles or other markers so that you can be disciplined about where you make transitions.

(Image credit: creditUnknown)

How to ride the exercise

Warm up in all paces, incorporating plenty of upward and downward transitions to ensure your horse is responding to your aids or cues.
Establish an active working trot and go large, riding around the edge of the arena.
As you come round the short side, turn up the quarter-line in the same trot, and leg-yield to the track.
When you reach the track, ask for a few lengthened strides, thinking “bigger, but slower” to prevent rushing. The leg-yield should help loosen your horse’s back, while engaging the inside hindleg so that it can push off more for bigger, longer strides. This is particularly helpful if your horse has a choppy trot.
Before you reach the end of the next short side, collect the trot again, keeping the energy but containing the stride length.
Do this exercise the same number of times in both directions. Because it loads the inside hindleg more, you need to work both sides equally.

Tips and troubleshooting

1. Tempo control

If you do this exercise in rising trot, you can use your rising to help control the horse’s tempo. This is useful if your horse tends to go faster, not bigger, when you ask for the extension.

2. Rushing

For horses that rush or hollow, you can practise lengthening on a circle. The curve of the circle will encourage you to ride from inside leg to outside rein to engage the hindleg. You can change between rising and sitting trot to help your horse by allowing the back to swing more in the longer strides.

3. Trouble re-collecting

For horses that struggle to come back into a balanced more collected trot after lengthening, ride a 10m circle at the end of the lengthened strides. This will encourage you to keep your horse in balance so that he is ready to do a small circle, rather than allowing him to rush down the side of the arena.

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How a straight line of poles can improve your horse’s agility and hoof-brain coordination from the ground

Martha Terry — Fri, 26 Jun 2026 07:30:51 +0000

This polework exercise can be done in-hand or ridden, but it’s best to teach it as a groundwork exercise first to give your horse the chance to learn the concept without the additional weight of a rider. The act of simply stepping over a line of poles can bring huge benefits to your horse in terms of both stimulation (mental and physical) and building strength, coordination and horse-rider harmony.

Aims

Develop your horse’s core strength
Improve foot-brain coordination
Develop horse-rider relationship and understanding

The setup

Setup: Four poles laid end to end in a line. They can be on the ground or sightly raised on small blocks or bricks. You need to have space either side, so ideally down the middle of an arena or field.

You will need: a training halter, lunging cavesson, or your horse’s usual bridle.

Keep your horse facing forward and raise the poles once he understands the exercise. (Image credit: creditUnknown)

How to do this in-hand exercise

Begin by leading your horse in-hand around the arena or field for five minutes or so, checking he is walking purposefully without pulling you around. Do transitions to and from halt to ensure he is responding.
Approach parallel to the line of poles so that they lie just to right of your horse. When you are level with the first pole and their right foreleg is about to leave the ground, ask the horse to step over the pole until all four legs are on the right side of the pole.
Walk in a straight line away.
Next, approach so that the poles lie to your horse’s left. When their left fore is leading, ask the horse to step to the left over the line of poles and walk away in a straight line.
Once the horse understands the concept, you can link up several step-overs. Starting with the poles on the right, step over the line leading with the right fore, then take an odd number of steps parallel to the pole until the left fore is leading, and ask the horse to step to the left back over the line of poles. Again walk an odd number of steps and then move sideways right.
Continue until you reach the end of the line.

Tips and troubleshooting

1. Difficulty level

This exercise is more demanding the higher the poles are raised, and the more frequently you ask the horse to step over. Start with seven steps on each side, progressing to five or then three as your horse understands.

2. Stay parallel

It can be tempting to serpentine over the poles, but the aim is to step laterally, one foot after the other. Stay parallel and don’t meander!

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Boost the length and power of your horse’s medium trot with this helpful exercise

Martha Terry — Wed, 24 Jun 2026 07:45:55 +0000

In this exercise to improve medium trot, we are using lateral work – specifically the half-pass – to improve the push in the more extended paces. Half-pass should only be attempted once your horse is established in both shoulder-in and haunches-in (travers), being able to bend around the inside leg, maintain a forward rhythm and move sideways in good balance.

The half-pass enhances a horse’s longitudinal and lateral suppleness, enabling the hindleg to step under more and therefore boosting the power and push, to encourage ground cover without your horse losing balance. It also frees up the shoulders, which gives your horse more reach in the medium trot.

Aim

Improve impulsion and engagement

Setup

No setup required: This flatwork exercise is easiest to do in an arena. If you are riding it in a field, we suggest marking out an arena to help your accuracy.

(Image credit: creditUnknown)

How to ride the exercise

Once warmed up, establish an active working trot and go large.
As you come out of the corner, ask for half-pass across the diagonal.
After six strides or so, straighten the horse and ask for some lengthened or medium trot strides.
Proceed in medium trot across X. This should improve impulsion and engagement.
After around six strides of medium trot, half-halt and position your horse in half-pass again.
Half-pass back to the track.
Repeat on both reins and from both ends of the arena.

Tips and troubleshooting

1. Failing to prepare

Without preparing your horse properly either for the half-pass or the medium trot, he will lack engagement and balance. Try a couple of steps of shoulder-in before the half-pass to engage the hindleg and establish the bend.

When it comes to the medium trot, make sure he is straight before asking him to lengthen.

2. Too much, too soon

Half-pass is a lateral movement for established horses. If your horse is twisting his head or struggling with his balance and bend, go back to basics. He should be well established in shoulder-in before you start attempting some steps of half-pass.

3. Twisting head

This can occur when the inside rein is forcing the bend, with the outside leg pushing the horse, which blocks the inside leg from coming through.

Or, the rider is asking for more sideways movement than the horse is ready for.

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Improve your horse’s lateral work from the ground with this single-pole exercise

Martha Terry — Tue, 23 Jun 2026 13:29:55 +0000

Teaching sidepass and other lateral work from the ground encourages your horse to “think” with his feet, as well as listening and reacting to what you are asking of them. It can take a while initially for the penny to drop for some horses learning this lateral sidepass pole exercise, but it’s great for creating engagement and learning how to move the hind and front end.

The pole provides a visual and tactile boundary, which is a tool in this exercise. All you are asking the horse to do is move sideways along a pole which separates the hind and front end. However, it is quite a demanding exercise mentally, requiring your horse to understand your cues to move laterally and not to step forwards over the pole with the hindlegs.

Before you attempt this groundwork exercise, your horse needs to understand how to move his front end and his back end from your cues on the ground. These are simple movements that you would do, for example, when you open and close a gate.

Aims

Develop lateral coordination, suppleness and precise footwork
Engage the core as the horse learns cross their legs over in balance
Improve your horse’s overall manoeuvrability and responsiveness

The setup

You will need:

A pole on the ground – ideally a heavy one that doesn’t roll easily when kicked or stepped on
training halter, lunging cavesson, or your horse’s usual bridle
Lunge line, long rope or reins
Schooling whip (or you can spin the end of your line or reins as the cue)

(Image credit: creditUnknown)

Once your horse is comfortable standing over a pole, ask him to move sideways along the pole, keeping his hind and front legs on either side

How to do the sidepass pole exercise

First lead your horse towards the pole, asking him to halt when just his front legs are over it, and the pole is dividing his front and hindlegs. It may take some adjustment and steps of rein-back for him to understand where you want him to position himself.
Make sure that your horse is comfortable standing squarely with the pole dividing his front and hind end. This may take time initially, especially if he is used to walking over poles rather than stopping halfway.
In the middle of the pole, stand facing your horse and slightly to his left side, and ask your horse to move to the right, away from you.
Your left hand should steer the horse sideways to his right, containing any forward movement so that he does not walk over the pole with the hindlegs.
To move the hind end laterally, either spin or shake the loose end of lead rope in your right hand, or point to the horse’s ribcage with your schooling whip to ask him to move right.
The moment your horse makes a step or two sideways, release the pressure and praise. Over time he will understand to move laterally along the whole pole, crossing his legs over as he goes.
To start with, just try going from the middle of the pole to the edge, and eventually you’ll be able to side pass along the whole pole.
Repeat in the other direction.

Tips and troubleshooting

1. Patience

Break this exercise down into small steps, so you do not overface your horse – it takes time. In one session, you may only get as far as standing quietly over the pole.

2. Confidence and competence

To start with, your horse may move the front end and hind end separately, but as they grow in confidence and understanding, they will step sideways with both fronts and hinds simultaneously.

3. When to step away

If your horse starts to get frustrated with the exercise, which can feel claustrophobic as he gets used to the pole in between his legs, break it up with some forward trotwork.

4. Ridden work

You can also do this exercise ridden, and having already taught your horse from the ground, it should be much easier to achieve.

5. Progress

You can develop this exercise by adding further poles, for instance into an L shape or a zigzag so the horse they have to negotiate corners, requiring a little turn on the forehand or haunches to move onto the next pole.

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Develop your horse’s straightness in canter with the help of this shallow loops exercise

Martha Terry — Sun, 21 Jun 2026 07:39:25 +0000

We know straightness is a crucial element of how our horse goes, and one of the scales of training. Canter, being asymmetrical, is the hardest gait to achieve straightness, with many horses falling out at the shoulder and swinging the quarters in.

This flatwork exercise uses shallow loops to straighten the canter, improving engagement and encouraging your horse to accept the outside aids. Straightness still applies when the horse is bending. The horse is straight if their hindlegs are following their front legs travelling on the same two tracks in self-carriage.

Quarters-in is a common fault at lower levels. As the outside hindleg strikes off (and starts each canter stride sequence), it carries the most weight. Horses may try to compensate for this by swinging the quarters in so this weight-bearing leg doesn’t have to step under so far.

Aims

Straighten the canter
Teach your horse to accept the outside aids
Achieve self-carriage

The setup

No setup required: This exercise is easiest to do in a school to help you be disciplined about the size of loop. If you do it in a field, we suggest you mark out an area to work in.

If your horse struggles to maintain canter on the correct lead on the wider loops, start with a shallower one (Image credit: creditUnknown)

How to ride this exercise

Once warmed up in walk, trot and canter on both reins, go large in a balanced working canter.
At the first quarter marker on each side of the area, ride a 10m shallow loop. The bend of the horse’s head and neck should follow the direction of travel.
Repeat, progressively decreasing the size of loops to 8m, 5m, 2m and 1m.
Finally, ride the same exercise with barely noticeable loops of 20cm – with the aim that your horse is completely straight.
Repeat on both reins.

Tips and troubleshooting

1. Your horse goes disunited or hollows

Just come back to trot, try to relax, and then try again starting with shallower loops.

2. You lose the quality of canter

Some horses rush as they anticipate cantering across the diagonal. Perform a half-halt in the corner before starting the loop to keep him on the aids.

3. An unintentional flying change

Maintain the existing canter lead (the lead you started the loop on) with your true inside leg and the outside leg slightly behind the girth. While the horse’s body should bend around the loop, their nose should be slightly pointing toward the leading leg to prevent the horse from interpreting the turn as a cue for a flying change.

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Find the key to your horse’s suppleness and core strength with this maze exercise in walk

Martha Terry — Fri, 19 Jun 2026 11:30:37 +0000

This S-bend or maze exercise is designed to be done in walk. However, you can choose either to ride it or do it in hand – both have benefits. As your horse navigates their way through the maze of poles, it’s a mentally stimulating challenge to encourage suppleness, build core strength and balance, while teaching your horse to take care where he puts his feet.

I personally love this polework exercise and find it to be really beneficial. Plus, walk is a very effective pace for polework because there is no moment of suspension, which means your horse has to use muscular effort, thereby building core strength.

Aims

Improve proprioception
Boost balance and core strength
Provide mental stimulation

The setup

Setup: six poles arranged in a maze or S shape

You will need: if working in-hand, a training halter, lunging cavesson, or your horse’s usual bridle. Otherwise, your usual tack.

How to ride the maze exercise

Whether you are riding or working in-hand, warm up the horse for 10 minutes or so, including transitions and circles. Check he is responsive to your aids, listening and ready to work.
Let’s say you want to ride the exercise. Approach the entry to the maze (blue line) in a nice active walk.
The corners will be tight. Open your inside hand to encourage your horse to bend through his body in the direction of travel. Control the shoulder from falling out with the outside rein. Apply pressure with the inside leg, to encourage him to step under and cross over with his hindlegs, like you would in turn on the forehand. The outside leg behind the girth should be in contact with their side to stop the quarters swinging out.
To do this exercise in-hand, you will need to use your body positioning, line and stick to encourage your horse to bend and step under.
You can also use this layout to walk and trot over the poles as shown in the diagram by the orange and yellow lines.

Tips and troubleshooting

1. Start simple

Start with wide channels (around 1.5m) when introducing this layout. You can reduce them to about 1m when the horse is proficient at this exercise.

You can also start with a basic L or U shape rather than the full maze while the horse works out the challenge.

2. Rushing

Horses can feel trapped by the narrow boundaries and rush, or try to go over the poles rather than chicane around them. If this happens, widen the channels. You can also walk the horse around the layout first so they can inspect it.

3. Steering problems

Your horse may be confused by the layout and what you want him to do in the tight space, or lack lateral suppleness. Take it slowly, using clear aids whether you are doing the exercise ridden or in-hand.

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Boost your horse’s balance, symmetry and core strength with this simple in-hand polework pattern

Martha Terry — Tue, 16 Jun 2026 08:16:39 +0000

This simple groundwork exercise might not look demanding, performed at a walk on a loose rein, but it works your horse’s back, strengthens the hindquarters and core, and improves their proprioception as the negotiate poles of different heights and angles.

Aims

Provide mental and physical stimulation
Strengthen core and hindquarters
Focus on footwork

The setup

Setup: four poles set up in a cross shape, with the outer ends raised on blocks

You will need: a training halter, lunging cavesson, or your horse’s usual bridle

Raise the outer ends of each pole to improve proprioception (Image credit: creditUnknown)

How to do this in-hand exercise

Warm up your horse first in straight lines in walk by leading him around the arena or field for around 10min, checking that he is active and obedient to your aids. Do frequent transitions from walk to halt to ensure your communication and your horse’s responses are working well. You can also do some rein-back in-hand.
This polework exercise has two patterns – one a circle and the other in straight lines.
For the circle, stand toward the middle of the circle and ask the horse to circle around you, stepping over the poles. You can touch your horse behind the girth to encourage him to bend around you. (You will need to be in one quarter, and step over the poles as you turn). The bigger the circle, the higher your horse will need to lift his feet to clear the raised poles.
Give your horse plenty of rein or rope so that he can lower his head and use his back. The uneven heights require him to look down, assess, and improve hoof-brain coordination.
For the straight lines, simply lead your horse into the middle of the cross so that he has to take a big step over the X.
You can add variants, such as small circles over each pole, or making serpentine shapes.
Perform these exercises equally on both reins to promote symmetrical muscle development.

Tip

Circle sizes

Asking the horse to circle around the edge of the poles requires less bend, but for the horse to lift and engage his core more as he’s travelling over the raised ends. If you bring the circle in closer to you, it will require more bend and suppleness. Either size brings benefits.

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Improve the quality of your horse’s paces using just three poles

Martha Terry — Mon, 15 Jun 2026 07:52:18 +0000

While a horse’s paces are largely down to natural talent, there’s plenty you can work on to improve their quality, scope and cadence. Paces will typically improve as your horse strengthens and you can use poles on the ground to help them develop.

This polework exercise uses just three poles, but by putting them on a fan, you can vary the line and therefore the adjustability of your horse. This works on the ability to collect, lift and lengthen, while staying in a rhythm to negotiation the poles.

Aims

Improve your horse’s paces
Encourage a forward, balanced rhythm
Stop your horse falling in round the corner

The setup

Setup: place three poles in a fan anywhere in the arena, as long as you can ride a straight line towards the fan and away at a right angle. Ideally you will use matching poles so that you can visually ensure you stay on the same curved line.

To ride the exercise in trot, set the poles at around 1.25–1.50m apart (approx 4.5 to 5 toe-to-heel steps for most adults)at the centre point, making a wedge shape.

To ride the exercise in canter, set the poles at around 3–3.5m apart (approx three adult walk steps) at the centre point.

Ponies will need shorter distances (or to take a tighter inside line).

(Image credit: creditUnknown)

How to do this exercise

Once warmed up, pick up an active trot and ride over the fan crossing the centre of the poles making a smooth curve around the corner.
Keep the rhythm and ride over the inner line, again with a smooth (albeit tighter) curve. This is to shorten the stride and encourage your horse to use his hocks.
Then try the outer line, encouraging your horse to take a longer step, while keeping the rhythm. He cannot simply go faster, as the poles will guide his stride length.
The inner and outer lines enable you to practise lengthening and shortening the stride, using the poles as an aid to help the horse to stay engaged as he has to lift his shoulder and use his hocks.
Once your horse is working well over the fan in trot on both reins, widen the distance between the fanned poles for canter.
Repeat the exercise in canter, working on inner and outer lines and always maintaining a smooth curve.
If your horse is confident with this exercise, you can then raise the middle pole into a small fence.

Tips and troubleshooting

1. Falling in or escaping through the shoulder

Make sure you are following the line through the poles, looking forward around the bend and keeping the contact from inside leg to outside hand. Identically marked poles can help you stay on the same curved line throughout the fan.

2. Shorten and lengthen

This is a great exercise to help your horse’s medium or extended trot. Ride the fan on the inner line to encourage a correct collected trot, giving your horse more lift. Then take that energy and put it into a medium trot across the diagonal or down the long side.

3. Simplify the setup

If you have six poles, you can set up two fans – one at trot and the other at canter distance so that you don’t have to get off and reset the poles.

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Execute smarter square halts with the help of four poles

Tania Grantham — Sun, 14 Jun 2026 07:29:43 +0000

A correct halt is not achieved by simply closing the rein, it is the result of preparation, engagement and control in the preceding strides – and this polework exercise will help you get one step closer to riding a perfect square halt.

The halt is a key movement at every level of dressage. Whether it appears at the end of the final centre line, at X on the first centre line, or any other location during the test, it offers the judge a clear opportunity to assess balance, straightness and obedience. This exercise to improve your square halt will help develop all of these skills.

Aims

Help the rider create an active balanced trot
Help with accurate placement of the halt
Create a square halt

The setup

You need: four poles

Setup: place two parallel poles either side of the centre line at X, spaced approximately one trot step apart (around four to five heel-to-toe steps), with two additional poles placed before and after them to frame the exercise.

The horizontal poles should be one trot step apart to create a narrow channel. (Image credit: creditUnknown)

How to ride this exercise to improve square halt

1. Before introducing halt transitions, it is essential to establish an active, balanced trot. Ride over the pair of trot poles on the E-B line. They will encourage the horse to step more actively underneath with the hind legs, promoting engagement and rhythm.

2. Start by practising trot–halt–trot transitions on the track. The long side provides a natural guide for straightness, which means you can focus on the quality of the transition without worrying about line. At this stage, the higher scales of training (impulsion, straightness and eventually collection) become increasingly important.

As you prepare for the halt, maintain an active trot with a closed leg and steady contact. Use your seat and core to ask for the transition, thinking of the horse stepping into the halt rather than stopping abruptly. A good halt should feel balanced and attentive, with the horse ready to move off again without resistance.

3. Ride the trot-halt-trot transitions on the centre line within the pole layout. As the horse steps over the pole into the halt, the hind legs naturally engage more deeply beneath the body, often resulting in a straighter, squarer halt. Moving off again over the following pole encourages an active, forward transition back into trot while maintaining alignment.

Ensure your hips remain level when riding a halt. (Image credit: creditUnknown)

Pitfalls to avoid

1. Halt not straight

When preparing the halt ensure your hips stay square and level, a horse wanting to be crooked will often push one of the rider’s hips forward or upwards. For example, if your horse is halting with their haunches to the right, they will have pushed the riders right hip up or forwards.

2. Knocking pole on the way in

This often means your halt is not square. Make sure the trot is active without being quick. While the upper leg helps maintain the straightness of the trot, the lower leg encourages activity. Your horse should feel short and bouncy as opposed to slow and flat.

3. Overshooting the layout

This is often due to lack of preparation, or the preparation being too late. If you overshoot by a stride, next time try starting the preparation a stride earlier. Half-halts should be clear and quick, followed by a release. If you hold for too long the horse will likely lean on the rein and be slow in their reaction.

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Add structure and intent to your hacks with this simple transition exercise

Martha Terry — Thu, 11 Jun 2026 12:47:03 +0000

It’s all too easy when out hacking to do long stretches in one pace. By mixing it up and incorporating transitions, this will ensure your horse is listening to your aids and engaged, and improve your flatwork while you’re at it.

If you’re hacking out in company, you can still do this flatwork exercise. Count strides together and make it fun!

Aims

Improve your accuracy in making upward and downward transitions
Be disciplined about making the transition at the intended moment, rather than drifting into the new pace
Ensure your horse is listening to you in a distracting environment, and that your aids are clear

The setup

No setup required. You can do this in an arena, field or out hacking.

This is an example structure – you can vary the striding and paces to include canter and halt, according to what you want to practise. The important thing is to stick to what you’ve set out to do. (Image credit: creditUnknown)

How to ride the exercise

Decide on a sequence of transitions that you will stick to. For example, trot 20 strides, walk 10 strides, trot 20 strides, walk 10 strides. You can also include canter and halt.
Be disciplined about when the transition happens, rather than drifting into walk or trotting two strides after you intended. Prepare early, using one or more half-halts, so that your horse is ready, then execute the transition at the designated point.
If you’ve nailed the straightforward transitions, work on transitions within the gait, for example lengthened strides, free walk to medium walk, collected trot to working, or skipping a gait, like halt to trot or walk to canter and back again.

You may find your horse is more easily distracted out hacking than he would be schooling in the arena, so this is a great way to keep him listening.

Tips and troubleshooting

1. Lack of response into trot

Your horse does not have enough impulsion. Transitions are an excellent remedy for helping the horse be sharper off the leg, so try doing more frequent transitions. Also use transitions within the gait to build responsiveness and engagement.

2. Falling into walk

This reveals a lack of engagement, and could also mean the rider is leaning forward or collapsing through their core into the downward transition. Wrap your leg around your horse’s belly, close your thighs, sit up tall and maintain a consistent contact to keep the quarters engaged as he steps forward into walk.

3. Horse hollows

Your horse may hollow its back and lift his head as you make a downward transition. This can occur when the rider blocks with the reins. Soften your hand slightly during the transition, without losing the contact completely, to allow the horse to lift its back and step under.

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No time to ride? Use this quick and easy to set up in-hand pole layout to engage your horse mentally and physically

Martha Terry — Wed, 10 Jun 2026 10:31:29 +0000

When you don’t have the time or motivation to ride, but still want to give your horse a constructive session, incorporating polework exercises as part of your groundwork training is one solution.

This in-hand groundwork exercise is ideal for establishing good communication with your horse from the ground, engaging them physically and mentally, as well as building their core strength and proprioception (body awareness). With one groundwork setup, you can practise a variety of lines and work on different areas of the body.

Aims

Encourage accuracy and precision on the straight lines
Develop flexion, core strength and engagement over the poles and round tight corners
Mental stimulation and increased proprioception

The setup

Setup: four poles arranged in a square shape with each one touching end to end

You will need: a training halter, lunging cavesson, or your horse’s usual bridle

This one simple pole layout gives you several options (Image credit: creditUnknown)

How to do the exercise

First lead your horse around a few laps of the arena on each rein, checking he is listening to you by making frequent transitions to halt. You can also ask him to rein-back or do some basic lateral work. Your horse should be walking actively forwards and straight, as you would expect under saddle.
Approach one side of the square in the centre of the poles and walk directly through, keeping on the same straight line as if you were riding a centre line in a dressage test (see green line above). Repeat this on the opposite axis and on both reins. You can incorporate halts in the middle of the square.
Next, try diagonal lines through the square (see orange line above), walking in and out over the corners. This requires a bigger step from the horse to clear the right angle. Always focus on staying straight – it’s easier for the horse to veer away from the point. Also incorporate transitions to halt in the middle.
To introduce bend, set up a curved line which asks the horse to step over each pole on an angle (see black line on the left above). You can adjust the curve to make the bend easier or harder to improve your horse’s flexibility and work on both reins.
Another pattern to try is loops in and out of the square, changing bend through the centre – it’s a small space, so your horse will have to be clever with his footwork
Work up to walking a complete circle over one corner of the square (black line top right), which requires your horse to bend through their ribs and be aware of their foot placement to clear the poles. Adjust the size of the circle to suit your horse.
Finally you can ask your horse to work on his suppleness by turning a small circle around the inside of the square (black line inside the poles). This will require him to engage the inside hindleg and develop his flexibility (see note below).

Tips and troubleshooting

1. Larger circles

If walking a tight circle around the inside of the square is too taxing, try initially circling around the outside, which gives your horse more space. However, he should be able to work up to manoeuvring around the inside with practice.

2. Progress

To increase the difficulty level, raise the poles (using risers like these) to place a greater demand on the core strength and hindleg engagement.

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Test and improve your horse’s adjustability with this eventer-favourite two-pole canter exercise

bethany.stone@futurenet.com (Bethany Stone) — Mon, 08 Jun 2026 14:51:17 +0000

When it comes to lengthening and shortening the canter, this simple exercise is a must-try

Speak to any event rider about how to improve canter adjustability and, more often than not, they’ll recommend this polework exercise – but it’s not just useful for competitors.

When you’re schooling at home, this simple two-pole setup takes the guesswork out of lengthening and shortening the canter stride. It will reveal much about your horse’s strength, as well as just how effective your aids are, all while you’re working on improving the canter.

For young horses, it offers a framework for learning to shorten – establish the aids and mechanics here to set him up for dressage movements, variations within the pace (such as extended canter and collected canter) and course riding.

Aims

improve canter adjustability
refine the rider’s aids
engage the hindleg

The setup

You need: two poles placed on the three-quarter line – it doesn’t matter about the distance between them

No need to stride out the pole distance – that’s for your horse to work out. (Image credit: creditUnknown)

How to ride the exercise

Once warmed up, approach the poles in an active, rhythmic working canter. Aim for the middle and to maintain the rhythm without interfering too much. Your horse should look and adjust to meet the poles in the middle of the stride.
Repeat, noting how many strides your horse fits comfortably and consistently down the line without interference.
Now, still your seat over the first pole and make the shortening adjustments needed to fit an extra stride.
Re-establish the working canter pace. Then ride forward over the first pole and open the canter to travel down the line in one stride fewer.
Repeat, varying the number of strides you aim for each time.

Things to note

1. Don’t panic about half strides…

… or if your horse breaks into trot. This only means your horse is finding it tricky to engage the hind leg to shorten or maintain the power for a longer stride. Practice will improve his ability and interpretation of your aids.

2. The exercise doesn’t end with the second pole

Be mindful of your approach and getaway; you should still aim for a straight line and a quality corner. Furthermore, ensure the canter retains its quality, balance and control away from the second pole, and that your horse doesn’t lose momentum or get too onward bound.

3. Take breaks

Your horse may get tired, and some may become excited as they anticipate what’s to come. Take care to walk your horse if he’s blowing, or spend a couple of minutes working on something else if he lights up. It can help to give young or sharper horses a shorter approach to the poles. As ever, match the length and intensity of a schooling session to your horse’s age, fitness and ability level.

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Transform your 20m circles into a productive schooling exercise for increased suppleness and focus

Martha Terry — Sun, 07 Jun 2026 08:30:54 +0000

This spiral circle exercise can help you avoid getting stuck in a rut of riding aimless 20m circles. With a bit of focus, you can turn those circles into a really productive flatwork exercise.

Aim

to improve your horse’s suppleness, engagement and focus.

The setup

Setup: No setup required. All you need is enough space to trot a 20m circle.

Spiral in gradually, and then leg-yield back out on one circle. (Image credit: creditUnknown)

How to ride the spiral circles exercise

Once warmed up, pick up an active trot on a 20m circle. Make sure your horse is bending correctly on the line of the circle, with your inside leg on the girth and outside leg just behind.
Use the outside leg to spiral in to a 15m circle, then 12m then 10m.
Your horse should not be falling in or out, but maintaining the bend through his body as the circle gets tighter.
Leg-yield back out to a 20m circle, using your inside leg to outside rein.

You can repeat a few times, working on your horse’s suppleness and response to your aids, and they should soften. Adjust the size of the smaller circle, and how quickly you return to the larger circle, to be appropriate for the horse’s level of training.

Repeat the exercise in canter if you’re both ready for it. When you spiral in, your horse will need to collect the canter strides a little while maintaining their bend and impulsion.

Tips and troubleshooting

1. Falling in

All horses will be stiffer on one rein and this spiralling exercise will help. Keep the inside leg on the girth, encouraging your horse to bend through his body, and your weight on the inside seat bone. Support the outside shoulder with the outside rein.

Check you are not pulling the horse’s head round and back with your inside hand, instead opening the inside hand to guide him. Turn your shoulders in the direction of the turn, don’t lean inwards.

2. Falling out

Use your outside leg behind the girth to prevent the quarters swinging out. The outside rein should guide and contain the shoulder.

The inside leg should encourage your horse to lift through his ribcage rather than sinking. Keep your weight on the inside seat bone.

3. Slowing down

This is a sign that your horse is finding this exercise is challenging. Stay in trot and repeat little and often in your schooling schedule as it will gradually improve their suppleness. You should find that he is much softer on a 20m circle after doing this exercise.

In canter, your horse will have to take shorter strides to make the tighter circle. Keep the rhythm and impulsion to enable him to maintain the canter quality throughout the spiral.

4. Flying changes

Sometimes in canter, when riders apply the inside leg to leg yield back out to the 20m circle, the horse does a flying change. Make sure your leg is on the girth and not behind.

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Encourage your horse to lift and lengthen with the help of this zig-zag polework layout

Tania Grantham — Sat, 06 Jun 2026 07:30:13 +0000

This zig-zag polework exercise is particularly useful for encouraging more lift, cadence and expression within the paces.

Polework exercises are a really effective way to develop a horse’s strength, balance and way of going. The unusual shape created by the zig-zag poles, combined with the spacing between them, encourages the horse to sit more on the hindquarters, lift through the core and open the shoulder. It is an excellent exercise for horses who tend to run onto the forehand or become flat through the body.

Aims

Improve your ability to keep your horse straight and upright
Encourage your horse to push more actively from behind
Develop greater lift, cadence and shoulder freedom within the pace

The setup

You will need: four standard 3m poles

Setup: Set the poles out in a zig-zag formation along the three-quarter line. The gaps between each section should be approximately the length of one pole. A simple way to build this is to create an initial triangle shape, then move the base pole to begin the next section of the zig-zag.

Set out a zig-zag of poles along the three-quarter line (Image credit: creditUnknown)

How to ride the exercise

1. After your usual warm up, start by riding walk-trot-walk transitions, focusing on your horse reacting promptly from the leg, stepping forwards into the contact while remaining balanced and waiting for the half-halt.

2. Before introducing the full exercise, ride over a single pole on different lines across the school. This allows the horse to understand that poles are part of the session and helps establish relaxation. You can ride over the single pole in walk, trot or canter.

3. When ready, turn onto a line that takes you directly through the centre of the zig-zag. Make your turn early enough that both you and the horse are completely straight before reaching the first pole. Ride through in an active, forward-thinking trot, maintaining rhythm and balance throughout. Straightness is crucial. If the horse drifts left or right, the distances immediately become uneven and the exercise loses its intended effect.

Pitfalls to avoid

1. Loss of straightness

If the horse drifts off line, the distances between the poles will no longer ride correctly. Practise riding straight lines away from the track before attempting the exercise. When riding through the poles, some horses benefit from the rider carrying the hands slightly lower and wider, with a more supportive upper leg to help maintain straightness and alignment.

2. Spooking or stopping

The unusual pole angles can look visually challenging to some horses. This is partly what makes the exercise effective, as horses do not naturally have strong close-up vision and must learn to assess the question while staying relaxed.

If your horse feels tense or unsure, begin by riding the line in walk to allow them time to process the exercise. You may also choose to remove one or two poles initially until their confidence improves.

3. Rushing or breaking into canter

Horses who find lift and lengthening difficult often try to solve the question by quickening or cantering. Focus on the clarity of your trot aids. Use more half-halts if needed, alongside a quieter, slower seat.

Some horses find the exercise easier with the rider rising; others prefer a sitting trot. Whichever you choose, stay tall through your upper body, avoid tipping forwards and remember the value of the voice. A quiet “steady” or “trot” can often help maintain rhythm and confidence.

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Master your corners with this simple walk transition exercise to improve accuracy and impress the judges

Martha Terry — Fri, 05 Jun 2026 10:45:16 +0000

One of the easiest ways to impress a dressage judge is by riding accurate corners. But it’s not just about scoring high marks; improving how you ride corners encourages the correct bend, suppleness, straightness and balance from the horse with the rider prioritising using their seat and leg, over their hands. This is the foundation for all lateral movements and more advanced work.

Here’s how to work on your discipline and accuracy round the bends with the help of a simple flatwork exercise.

Aims

to ride into the corners of the arena
achieving bend through the horse’s whole body, without drifting in or out
to encourage straightness and suppleness
improve your transitions

The setup

Setup: No setup required, but you do need an arena – whether permanent or marked out in a field – so that you have corners to ride into.

Rebalance for the corners by making a transition from trot to walk before turning. (Image credit: creditUnknown)

How to ride the exercise

Once you’re warmed up, ride a 20m square in trot, turning across the school from E to B (or B to E, depending on the rein).
Two strides before each corner, ask your horse to walk. Imagine your horse’s whiskers touching edge of school so that you ride deep into the corner, then turn and trot out. The downward transition should help rebalance your horse.
As you approach each corner your horse should begin to naturally take their balance back on to the hindleg as they anticipate the downward transition. When you feel this, you can continue around the corner in trot without walking.
Build up to a consistent trot rhythm on the whole square, without changing tempo or cutting any corners, then repeat on the other rein.
If you feel the horse fall in or try to cut a corner, do the next one in walk.

Tips

1. Stop the drift

If your horse tries to cut the corner, half halt and check your inside leg is there to encourage them to bend their body around your leg through the corner.

2. Building up

Once your horse is becomes more consistent, instead of walking in the corners, just half-halt to rebalance the trot before the turn.

3. Progress

As the balance of both horse and rider develops, you will be able to ride a consistent trot rhythm through the whole square without cutting any corners. If you lapse at any stage, go back to walk and establish correct corners again so the horse understands what you are asking him to do.

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Practise changing leads over poles or jumps with this figure-of-eight layout

Martha Terry — Thu, 04 Jun 2026 08:45:46 +0000

Being able to change your horse’s canter lead while in the air over a jump might seem daunting, but it’s a necessary skill if you want to ensure a smooth jumping round – and be competitive. Plus, horses do flying changes naturally in the field all the time. Use this figure of eight jumping exercise to master lead changes in the air at home so you can save vital seconds when it counts.

Aim

use a four-fence set-up to practise and improve lead changes over a fence

The setup

You will need: four fences – you can use cavaletti, full jumps with wings, or ground poles – and cones or markers if you have them.

Setup: construct two sets of two fences at right angles with a distance of approx 20m between the points of each set as shown in the diagram. You can set the fence at whatever height is appropriate, or even start with poles on the ground.

If you have cones, place them as a guide about 10m from the point where each set of two fences meet, at each end.

(Image credit: creditUnknown)

How to ride the exercise

Once warmed up and ready to jump, in left lead canter ride around the cone to the first fence (red) – follow the black line in the diagram above.
Change lead in the air. By looking round to the next fence in the sequence (yellow), the natural shift in bodyweight and direction sends the message to the horse to land with the new leading leg. If you and your horse have not yet established changing leads over fences, see “tips and troubleshooting” below.
Go round the outside of the other set of fences (blue/green) on the right leg.
Jump the next fence (yellow), changing to the left lead in the air.
Go round the cone and repeat. After a rest, repeat on the other rein.

For a more testing challenge, you can come inside the second set of fences making a tighter circle (following the white line), increasing the focus on your rhythm and balance.

Do the same over the blue and green fences to mix it up. Just switch the direction of the set-up, starting on the left of the diagram above, so that you jump the blue and green jumps and go around the yellow and red ones.

Tips and troubleshooting

1. My horse won’t change leg

All horses have a favourite leg to land on, so training them to land on a particular lead takes practice, starting by making sure your aids are super clear and consistent.

Do not lean into the new direction as this can throw your horse off balance. Instead, sit straight and balanced, looking ahead in the new direction.

Support your horse with the new outside rein, and put the new inside leg on at the girth while opening your new inside hand in the direction you are turning.

2. Course-building tactics

If you build one set of fences small and the other slightly higher, you can start over the small set and not have to dismount to adjust before jumping the bigger one.

3. Mix it up

With this set-up you can also practise riding dog-leg turns.

4. Keep it smooth

Being able to change legs in the air will save you time and enable you to produce smooth, rhythmic rounds in competition. Keep thinking ahead, preparing for the next fence as you jump each one.

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Hone your horse’s responsiveness with this super-simple exercise you can practise anywhere

Martha Terry — Wed, 03 Jun 2026 08:30:32 +0000

Improving your horse’s way of going doesn’t require a perfect arena or a strenuous workout – this halting exercise is an excellent example. You can make significant gains using simple transitions without ever moving faster than a walk. You can ride this flatwork exercise out hacking, in the field or in an arena.

Aims

to improve your horse’s responsiveness
hone your horse’s walk-halt transitions, so you can perform them on demand with light aids
for the horse to understand that go means go, and stop means stop

Setup

No setup needed: You can practise this exercise in an arena, field or out hacking.

(Image credit: creditUnknown)

How to ride this exercise

Once warmed up, establish an active walk. Choose a marker, whether it’s a letter in the school or a bush on a hack, where you will aim to halt.
Sit up tall and reduce the amount your core and hips are following your horse’s back, then gently close your fingers around the rein to ask for halt.
If the horse doesn’t stop within two strides, check your aids. Were they clear? Repeat and be black and white. As soon as your horse halts, release the rein and praise, with the voice or a stroke on the neck. How long it took to achieve the halt will give you feedback on how early you need to prepare next time, but your horse should become more responsive as you practise.
Take a moment to assess the halt. Is it balanced? Is your horse square? Does your horse stand still when you release the reins?
Ask your horse to move off in walk by giving a light leg aid. If he doesn’t react positively from first touch, immediately reapply the leg clearly. If he still doesn’t react, don’t nag, but give a stronger leg aid – it doesn’t matter if the horse trots off as long as he goes forwards. More refined seat and back aids can come later, but the horse can only interpret a limited amount of information, so start with the basics.
Practise this exercise at regular intervals until your horse is responsive while remaining soft and in a good balance through both the upward and downward transitions. You can do it after four strides or after 40 – what matters is that the horse is listening and responding to your aids.

Tips and troubleshooting

1. It’s a conversation

Give your horse a chance to understand what you’re asking him and try to make it enjoyable. When he tries, show him you appreciate his effort.

2. Don’t fidget with your hand and leg

Many riders never stop twittering with their hand and leg, so the horse learns to ignore them as he doesn’t understand what’s being asked. Ride with clear intent. Ask for a reaction and then leave your horse alone as a reward. Be decisive and have clear boundaries.

3. Let your horse find his balance

If your horse needs to put his head up initially to find his balance, let him. To start with, it’s about the legs: do they go, do they whoa?

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Boost the quality of your horse’s canter with this straightforward poles routine

Martha Terry — Tue, 02 Jun 2026 09:10:11 +0000

Poles are a useful tool to improve the quality and balance of your horse’s paces, strengthening the core and boosting cadence. You don’t need intricate patterns and dozens of poles to work on the canter – this polework exercise to improve canter quality requires just three or four poles.

Aims

to improve your horse’s canter quality
work on the quality and balance of your horse’s canter
help the rider to feel the canter rhythm and see a distance

The setup

You need: three or four poles

Setup:

Place three or four poles on a straight line with approximately 3m between each (adjust this according to what suits your horse or pony, aiming for an easy, balanced canter).
If setting up in an arena, place the poles in the middle of the long side, so that you have sufficient space both to approach and after.

Adjust the distance between the poles so the striding is set at a comfortable canter for your horse (Image credit: creditUnknown)

How to ride the exercise

Once warmed up, ride a good corner to give a straight approach to the canter poles, counting your horse’s strides out loud.
Focus on the centre of the poles and aim to canter smoothly over them in the same rhythm, without your horse having to stretch or chip.
If your horse is rushing, sit up and half-halt. If your horse is struggling to reach each pole, keep your leg on, and if that still doesn’t work, shorten the distance so he is comfortable.

You can repeat this exercise several times on each rein, aiming for a regular, relaxed canter rhythm without resistance.

Tips and troubleshooting

1. I can’t see a stride

If you keep getting the distance to the first pole wrong, the whole exercise can disintegrate with poles flying everywhere. It may be too much for your horse to handle mentally, so start with just one pole and practise cantering into that. Once you’ve nailed meeting a single pole correctly, build back up to three or four poles – avoid two as that encourages your horse to jump the lot.

2. My horse rushes towards the poles on the approach

Sit up and ask your horse to halt and stand as soon as he grabs the bit. Reassure him, then quietly turn away and approach again. Keep asking him to stop and stand until he approaches on your terms.

3. My horse jumps the poles

Some horses just do! Repeat the exercise a few times until hopefully he relaxes and canters through quietly. Don’t worry too much if he jumps them, so long as he’s maintaining his canter quality.

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Teach your horse to rein-back from the ground to engage their core and release tension

Martha Terry — Mon, 01 Jun 2026 10:32:11 +0000

Rein-back from the ground involves working with your horse, unridden, to train him to step backwards calmly and without resistance in response to simple cues.

We use groundwork exercises to teach our horses cues from the ground, so that they clearly understand what is being asked, while also improving balance, suppleness, coordination and core strength.

Aims

establish good manners, relaxation and softness from the ground
engage your horse’s core and achieve response to your cues or aids
release tension and relax your horse

The setup

You will need:

Usual bridle, without reins (or twisted and secured inside the throat-lash), or a training halter or lunging cavesson
Lunge line or long rope
Schooling whip

No setup required: you can do this in an arena, outside the stable, in a field or on the yard if you have sufficient space.

Your horse’s legs should move in diagonal pairs as they step back (Image credit: creditUnknown)

How to rein-back from the ground

If your horse is wearing a bridle, attach the lunge line or long rope to the opposite bit ring to whichever side you are standing, and thread the line through the inside bit ring. For a headcollar, have the rope attached behind the chin. For a lunging cavesson, have the line attached to the central ring at the front.

Position yourself facing the horse’s tail while standing slightly to one side of the horse’s head, with the horse standing fairly square.
Applying gentle downward pressure to the rope, to ask the horse to step back, while using your voice to say “back”.
You can also point the whip towards the horse’s front hooves or chest to encourage the horse to step backwards.
As soon as the horse takes one step backwards, release the pressure and praise the horse.
Wait for a moment to allow the horse to process what they’ve learnt, then repeat the cue or ask.
Halt and stand still for a few moments.
Lift the rope and step backwards yourself to encourage the horse forwards one or two steps, then stop to stand again.
If the horse doesn’t understand the cue to walk forwards, point the whip behind the girth, following up with a light touch if needed.

You can repeat this exercise several times until the horse understands what you are asking and will move forward and back confidently without resistance. To start with he may only manage one or two strides, but you can build up to six or more.

Tips and troubleshooting

1. Diagonal pairs

You want to see the horse stepping cleanly backwards moving his legs in diagonal pairs, rather than shuffling or dragging their feet.

2. Good foundations

Reaching rein-back from the ground early in a horse’s training can help prevent the horse from learning to lean on you when you are handling them from the ground. Once it is established on the ground, the horse should understand the movement much more easily when ridden.

3. No rushing

The aim is for the horse to step back deliberately and confidently, in a relaxed frame with his poll at a similar height to his withers. You want to avoid the horse becoming tight in the neck or back and raising the head during this movement. If this happens stop, give the horse a moment to relax, and then ask again.

4. Pre-ride softness

This is a great warm-up exercise to do before riding, especially if your horse is sharp, as it encourages him to slow down and work with you without too much pressure. You can also do it tacked up, just secure the stirrups so they don’t bang on your horse’s sides.

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A simple polework exercise to help distinguish between sharper corners and rounder circles

Tania Grantham — Sun, 31 May 2026 09:30:15 +0000

Riding accurate corners is one of the simplest ways to improve a dressage test. Just as importantly, riders must be able to show a clear difference between the corners of the arena and a 20m circle at either end.

Too often, horses drift through the corners as though riding part of a circle, losing both balance and accuracy, but this polework exercise will create a visual guide to help you clearly distinguish between riding a corner and riding a circle.

Aims

Improve rider understanding of the accuracy points of a 20m circle
Encourage your horse to bend correctly through the body
Maximise the benefit of riding purposeful corners in a test

The setup

You need: two poles

Setup: Place one pole in each corner either side of C, positioned slightly off the track and pointing diagonally towards the centre of the arena.

Pole placement should suit your horse’s training level – more advanced horses will be able to ride deeper corners (Image credit: creditUnknown)

How to ride the exercise

1. Begin in walk. Ride around the end of first pole, then continue straight along the short side towards A or C. Focus on maintaining a straight line after the turn without allowing the horse to drift.

2. From A or C, begin a 20m circle. Your horse should leave the track to cross the first pole, touch the long side at the correct point, cross the centre line in the middle of the circle, touch the opposite long side evenly, then cross the second pole before returning to A or C.

3. After completing the circle, continue straight along the short side and ride around the end of the pole through the corner. The key is to clearly show the difference between the circle and the corner. For the corner, think about pushing the horse into the turn from your inside leg while controlling the line and balance from the outside aids. Once the exercise feels established in walk, repeat it in trot and then progress to canter.

Pitfalls to avoid

1. Lack of bend on the circle

Many horses fall through the shoulder or overbend in the neck without truly bending through the body. Prepare the circle before leaving the track by asking for a slight flexion at the poll to the inside. Then focus on riding a genuinely curved line, turning every stride rather than making one large steering movement. Keep the inside leg at the girth to encourage bend and maintain the horse’s balance.

2. Rushing

Some horses anticipate the poles and quicken towards them. Maintain a consistent tempo by paying attention to your seat and rhythm in each pace. Use well-timed half-halts to rebalance the horse and encourage them to sit more on the hindquarters rather than running forwards.

3. Breaking from canter

In canter, horses often lose balance in the corners and drop back to trot. Think of riding a shorter, more collected canter through the corner, keeping the strides active and bouncy. On the circle, allow the canter to travel slightly more forwards before rebalancing again for the next corner. Pole placement should always suit the horse’s training level. A prelim horse will not be expected to ride as deep or as collected a corner as a horse working at elementary or above.

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Develop your horse’s engagement in canter with this quick transition exercise

Martha Terry — Sat, 30 May 2026 13:45:24 +0000

You can practise this simple flatwork exercise in just five minutes, or use it every now and then in a regular schooling session to encourage engagement. All you need is to establish shoulder-in in trot, and you’re away.

Aims

to improve your horse’s engagement in canter
to use shoulder-in to encourage your horse to engage his hindleg in the upward transition from trot

The setup

No setup required: you can do this in the arena or even out hacking, but the arena fence is handy to help you judge the alignment of your shoulder-in.

Making the canter transition out of shoulder-in will encourage hindleg engagement (Image credit: creditUnknown)

How to ride the exercise

Once warmed up, trot down the long side of the arena in shoulder-in, showing the appropriate amount of bend.
Your horse’s footfalls should be on three tracks: the outside hind, the diagonal pair (inside hind and outside fore) and the inside fore, with your horse bending uniformly around the inside leg from poll to tail.
Ask for a canter transition as you move on to a circle. As your horse should be nicely engaged from the shoulder-in, this should encourage an engaged uphill canter with the hindquarters working well.
Maintain the quality of canter as you continue around the circle.

When riding shoulder-in, your horse’s footfalls should be on three tracks. (Image credit: creditUnknown)

Tips and troubleshooting

1. The correct bend

In the shoulder-in, as a rider you should be able to see your horse’s inside eye if you glance down. If you use too much inside bend, the outside shoulder will fall out, which will compromise your canter transition.

If the hindquarters drift out, your outside leg needs to support your horse more strongly behind the girth.

2. No crossing the hand

A common problem is to cross the inside hand over the neck as you try to flex the horse to the inside. This encourages the shoulder to fall out, so keep each hand on its own side of the neck with the outside rein to support the shoulders.

3. Starting collection

This exercise will be even more beneficial if the horse is able to collect a little in the trot, as this lightens the forehand for an uphill, balanced transition.

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Boost your horse’s suppleness and manoeuvrability using five poles on the ground

Martha Terry — Fri, 29 May 2026 09:15:32 +0000

This polework exercise using five poles is designed to improve your horse’s suppleness and manoeuvrability in trot. The poles are used as focus points to structure your training exercise, rather than for stepping over.

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 five metres between each. Then pull the second and fourth poles to one side but keeping them in the same plane.

Ensure there is sufficient space to the side of each pole so that you can walk around the ends – don’t place them against the fence line.

The poles help to keep your focus as you work on your horse’s correct bend (Image credit: creditUnknown)

How to ride the exercise

Once warmed up, establish an active trot.
The aim is not to trot over the poles, but around them, ensuring a uniform bend through your horse’s body on both reins.
Start with the first pole in the line of three poles and ride a pear-drop shaped loop around that, ensuring the horse is bending through his whole body. Then change the bend in an offset figure of eight to perform another pear-drop shaped loop around the first of the line of two poles.
Repeat with the next two poles in the sequence.
When it comes to the final pole, make a wider loop and come up the middle of the two lines in a mini slalom. Instead of big wide loops with lots of bend, it’s now about creating a little bit of bend in the ribcage. The horse needs to be listening to the rider and have quick reactions.

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

Tips

1. Start slow

If this exercise is too demanding in trot, try it first in walk (or try this exercise) until the horse understands your aids and what you are asking of him.

2. Perfection by polework

Polework is a great way for riders to monitor whether they are achieving something when riding on their own, because they require accuracy. If you aren’t accurate, you will miss or hit the poles. When you’re just riding around the arena without physical markers, it’s harder to judge your accuracy.

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Try this exercise to encourage your horse to engage his hindleg from the ground

Martha Terry — Thu, 28 May 2026 13:10:07 +0000

Teaching your horse cues from the ground can show them what you are looking for, as well as improving suppleness, core strength and coordination. This groundwork exercise is useful for helping the horse understand how to engage the hindleg, and for developing suppleness.

Aims

step the inside hindleg under and through
lift the core and engage the back
release tension and relax your horse

The setup

You need:

Usual bridle, without reins (or twisted and secured inside the throat-lash) or training halter or lunging cavesson
Lunge line or long rope (like this one)
Schooling whip

No setup required: you can do this in an arena, in a field or even just outside the stable if you have sufficient space.

The horse should pivot around you, similar to doing a turn about the forehand, stepping the hindleg forward and under the body. (Image credit: creditUnknown)

How to do the exercise

If you are using a bridle. attach the lunge line or rope to the opposite bit ring to whichever side you are working from, and thread the line through the inside bit ring. For a halter the rope will be underneath the horse’s jaw. On a lunge cavesson, have the rope or line attached to the central ring on the front of the nose.

Turn your horse around you, in walk, almost as if lungeing on a 2m circle. Bring the line towards you and point the whip slightly behind the girth.
You are asking your horse to bend through the body, pivoting around you with his front legs on pretty much the same spot, and stepping underneath the belly with his inside hind leg.
Gently maintain your ask until the horse takes the correct forward and under step with the hindleg that is closest to you while softing through their body.
Allow the horse to rest for a moment before asking again.
You can repeat this three or four times on each rein, gradually building up the number of steps.

Tips and troubleshooting

1. Your horse avoids the step under

It’s easier for your horse just to walk around in a circle rather than stepping under and through, but that step underneath the belly is key as that is when they lift their core and soften through the back.

2. Good foundations

Just like ridden lateral work, this exercise helps them soften and become more supple. But sometimes when you’re riding them they don’t understand what they’re asking, so this can be a useful first step.

3. Pre-ride softness

This is a great warm-up exercise to do before riding, especially if your horse is sharp, as it encourages him to soften. You can also do it tacked up, just secure the stirrups so they don’t bang on your horse’s flanks.

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Sharpen your transitions using this simple exercise on a circle

Martha Terry — Wed, 27 May 2026 14:46:43 +0000

Perfect your trot-canter transitions in this straightforward flatwork exercise, which you can do in the field or an arena.

Aims

to improve your accuracy in making canter-trot-canter transitions exactly on the marker
learn how far in advance you need to prepare your horse for accurate transitions
build communication and harmony in the horse-rider relationship

The setup

There is no setup required. All you need is space to ride a 20m circle.

Be disciplined about where you make your transitions. (Image credit: creditUnknown)

How to ride the exercise

Once warmed up, ride a few 20m circles in trot to establish bend and check your horse is listening.
Pick up canter and ride a continuous 20m circle, noting four markers where you will make your transitions, at 12 o’clock, 3 o’clock, 6 o’clock and 9 o’clock.
When you’re ready, canter round three-quarters of the circle from 12 o’clock to 9 o’clock, where you will ride a downwards transition to trot.
Trot round half the circle from 9 o’clock to 3 o’clock, where you will make a transition to canter.
Canter three-quarters of the circle from 3 o’clock to 12 o’clock, and so on.
Eight transitions will bring you back to where you started – however if you are late on your transitions it may take time to perfect the sequence.
Give your horse a break at walk before repeating on the other rein.

Tips and troubleshooting

1. Work on an incline

If you have access to a sloping field, and have mastered this exercise on the flat, performing these transitions on a hill is a great way to improve your horse’s balance, outline and core.

2. Accuracy

It’s all too easy to get late on a transition, and then miss the next one. To execute each transition bang on the correct point of the circle, you have to refine how far in advance to ask for the aids on a particular horse on particular terrain (the hillier, the more testing).

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Develop your core strength and balance by practising these positions in the saddle

Martha Terry — Tue, 26 May 2026 12:18:31 +0000

Going for a hack needn’t be a lob-about on a long rein – it’s a great time to work on your own position and fitness. Try this exercise in trot to boost your own strength – and see how much you improve each time you do it. If you prefer, you can also try this exercise in an arena or field.

Aims

to improve your balance in the saddle
to put your lower leg in the correct position with the weight in the heels
to make your seat more secure
to stretch and build up the necessary muscles

The setup

No setup required: you can do this in an arena or out hacking. Using a neck strap will help you balance without pulling the reins.

Three positions to practise in trot, to help develop your balance and strength (Image credit: creditUnknown)

How to ride this exercise

Put your stirrups at cross-country or galloping length.
Go into an active trot, and slip two fingers under the neck strap in case you need to balance. Adopt a racing position (pictured above, left), tucked up with your bum out and your hands low. Push your weight through your heels, allowing the ankles and knees to absorb the horse’s movement. Do not rise to the trot. You should feel the burn!
Sit up slightly as you move into a light seat as though you were preparing to jump a fence (pictured above, centre), with your bum lightly brushing the saddle but not full rising trot.
If you can balance well in these two positions, try the extreme version which is to stand upright in the saddle (pictured above, right), with your legs straight (still no rising), absorbing the movement through your ankles, knees and core. Do not rely on your hands. Keep the weight in the heels, using the neck strap if you need to balance.

The more you practise these three positions, the more you will hone your balance, strengthen your muscles and develop a correct lower leg position.

Start with short intervals to avoid fatigue, gradually building up your stamina over several weeks.

Pitfalls to avoid

1. Leaning too far forward

This puts weight on your horse’s neck and forces your lower leg back. Instead, push your weight through the heels and slide your bum back to redress the centre of balance.

2. Gripping with knees

This causes the lower leg to slip backward and destabilises you. Keep the weight through the heels, using your calves to keep you in place.

3. Swinging legs

Try shortening the stirrups, so that you can hover more efficiently above the saddle allowing your horse to move underneath you without you interfering.

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

Martha Terry — Mon, 25 May 2026 08:35:57 +0000

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!

How to set up the exercise (Image credit: creditUnknown)

How to ride the exercise

Once warmed up, establish an active but unhurried walk.
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.
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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Refine your centre lines using just two poles and two cones

Tania Grantham — Sun, 24 May 2026 11:30:44 +0000

In dressage, first impressions count. From the moment you turn onto the centre line, the judge begins assessing the quality of your horse and the harmony of the partnership. A straight, balanced and confident entry immediately suggests organisation, attentiveness and correct basics, setting the tone for the entire test.

I created this polework exercise to help you practise riding the perfect centre line.

Aims

improve balance in the turn onto the centre line
improve accuracy and straightness of centre line
improve your horse’s engagement and suppleness

The set up

You need: two poles and two cones

Setup: Lay the pair of poles as a tramline either side of D, and place the cones on the inside track of the short side at the ¼ and ¾ lines.

(Image credit: creditUnknown)

How to ride the exercise

1. Starting from the corner marker, think of the turn as half of a 10-metre circle. This encourages a smoother curve and helps maintain suppleness. Use the cone as the halfway point of your turn, creating a symmetrical curve either side of it.

2. Use the pair of poles as a visual guide for riding forward from the curve and straight onto the centre line.

3. Look up towards the C marker and ride forwards towards it.

Use the cone on the ¼ line as the halfway point of your turn. (Image credit: creditUnknown)

Pitfalls to avoid

1. Loss of balance in the turn

You have a crucial role in maintaining balance through the turn. Stay level through your shoulders, turning from the waist, and allow the weight to go down onto your inside seatbone without tipping your hips.

Use your outside rein and upper leg to support the horse’s outside shoulder, while the outside lower leg prevents the haunches from drifting. The inside leg at the girth maintains activity and bend. Focus on guiding your horse’s shoulders and hindquarters onto the centre line, rather than simply turning the head.

2. Loss of straightness on the centre line

True straightness means the hind feet follow the forefeet, with energy travelling forward evenly. For the rider, this requires even rein contact, softly supporting legs, and a centred, balanced seat. Focus on your hips staying level and square, a crooked horse will try to shift the riders weight or push one hip forwards.

3. Drifting off the centre line

If your horse drifts, avoid overcorrecting with the lower leg as this often results in them simply going crooked or drifting the other way. Instead, keep your hips square, upper legs steady, and hands even. Focus on keep the upper leg and upper arm closed, potentially with slightly more pressure on the side they want to drift.

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Use this 10m loop exercise to build your horse’s strength, balance and suppleness – and test your aids

bethany.stone@futurenet.com (Bethany Stone) — Sat, 23 May 2026 07:30:17 +0000

Add this 10m loop exercise to your next schooling session – no equipment required

An oft-forgotten exercise, the 10m loop benefits every horse’s strength, balance and suppleness. They can also work as a gentle introduction to counter-canter. Plus, it’ll sharpen up a rider’s use of aids.

If you’ve never ridden one before, it’ll be handy to look up how to ride a 10m loop before trying this flatwork exercise. This will help you get to grips with the aids.

Aims

to improve rider accuracy
enhancing the horse’s balance and suppleness
to introduce counter-canter

The setup

You need: a 20x40m or 20x60m arena

10m loop in a 20x40m arena (Image credit: creditUnknown)

How to ride the exercise

Warm up and establish an active, rhythmic trot.
Execute the loop, ensuring you ride a quality corner and don’t linger on the centre line – you should just brush it at X.
Return to the track, using the corner to rebalance.

To dial up the difficulty, do the exercise in canter.

The challenge is to maintain the horse’s rhythm, energy and your line without drifting or the horse coming up and against the hand.

Pitfalls to avoid

1. Know your arena

10m loops follow different gradients depending on the length of the arena. In a 20x60m, the curve is fairly gradual, but in a 20x40m, the line is much steeper. Make sure you plan ahead for shape and symmetry, remembering that briefly touching the centre line at X is correct.

10m loop in a 20x60m arena (Image credit: creditUnknown)

2. Prepare and support

This exercise serves to make you very aware of your corner riding. It takes discipline to ride deep into the corner and balance your horse to set him up well to curve away from the track. Look where you are going, be really clear with your inside and outside leg aids and use them to help your horse maintain his shape and rhythm, especially in canter, where outside rein connection is vital. It should feel like you’re using your outside aids to steer him out of the corner and away from the arena wall, and not the inside rein.

3. Not too much bend

Your horse should stay on two tracks throughout the movement; the body should stay straight with no drifting through the shoulder or quarters. If he doesn’t, it’s likely you have asked for too much bend when all you require is slight flexion.

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