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.

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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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.

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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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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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).

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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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.

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.

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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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

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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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

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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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.

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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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.

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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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.

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

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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.

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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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.

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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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 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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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.

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.

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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Olympian Vittoria Panizzon shares one of her favourite polework exercises, which can benefit horses at any level, in this exclusive article for H&H subscribers

This simple fan pole exercise is designed for encouraging suppleness, rhythm, rideability and improving the canter. It’s often used when training horses for eventing at all levels, so three-time Olympian Vittoria Panizzon explains how this polework exercise can benefit you and your horse, as well as how to increase the difficulty.

How to set up the fan pole exercise

Lay out seven poles in a fan shape, with each pole 3m apart if taking a line through the middle of the poles (as shown below).

Depending on the level of the horse, for this training exercise you can raise various poles into fences, for example two poles to an upright, pole upright, and then two poles.

How to ride the fan of canter poles

• Approach in a balanced canter and ride over the poles/fences following the curve.
• Open the inside hand and use the inside leg to turn the horse smoothly.
• Keep your balance in both stirrups, not twisting.
• As with any gridwork exercise, you should build up very gradually. Once you start adding jumps in, the basic setup is essentially a double with poles either side, but there are plenty of variations (see below).
• Ride the exercise an equal number of times on each rein.

How the fan pole exercise helps you and your horse

Vittoria explains that canter poles are always beneficial, and particularly so in this fan exercise, which she was taught by Jay Halim.

“Having to turn while cantering over the poles or small fences can be particularly helpful for horses that rush because it’s easier to help them not to rush on a turn,” she explains, “whereas on a straight line they can charge through the whole lot.”

“As well as helping the canter rhythm, the fan can be a useful exercise for horses that are a little stiff, as it encourages flexibility, asking them to bend and lift through their middle while coordinating and jumping.”

The poles do the job for you, Vittoria explains, although you need to use your body correctly.

“When the poles are on the ground, you could be in a sitting canter, but once they are off the ground, you need to be in a light seat through the poles to avoid restricting the horse’s back.

“Keep your balance in both stirrups and avoid twisting your body, opening your inside hand with your inside leg on, rather than pulling the horse round and blocking them,” she advises.

“I try to use the poles and the way I build the grid to correct a horse rather than forcing them. You shouldn’t be pulling them round the turn, because while you might have got through the exercise, you haven’t got the result you were after as you’ve ruined the quality of the jump. If you can do this with the poles guiding the horse then you’ll keep the quality of the jump while achieving the correct line.”

Variations of the poles in a fan

To increase the difficulty and prevent anticipation, you can try the following variations.

• Add a parallel, for example, alternate cross-poles and parallels. This means the horse has to stretch and turn at the same time.
• Raise one side of some poles to help the horse stop drifting his preferred way. Raise the outside to help turn the horse who is not turning enough; if they’re cutting in and “motorbiking” round the turn, raise the inside.
• Raise consecutive poles to cavaletti height – you could do four or five bounces on a curve.

The importance of the approach and landing

Vittoria says you should be fussy about how the horse lands.

“What you do after the grid really affects the approach to future jumps,” she explains. “For example, if the horse lands and rushes off, it will rush on the approach next time. If it lands in a heap, it won’t go forward into the fence because it knows it can stop afterwards.

“They should go straight after landing, neither rushing nor falling into trot. Whatever is their default, ask them to do the opposite,” she advises. “If they tank off, bring them back to a halt. If they collapse into trot, keep them in canter.

“It’s a classic mistake to make it through the grid or over a fence and think ‘I’ve done it’, but what happens next really matters, because it affects how the horse behaves into a jump and its general rideability. It also shows the horse is between hand and leg.”

It’s important to make sure you are training the horse and not the other way round.

“This applies to anything, under saddle and on the yard. Obedience relates to rideability. This is a partnership, so it’s not about being bossy or nasty, but it’s in horses’ nature to want to understand the boundaries and what is expected. They become more relaxed, content and settled. A disobedient horse isn’t a happy horse, it’s a lost, confused and stressed horse!”

About Vittoria Pannizon

Event rider Vittoria has been a stalwart of senior Italian teams since 2005. She has contested three Olympic Games, finishing 11th at London 2012 with Borough Pennyz. Having competed at numerous championships on a range of horses, including at the 2025 Europeans on DHI Jackpot, she is also currently campaigning two of Pennyz’ offspring, Borough Tuppence and Borough Threepence.

Based in Redmarley D’Abitot, Gloucestershire, Vittoria is a former junior European champion who has lived in England since she was 17.

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Like humans, most horses have a dominant side, but too much drifting left or right in the air can land you in trouble, especially when courses become more technical. Top showjumpers Trevor Breen and Jodie Hall McAteer discuss why it happens and what you should do about it in this exclusive article for H&H subscribers

There are several factors that will affect how you stop your horse drifting over a jump, and the key lesson is that even top-level showjumpers do it, so don’t lose heart. Drifting one way or the other in the air is a common error in showjumping training and competition and one that can have a multitude of causes.

“Straightness is really important in everything you do, but I’ve had plenty of very good horses that have either jumped left or right in the air. Some I’ve been able to correct, some I haven’t,” says reigning Horse of the Year Show leading rider Trevor Breen, who cites two of his top rides – one past and one present – as prime examples.

“I used to ride a very talented stallion called Classic who always jumped to the right as a young horse, but the more I worked with him the more I was able to iron out the drift and by the end of our partnership he was basically straight,” he says.

“By contrast, [current five-star ride] Highland President, has always drifted right in the ring and still does. The important thing for me is that I adapt my riding accordingly and that I’m very aware of where his drift might put me off my line and alter a distance, making it too long or short, or how it might affect a turn in a jump-off. That’s all part and parcel of my job as a rider.

“There are many good horses who have their own, unique styles, but the careful ones figure out a way of leaving the poles up,” he adds.

Nevertheless, it is important to know why a horse jumps to one side. There are generally three reasons:

1. Physical discomfort

If a horse suddenly starts drifting left or right, they might not be using themselves correctly because of pain. If you suspect something’s amiss you should always get them checked by a physio.

2. Natural one-sidedness

Most horses have a stronger and a weaker side. If, for example, your horse jumps to the left, it is probably because his right hindquarter is stronger and has more push. It’s your job to train him to become more even.

3. Rider influence

Without necessarily knowing it, the rider might be more dominant on one side than the other and this will affect the horse’s balance on take-off. If you lean just an inch to one side, almost all your weight will shift off-centre.

How to stop your horse drifting over a jump

Exercise 1 – canter poles

Teaching your horse to stay straight on a line should be ongoing within your daily training.

Top rider Jodie Hall McAteer regularly defaults to a very simple polework exercise to check her horse’s straightness.

1. Set out three or four canter poles in a straight line down your school two, three or four horse strides apart depending on the length of your arena.

2. In canter, practise cantering over each pole right in the middle. It sounds easy, but it’s much harder than it looks and you have to be very self-disciplined.

3. You need to get ready to correct your horse’s balance and straightness immediately with your aids (legs, seat and reins), which are light if he stays on track but become more pressurised if you feel him starting to drift. Simply cantering over a few poles on both reins tells you a lot about whether you and your horse are truly straight.

4. To ramp it up a notch, a variation on this exercise is to aim for a different point on the poles, for example on striped poles you could aim for the second coloured band from the left-hand side and keep exactly to this line over all the poles.

Exercise 2 – landing pole

To help a horse stay straight in the air, Trevor and Jodie advocate using a carefully positioned pole on the ground on landing to encourage the horse not to drift mid-air.

“If your horse jumps to the right, for example, I would put a pole on the floor at right angles to the fence, around halfway between the centre of the jump and the wing [pictured below], to encourage him to stay straight on landing,” says Trevor. “It is best to use a soft, foam training pole rather than a solid pole in case the horse accidentally lands on it.”

Jodie adds: “Don’t be tempted to over-correct a drift with your hand as you will likely lose the softness through the horse’s body. Instead, look up, ride to a point in the distance and let the pole do the work.”

The rider’s influence

If you are struggling with how to stop a horse drifting over a fence, don’t forget to analyse the influence from the saddle. A horse’s straightness when jumping can be directly impacted by the rider and staying straight and balanced in your own position – looking up through the horse’s ears is crucial.

“Most riders will carry some degree of asymmetry, but a lot don’t realise it,” says Jodie. “If you’re stronger down one side of your body than the other then you’re not going to be using your aids equally, which can cause the horse to jump to one side.

“There are often tell-tale signs that you have a dominant side — the leather on the inside of your boot may be worn on one leg more than the other, or your gloves may wear out at different rates, for example.

“If you can recognise your own positional faults – video analysis can be helpful with this – then you’re in a position to do something about it.”

It’s important to work on straightness out of the saddle as well as on board, and what works for one rider may not work for the next. Jodie is a big fan of reformer Pilates.

“It’s great for working on my weaknesses and for improving my symmetry, strength and balance, plus I really enjoy it, which is a bonus,” she says.

If it ain’t broke…

Jodie warns that while it’s vital to work the horse in a way that always promotes straightness, it’s important not to get too caught up in over correcting a horse that naturally jumps right or left, especially if he is experienced.

“Remember, if an older horse is jumping successfully at a good level, his way of going has already got him there,” she points out. “I’d be more likely to try and correct a young horse jumping to the side before it becomes an ingrained habit.”

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Horse and rider training

Welcome to Horse & Hound’s training hub. Whether you are looking for techniques to improve your riding skills, insight from top trainers and riders on how to prepare your horse for a specific sport, or tips to help solve specific problems, you will find useful advice from experts to help.

Horse & Hound’s training exercise of the week

Choose a topic:

• Dressage
• Eventing
• Showjumping
• Showing
• Cross-country
• Hacking
• Polework
• Gridwork
• Lateral work
• Groundwork
• How horses learn
• Young horses
• Riding techniques
• Rider fitness
• Rider mindset
• Problem solving
• Learning to ride

Daily training inspiration

Execute smarter square halts with just four poles

• Improve horse’s straightness
• Help with accurate placement of the halt
• Create a square halt

Try today’s exercise or find more daily inspiration.

If you are looking to keep your horse in the best possible health so they can perform optimally, treatments by a qualified equine therapist are only the beginning — follow them up with targeted strengthening exercises at home and you’ll be amazed with the results. The following polework exercises for horses have been suggested by veterinary physiotherapist Hayley Marsh, as they are designed to help strengthen their core when done at home in between treatments.

How pole exercises for horses work

Polework for horses can increase the range of motion of the horse’s limbs and joints, engage the hindquarters, increase stride length and core stability, and improve balance and proprioception (the sense of position and movement). The following exercises can be done under saddle, in-hand, on the lunge or on long-reins. NB: If your horse is coming back into work following an injury, or if you have any concerns about your horse’s physical state, we recommend you speak to your vet or physio before adding these exercises into your horse’s work.

Three pole exercises for horses to strengthen their core

1. Raised poles

Set out six poles in a line, spaced so that there is one footfall between each pole, and work through them in walk first, followed by trot once you’ve amended the distance. Next, raise alternate ends of the poles (beginning with one pole at a time for inexperienced horses), starting with just a few inches in height, to increase the range of motion in the joints. On approach, make sure that the horse is balanced and straight, and let him find his own way through the poles. Don’t hold him together. Once the horse is performing this exercise well you can gradually increase the height of the poles, but they should not exceed about a foot on one side, with the other end resting on the ground.

2. The maze

Set up a maze, as in the video. Walk through in a forward, balanced walk. As you turn each corner, open your inside hand to encourage the horse to bend through his body in the direction of travel and place your inside leg slightly behind the girth, encouraging him to step under and cross over with his hindlegs. If you are doing this exercise in-hand, then use your body positioning, line and stick to encourage the horse to bend to the inside and step under with the hindleg. Once set up, you can also use this exercise to walk and trot over the poles (see arrows on diagram below).

3. Fan of poles

Set out five poles in a fan shape with a foot’s width between the poles at the narrow end of the fan, and about five to six feet wide at the widest. Ask the horse to work his way through the poles in balance, ensuring he is active. You can encourage him to shorten and lengthen his stride by choosing which line he takes over the poles. Ensure he has a slight inside bend through his body.

Important things to note when using pole exercises with your horse

• Walk is the most effective pace to perform polework in when trying to build a horse’s core strength as there is no moment of suspension, so all movement is achieved through muscular effort
• The closer the poles are together, the more the horse has to sit back and developing his carrying capacity and, alternatively, the further they are set apart, the more the horse has to push forward to lengthen his stride — be aware that this can encourage the horse to fall onto his forehand
• Working horses over poles without a rider allows the horse to move more through his back and core, while also giving the rider the chance to see how the horse is moving

About Hayley Marsh

Hayley is a fully qualified and insured veterinary physiotherapy with a BSc in Equine Sports Science and a PgDip in Veterinary Physiotherapy. She is a member of the National Association of Veterinary Physiotherapists (NAVP), RAMP and is recognised and covered by equine insurance companies. Find out more…

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During winter, Harry Meade’s training involves plenty of polework, as well as the water treadmill. Before knuckling down to whatever daily exercise is planned, all his horses head out for a 15-minute hack around the village, so they have warmed up and loosened off before starting more serious work.

The horses have plenty of variety, from hacking around the undulating Cotswold countryside to polework, schooling, jumping and the early throes of fitness work. Harry believes in working on a range of different surfaces, never drilling a horse or doing the same type of work two days running.

Polework training with Harry Meade

This simple polework exercise doesn’t require a large arena, or can be done on grass if conditions permit.

“For horses coming back into work, I like to do simple exercises that are prescriptive and clear,” Harry says. “I try to focus on doing the small things really well, then the big things look after themselves.

“This exercise is a yardstick as to where the horse is physically and mentally. It exposes any mental fractiousness or physical asymmetry. It’s nice and easy, but we’re aiming to do something straightforward that’s worth a 10 out of 10.”

Working on: creating true suppleness and give through a horse’s back, while calibrating a horse’s stride length.

The set-up is four poles around a 20m circle, with four canter strides between each (see diagram). This set-up works in a 25m wide school. If your school is 20m wide, rotate the circle by 45º so you can ride on the outside of the poles as needed.

Harry warms up with some walk and trot work, then builds up the intensity in canter and finally add in variations within the canter pace. He begins the polework by walking purposefully over the circle of poles, straight, and then in shoulder-in, renvers and travers on each rein.

“I’m looking for the horse to maintain the contact as he lifts his shoulder over the pole. The neck should lengthen, the withers come up, with a free shoulder, and this gives you access to the horse’s back.

“A stiff or untrained horse will step over like a puppet and lift his whole head and neck as his shoulder comes up. They should develop the independence of motion to pick up each limb while maintaining their position, but in an elastic not a fixed way.”

Harry trots a circle, travelling over the centre stripe of each pole. He wants the horse working over the back, riding from inside leg to outside hand.

“I pat the horse over every other pole with the inside hand to check he can maintain all aspects of his positioning – his outline, bend and direction of travel around the circle – without relying on the inside hand. It’s important to focus on riding each quadrant [the quarter section of a circle], rather than each pole. I count the trot strides and open the trot up, asking the horse to be generous with his ground cover.”

The exercise: in canter

In canter, Harry rides one quadrant (two poles) on four strides, then misses a pole, another quadrant on four strides, then misses a pole, and so on. He gives the horse a short break before repeating on the other rein. He warns that a common mistake is to count the landing as a stride.

Next, he does the same with two consecutive quadrants (three poles), then misses a pole, another two quadrants, misses another pole, and so on. Harry is aiming to control the line on which he’s travelling around the inside leg, without losing the shoulder.

“If you drift out on landing after a pole, then you compromise the imminent related distance,” he says. “Always look ahead, so your eyes move from the next pole to the quadrant beyond it, well before you have cleared the pole.

“You’re aiming for a metronome beat – when it’s going well, the tune to Happy Birthday always comes into my head during this exercise! Not by coincidence,” Harry explains, “but because the beat for the canter in this exercise is about 105bpm, which is the same rhythm as most of us would hum Happy Birthday.”

Having repeated on the other rein, Harry does the same with three consecutive quadrants (four poles), then misses a pole, another three quadrants, then misses a pole.

“The horse has to really let go through his back, allowing you to access deeper muscles. The exercise is a tool to assess the quality or ‘form’ of his work, the same as having ‘good form’ in the execution of Pilates work. Like everything in training horses, it’s not so much about what exercise you do, but the manner in which you do it that is important. Any glitches in form will be exposed by the exercise.

“It also calibrates the horse’s stride. A young horse with a weak canter will typically have a long rangy stride and needs to shorten to avoid cantering onto a pole. Horses that canter in a tight way, like a pogo stick, need to soften into a more relaxed canter without tension but with a greater ground cover.

“As a rider, it gives you an awareness of how each horse naturally copes with the distances and therefore what you need to concentrate on when training the canter.”

The next level: changing stride length

“Adjustability is the next layer of intensity,” Harry says. “You can up the ante by changing the size of the canter on a continuous circle – ride two consecutive quadrants each on four strides, then shorten the canter to five strides for the next two quadrants and then back to four for two, and so on. The horse has to lengthen and shorten but without tension or tightness.

“If a horse is not working well, the pole will act as a disruption when attempting to adjust the canter, whereas a horse that is travelling fluently between the changing canter gears will not be affected by the pole.

“It is surprisingly hard work for horses as they let go through their bodies and fully give their back to you, so always give your horse breaks when changing the rein. It’s a good exercise for working horses in pairs, as the two horses can work in a tag team with short stints of work and short breaks.”

This exercise is also good for the rider’s “eye” and to practise using the correct aids to lengthen and shorten the horse’s stride.

Variation: seat position

Harry suggests alternating between sitting in the saddle and standing in a light out-of-the-saddle showjumping seat.

“A rider should be able to do both well, so if you find one much harder than the other, stick to the more difficult position for a few sessions until you’re fluent, then switch back to test the other position.”

As with all his rides, Harry walks his horse down the lane for 10 minutes after training to warm down.

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British team dressage medallist Michael Eilberg shares the innovative ways he uses poles to help develop young horses’ early training, from corners and circles to counter canter and lateral work

1. Arrange poles around your arena as per the diagram, below

“I use a three figure approach with my young horses: circles, to check the horse is loose and supple; straight lines, to check you can control the bend, that you don’t have to have it if you don’t want it; and corners, to represent more control and the introduction of collection,” says Michael. “Everything you do in an arena is made up of four straight line and four corners, so they always have to be good.”

2. Use the poles around the edge to help you ride better corners

“Ride around the pole to help push your horse into the corner so you don’t have to do too much with your aids,” advises Michael. “Then turn across the school between B and E and ride through parallel poles to give the horse direction and keep him straight so you don’t have to be too strong with your aids.”

3. Ride circles of varying sizes around the poles in canter, to help develop strength and the first steps towards teaching collection

“The canter in the smaller circle might get a bit more laboured as the horse has to work harder, so you need a more active aid to keep the energy in the canter,” says Michael. “The bigger circle then offers more relief, where you can send him forward.”

4. Now make circles in between two of your corner poles, rather than around them

“This works them a bit harder, and they may get tense. Even if your horse gets strong, try to let go — don’t be strong back,” says Michael, who advises taking the horse onto a bigger circle, or down the straight line after a couple of smaller circles, to allow him to relax.

“The minute you get the opportunity to soften, you must soften — you have to make the first move yourself sometimes.”

5. Use this arrangement of poles to start teaching counter canter

To start counter canter, ride a small half circle around the pole coming out of the corner, then a loop back towards the track at B or E. At the middle marker, ride back towards the centre line and make a half circle round the pole at the other end.

“Don’t panic if you can’t get all the way to the track at first,” says Michael. “Work on challenging the horse’s balance and getting closer. Try to be black and white with your corrections; say, ‘Not like this, like this’.

“If the rhythm gets too fast in the loop, wait for the circle at the end to catch the speed — you don’t have to pull.”

6. In between exercises, give your horse a chance to stretch, and check he’s relaxed

“When you’re stretching a horse, all the same things still matter,” points out Michael. “You still want him to be rhythmic and balanced, just with a longer neck. You don’t want him to fall on the floor with his nose.”

7. Rearrange your poles as per the second diagram, below, to use them to help introduce young horses to the early stages of lateral work

“When starting lateral work, don’t forget that it has to be forwards and sideways, not just sideways,” says Michael. “Using poles helps give direction, and they give the horse confidence because he knows where he’s going.”

8. The first lateral movement Michael teaches his young horses is the leg yield

Make a half circle in trot and ride down the outside of the diagonal line of poles, back towards the track to start the leg yield.

“Push the quarters away from the poles — the horse needs to understand how to be more reactive off the leg.”

In between, add some transitions to check the horse is staying reactive to your aids, and to maintain a quality trot.

“The horse must learn to understand going sideways without losing a good trot. You’re always looking to not have to work too hard,” says Michael.

9. Progress to using the poles to help teach a horse to half-pass, using travers

“The hardest thing about half-pass is positioning the horse correctly — the quarters are often leading or there is not enough bend,” points out Michael. “By riding travers down the outside of the diagonal pole line you are already more-or-less doing half-pass. The beauty of it is that every time you ride it you’re getting the same half-pass and it starts to feel familiar. The poles help keep the horse in position and rhythm and you can ride positively forward as you know where your line is.”

• To stay up to date with all the breaking news throughout London International and more, subscribe to the Horse & Hound website

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Here are some polework exercises for horses used by successful riders, that should help keep your horse or pony happy and fresh in their work at home.

Eventer Coral Hardman’s key polework exercises for horses

The diagram above demonstrates five-star eventer Coral Hardman’s favourite polework exercise. Here’s why she like it:

• It helps get the horse and rider thinking/reacting quickly
• Helps the combination work on their transitions between trot and canter in a straight line and direct
• It helps promote straightness through the poles and before and after them too
• Allows you to work on distance variations between the two single poles and being able to change the gears in the canter without losing straightness
• Pole work increases activity in the hindleg and gets the horse working through their back
• You have to look up and plan ahead as it comes up fairly quickly
• Shows up weaknesses that normal flatwork wouldn’t necessarily highlight

Eventer Kate Honey’s favourite polework exercises

Kate, who is another five-star event rider, shares a couple of her favourite pole exercises for horses to improve both horse and rider:

Poles on the long side — don’t put them on a set distance but ride what you feel and then see if you can lengthen and shorten the canter stride. It is also a great one for getting a feel of counting strides and learning about your horse’s stride.

Four poles on a circle (clock exercise) — this is a surprisingly hard exercise and gives you a real feel for if you are controlling the outside shoulder. It can be ridden in trot or canter and you can then increase the difficulty by working from the outside into the centre of the poles.

Showjumper Scott Dollemore’s pole exercises

Scott, who is one of showjumping yard TW Stable’s riders, shares some pole exercises for horses ranging between just broken to those six years old and over.

Suitable for all horses, including those that are young and weak

Use poles to work on accuracy in the arena. Just set up a single pole anywhere in the arena. Make sure you ride straight lines and make sure you ride to a specific point — usually the middle of the pole. This will help teach you horse to keep straight between the hand and leg and has the added benefit of improving their general flatwork

Suitable for horses slightly further along in their training

Use canter poles to work on rhythm and having an even canter stride. Place two poles on a five/six stride distance and canter through them. This will help relaxation when it comes to jumping as this will help teach your horse to keep an even stride between the two poles.

Polework exercises for more established horses

Increase difficulty to the second exercise by adding and removing strides down the distance. Adding and removing strides will help with collection and ride ability when it comes to then jumping in the ring. When you and your horse have mastered this, add another pole onto the line so that you have to canter over three poles with four/five strides between each distance in a straight line. This adds just another level of difficulty to the exercise and ensures that you can keep a steady rhythm between two distances. You can even up the difficultly by adding in dog legs.

• To stay up to date with all the breaking news throughout Horse of the Year Show, London International and more, subscribe to the Horse & Hound website

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We’ve scooped up some expert tips and advice from some top trainers for developing both horse and rider using trotting pole exercises.

Trotting poles: exercise one

Place three poles on the ground 4’6” apart and trot over them while standing up in your stirrups. Develop the exercise by raising one end of each pole before progressing to having both ends of each pole raised.

Aim: To improve a rider’s balance and core strength and to improve the horse’s suppleness while working on his coordination.

Richard Waygood, World Class programme eventing performance manager, says: “Ensure the weight is through your heels, your head is up and you are looking straight ahead. Engage your core and don’t tip forward or hold onto your horse through the reins — by all means use the neckstrap to balance. Don’t forget to start and finish the exercise in the correct way of going, don’t collapse in the saddle after the final pole and then fall in around the corner, make sure you stay straight.”

Trotting poles: exercise two

Arrange six poles on the ground in a zigzag formation then trot over the middle of the poles.

Aim: To teach horse and rider to stay straight down the middle of the poles regardless of their angle. This exercise also increases the horse’s desire to be careful and thoughtful.

Ros Canter, eventing world, European and team Olympic gold medallist, says: “Using poles in a zigzag really helps the rider to pick up on any problems the horse and rider are having with straightness as the horse may try and follow the angle of the poles instead of staying to the middle of the exercise. The rider should concentrate on finding something to look at above and beyond the poles instead of looking at the poles themselves. This will help to educate the rider in keeping their horse straight through their feel and body aids, not just their eyes and hands.”

Trotting poles: exercise three

Place three sets of five poles in a line on the ground with a strided space distance between them. Each set should be spaced differently so your horse has to adjust his stride length from short to regular to long or vice versa. This exercise is normally ridden in trot but could also be done in canter if the poles are are appropriate distance apart.

Aim: To improve the riding of transitions between the different types of trot or canter as well as to help to shorten or increase the horse’s stride length. All of which will improve the horse’s co-ordination, balance and confidence. This exercise also improves the rider’s skillsets as well as their understanding and feel for the different types of trot or canter.

Sam York, FBHS UKCC Level 3 and British Eventing accredited coach, says: “You will need to trot much slower than you think to maintain balance and to ensure the horse does not hit the poles. Keep your eyes straight ahead, your hands soft and use the half halt when necessary. If your horse is coming into the poles in a strong manner, bring him in on a smaller turn or circle so he can’t rush. When doing this exercise in trot, ensure you keep rising through the poles and try to slow your rise a fraction so your body language helps to rebalance the horse and slows him down. This ensures the horse has to think more about what he is doing. This all helps to improve and develop the different paces within paces and increase cadence as well as rhythm and balance.”

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It is useful for every horse to be able to shorten and lengthen their canter stride, regardless of what discipline they take part in and to what level. Australian Olympian Chris Burton, uses just two canter poles in this simple pole exercise for horses that will help improve your horse’s strength and coordination so that they can easily alter their stride on request.

1. Place two poles on the ground

“It doesn’t matter where you place the poles, just drop them down without being fussy about the distance in between,” says Chris.

2. Let the horse travel forward in canter

This is particularly important on those horses who struggle to shorten their stride, because it keeps them confident.

“When you know your horse has a big canter stride and finds it difficult to come together, you want to teach them to shorten by playing to their strengths first,” advises Chris.

3. Maintain the same forward pace over both poles

“Don’t push or collect. Let the horse look and adjust if they need to.”

4. Do this several times on both reins

Aim for the poles to be in the middle of a stride (see image below) and the rhythm to stay the same.

5. Count

Now ensure you count the number strides your horse comfortably fits in at this forward pace

6. Add an extra stride between the poles

Do this by quietly sitting and waiting, making small adjustments early.

7. Ask the horse to walk shortly after crossing the second pole

“Use these transitions to help the horse sit behind and start to close up the canter,” explains Chris.

8. Don’t ride too far away from the poles

This is because young and green horses can’t carry the short canter for long.

“They are using their muscles in a different way, so they will get tired and sore quickly.”

9. Finding things difficult

When your horse finds a certain number of strides more difficult, they may break into trot or stumble in canter when the pace loses elevation.

“When the horse says ‘this is hard’, gently ask them to keep going and they will slowly realise that they can,” advises Chris.

10. It doesn’t matter if the canter falls apart

This is because it’s all part of the learning curve.

“Using ground poles means we can challenge a horse so that they realise what they’re being asked for — throughness and to sit behind so that the canter condenses.

“As they get stronger the exercise will become easier, and then you can ask for more power in the canter so that there is more lift off the floor.”

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Rolex Grand Slam of eventing winner Pippa Funnell shared her expertise with a packed crowd around the Vestey Viewing Arena at the London Horse Show today (19 December).

Here are a few insights from Pippa…

1. Be aware of the weather conditions when working with horses.

Especially in winter, make sure you stay stafe.

2. Rider position is important.

Pippa said: “Imagine you have a rope attached to your head pulling you up tall, a string attached to your heel pulling your leg down. Then pull your tummy button towards your spine, drop your shoulders, pull your shoulders back. Grow tall, but stay relaxed within it.”

3. You can use buckets or other everyday objects as part of your schooling.

Pippa asked the riders in the masterclass to weave between decorative lights as a suppling exercise – while keeping their own posture – but said riders could use something like buckets to do this at home.

“Don’t pull on the reins to turn and still ride with activity,” she advised.

4. Allow the bend.

“Often we give mixed messages,” she said. “If we want to bend left, we’ve got to allow the horse [to expand their body] on the right side.”

5. Don’t under-estimate how useful poles on the ground can be.

“We do so much over trot poles, working on rhythm,” she said. “We have to think about our balance too as riders and stay looking up. Also, we don’t want the horses to get bored, we want to vary the work we do with them.”

6. Mark yourself.

After a transition, ask yourself what mark you would get and then try to improve.

“It’s not about force, it’s just about repetition – repeat, repeat, until you get to a place where you think, ‘This is better, I’m happy with this’.”

7. Use the outside rein.

“People go wrong by slowing the horse using the inside rein, then the horse takes too much bend and loses balance,” she said.

8. The neck is the fifth leg.

“Horses have to be able to use their eyes to focus and use the length of the neck to balance,” she said.

9. You can jump small fences out of trot – or even walk.

“Out of walk, you don’t know what the horses are going to do, so it’s a good replica for cross-country riding,” she said.

10. Work on rideability.

Don’t be afraid to circle to improve bend in the middle of an exercise or halt after a fence if the horse is getting strong.

“We can all use transitions more – if the horse is going quick, make him think you’re going to stop. It’s all about mind games,” she said, urging the riders to make quiet, nice transitions as if they were in a dressage test, using the core and the leg to ask the horse to bring the hindleg under him and ensure he stays balanced.

“It’s important they learn the go and they learn the whoa. Set yourself little goals such as doing [the transition] a half a stride earlier than last time after a fence.”

11. Don’t obsess over strides.

“It you’re in good rhythm and balance, the horse can work out their own strides. Sometimes we need to forget it and just think about balance, straightness and the rhythm of the canter. Those are the golden rules.”

12. Let the horse learn.

“If the horse makes a mistake, don’t do anything different to the fence the next time – give them a chance to work out their footwork,” she said.

13. It’s all about partnership.

“It’s key to everything we do to build up our partnership and relationship, that our horses are happy and relaxed,” said Pippa Funnell as she concluded her London Horse Show demo. “I want my horses to be my best friends and they get confidence from repetition and trusting us as riders and people.”

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WALKING over ground and raised poles can be beneficial for horses in rehabilitation or as general strengthening work, research has highlighted.

A team originally from the former Animal Health Trust found that using poles can help achieve many key rehab goals set out by veterinary and musculoskeletal practitioners for horses. These include increasing the limbs’ range of movement, strengthening musculature and improving balance and coordination.

The study, published in the Journal of Equine Veterinary Science, concludes by stating: “These findings add to the growing evidence base regarding exercise interventions for the rehabilitation of the horse and provide clinically relevant observations which practitioners can use to inform their exercise selection for individual cases.”

Rachel Murray, the senior author, told H&H the study involved 41 horses, all assessed as clinically sound and with experience of walking over poles. Each horse wore several sensors to assess its movement when walked, in hand, over ground and raised poles.

“There have been projects looking at trotting over poles but not on walking, and walking is what you use in rehab,” Dr Murray said. “In trot, horses can be bouncing off their tendons, but in walk, you’re asking them to use their muscles.”

Dr Murray likened the difference to running or walking up stairs; the former may make someone breathless and feel like more effort but the muscles may not be working as they have to in walk.

“We found horses walked differently on the ground, to walking over ground poles, and to walking over raised poles,” she said. The study found the polework increased range of movement in front- and hindlimbs, and increased the swing phase flexion in all legs.

“They bent their joints more and rounded their backs,” Dr Murray said, adding that the benefits are not only for horses in rehab – using polework is “very useful for strength”.

“Our dressage horses, who compete up to international level, walk over poles twice a week,” she said. “A lot of my clients use it as strength training, and that’s up to Paralympic and Olympic horses. You’re making the horse stronger without putting lots of strain on its legs.”

Dr Murray added that it is important to start with ground poles and raise them once strength has improved, to avoid the horse compensating by moving its back or pelvis in a less beneficial way.

“We don’t want people to think the best thing is to walk a horse over high poles when it might not be strong enough, and might start rotating its pelvis too much or its upper body, rather than flexing its limbs,” she said. “Start with ground poles, and progress in the context of each horse and its capabilities.”

Good indicators that it is time to progress is if the horse is comfortable over ground poles, not rolling from side to side and not knocking poles as it walks over them.The right distance between poles is also key; too far apart and the horse will have to stretch and extend its back; closer together and it can round its back and have more collection. As poles are raised, the distance may need to be shorter.

“The results were in line with what we expected as we do a lot of rehab but we wanted to see what happened, and also to support the fact we use this, and it really did,” Dr Murray said. “I’ve had so many injured horses who have done nothing but walk over poles for two months and at the end, in posture and strength, they’re different horses.”

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Would you like to know what training Tokyo Olympic team gold and individual silver medallist Tom McEwen does at home?

Read on for six training tips we picked up on a recent visit to Tom’s Gloucestershire yard…

1. Much of the horses’ fitness work is done out hacking, using hills around Tom’s Gatcombe base. The horses often head out for a hack with one of Tom’s team on board before or after a flatwork session in the arena with Tom. The hacks will increase in length for horses aimed at big three-days – for example, Toledo De Kerser and CHF Cooliser, who will be entered for Badminton Horse Trials this spring, will build up with longer rides.

2. Tom also uses a nearby gallop for fitness work, but says: “Not always going full speed, we do a lot of hack cantering.” 

3. All his horses go cross-country schooling at least twice before the season starts and those sessions will also contribute to horses’ fitness.

4. Tom uses polework as a way of keeping variety in his flatwork and to help horses be adjustable in their stride length and strengthen up. He’ll also ride over poles as part of his jumping warm-up, and use poles on the ground before and after fences during a jumping session.

5. Noticing what your horse is doing is vital – for example, is a horse weaker on one rein? Is his stride compromised on landing because he’s not jumping straight? Tom notes these aspects of each horses’ work and then trains to improve them gradually over time.

“Ultimately those details separate three good rounds at an Olympics from what could be a problem,” he says. 

6. He plans the horses’ work for the week each Thursday evening, so everyone on the yard knows what they are doing, but is flexible as necessary.

“We might do more jumping one week, then give them an easier week, then do more flatwork the next week,” says Tom. “We’re quite organised, but things do change.”

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Like these Tom McEwen training tips? Read more about Tom’s yard, how he manages his horses and his team in this week’s Horse & Hound magazine (dated 24 February). Find how you can enjoy the magazine delivered to your door every week, plus options to upgrade your subscription to access our online service that brings you breaking news and reports as well as other benefits.

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This exercise helps a horse find its rhythm and is effective for horses working on the flat and those that are jumping. The exercise can aid balance and open up the horse’s shoulder, improving his stride length and quality.

This pole exercise for horses helps a horse find its rhythm and is effective for horses working on the flat and those that are jumping. The exercise can aid balance and open up the horse’s shoulder, improving his stride length and quality.

The exercise

Start with six poles on the ground and place them three yards apart, in a straight line.

• Walk down the line of poles until your horse is confident. Repeat this exercise in trot and canter, starting from both directions.
• When your horse is trotting and cantering confidently in a good rhythm, build the middle four poles up until they are raised. Keep the two end poles on the ground.
• Repeat step one with the raised poles. You should feel your horse start to open up trough his shoulder.
• You can add a cross pole at either end, but make sure the final pole before the fence is a raised one.

It is really important to keep your horse straight through the whole exercise. A good way to make sure of this is to always aim for the middle of each pole. To straighten your horse, use your legs and really try to avoid using your hands, unless you absolutely have to.

What can go wrong?

This exercise is fairly straightforward — just make sure you ride into a soft contact and don’t get behind the movement… let the poles do the work.

If the horse makes a mistake don’t panic, keep riding quietly through the poles and let him work it out. A young horse or inexperienced horse may want to jump each pole. If he does, again don’t panic. If necessary you can back track by dropping the poles to the floor and starting again.

Lastly, if your horse knocks a pole you must check that all the poles are still three yards apart. If not your horse’s stride pattern and rhythm will be disrupted, defeating the object of the exercise.

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This week’s 20-minute workout is designed to help riders focus. The ability to look ahead and plan is a key skill for any rider, across all disciplines. This instills confidence in the horse, which can help minimise potential problems.

This week we are using poles on a circle to develop rhythm in trot and canter. This encourages your horse to listen to you and trust you. Ultimately, this will help with accuracy questions when going cross-country — if you are in the right place for approaching a fence it won’t be a problem.

The exercise:

This exercise is based on four poles placed at each of the four quarter points on a 20m circle (see diagram). The rider should aim for the middle of each pole. This is easier said then done.

You must look ahead and plan your route, so that as you are riding over one pole, you are simultaneously setting yourself up to approach the next one correctly.

By looking at the next pole while going over one, you are automatically placing your horse correctly for the next.

This exercise can be done in any size arena. The usual size for a circle is 20m in diameter, which works for most horses in trot or canter

What can go wrong?

At first, a sharp or young horse may make a meal of the poles — jumping, spooking and losing concentration. Here you must keep calm and re-establish the rhythm.

You must not leave the circle or give up. You must work through the problem while continuing to ride to the middle of each pole.

If necessary, make a transition down to trot or walk — but don’t abandon the exercise.

Variations

Once the rhythm is established, you can make a transition up or down after every second pole (every half-circle). This discourages you from slowing down to do a transition — instead encouraging you to ride forward through the transition.

The exercise can be ridden in canter as well as trot. Expect the move into canter to echo any initial problems that were encountered in trot.

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The success show rider uses pole exercises for horses to add something new to training, while improving self-carriage, balance and both upward and downward transitions

Aim

While I like to use these schooling exercises on a regular basis, I also do a lot of work with the horses out hacking, working on transitions and lateral movements.

By keeping the horses out of the school, I find that work doesn’t become a chore for them and they’re being educated and exposed to new experiences daily.

When in the school, I start loosening up the horses, working off the tracks, and I like to have them going forward long and low, but off their shoulder. While polework exercises can help balance and self-carriage, they can also improve your horse’s suppleness, responsiveness to your aids and transitions.

Remember that young and inexperienced horses may find these exercises hard, so it’s important not to ask too much too soon.

The exercise

1. When I start these two exercises, I like to have six ground poles placed approximately three metres apart from each other (see diagram one).

2. Once you’ve warmed up your horse, start the exercise by riding a serpentine at the walk, keeping the outline long and low.

3 When you start turning the horse through the poles, do so using your legs, rather than a lot of rein. Keep as close to the poles as possible.

4. Depending on your horse’s level of training, you can move up to trot when you’re feeling confident to do so.

5. When you’ve mastered the first stage of the exercise, start between poles three and four and halt. When you move off, make sure your horse

is long and low, and listening to your leg aids.

6. Introduce a trot circle around the poles one way, trying not to create too much inside bend, then return to poles three and four and halt again (see diagram two).

7. Change the rein and ride another circle, then back to halt between poles three and four. Repeat the exercise until you’re confident that the horse is listening to all the correct aids.

8. This can also be done riding canter to walk, once you have mastered it in trot. Do these exercises according to the horse’s stage of training and fitness, alongside free, forward movement in the school.

Tips and pitfalls

• Make sure your horse is warmed up correctly and listening to you before starting, in order to get the most out of the exercises.
• You shouldn’t do these exercises too often. Once the horse has done what is asked of him, give him praise and move on to something new — it’s always best to finish on a good note.
• When I’m doing the second stage of the exercise, I aim to ride it as a 50p coin rather than constantly turning on the circle, as this enables the horse to balance himself.

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Lesley Peyton-Gilbert (pictured), a senior assessor for the British Equestrian Federation futurity programme, has trained horses from youngsters to international grand prix, including stallions ZV Lagos and Woodcroft Garuda K. She has lived in the Netherlands and Germany, where she was trained by Ellen Bontje, Tineke Bartels and Ulla Salzgeber.

Training the stars

This is a polework exercise I use with all my young horses, but it is especially helpful for riders; it teaches them about timing, by half-halting and putting the leg on, after each pole.

In your test sheets, you may see the comment “on inside shoulder”. The judge is referring to a balance issue: the horse has fallen in on the inside shoulder on the circle — it feels as if the inside foreleg has become shorter. Learning how to ride a correct circle will encourage better engagement and balance, and result in higher marks.

Tackling the issue

1. I use the “50p coin” exercise with all riders and young horses — it encourages the hindleg to step under the body, helping engagement of the hindlegs and the connection between inside leg and outside rein. I had the idea for it when thinking of a circle as a train with carriages going through a bend.

2. Build an octagonal shape with poles on the ground (see diagram, above), using almost the entire width of the arena (about 18 metres). Ride just outside the poles, making sure you are parallel to them — use eight poles in the beginning so you get the feeling of riding parallel between two reins at all times. Later, as you become more proficient, you can remove some or all of the poles.

Remember that the horse has width, so the outside of the horse’s body has farther to go on a turn or a circle. We need to use our leg, light and quick, to encourage the horse to use his legs in the same way and step under — with the inside leg to carry weight, and with both outside legs to drive the turn.

If, on the turn, the horse steps against the inside rein, then you know he’s stepping against the inside leg, so this is the moment to use the inside leg to ask him to step forward and not “fall in”.

Conversely, should the horse fall out through the outside shoulder, correct him using the outside rein along the line of the body, not away from the neck.

The outside rein is there to provide support, and effectively contains the energy of the inside hindleg.

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Consider this

• Sit “inside” your horse’s forelegs — so don’t lean in or over the inside shoulder through turns and circles. To prevent this happening, think of the point between the horse’s ears as a table to rest a tea cup on. You don’t want the tea to spill, so look through the ears and keep that point level through all turns and circles. This will also ensure the horse isn’t tilting.
• Never push down or pull back on the inside rein. Thumbs must be up, and thumbnails must face the direction of the ears. There should be a small gap between the inside rein and the neck — I like to put my fingers inside this gap.

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British Eventing National under-18 Coach Caroline Moore shared some of the best polework and jumping exercises for improving rider lines when jumping when she was one of the speakers at The Pony Club Coaching Conference at Hartpury College earlier this month (14 February 2019). Below we explain what these exercises are and how to ride them effectively.

1. Format: Place two parallel poles in the middle of each side of a square. Ride around the square ensuring you come straight out of your corners and through the middle of the poles.

Start the exercise in trot before progressing to canter where you can then count your strides around the corner and down the sides which will help you maintain control.

Points to remember: Sit up tall, look ahead and use both your inside and outside leg to support your horse around the turns. Keep an even rhythm and focus on riding straight down the sides of the square.

What Caroline says: “This exercise works on both straightness and turns and is particularly good for balance. It makes riders aware of a good square turn which is important when jumping and ensures the rider focuses on coming out of turns straighter.”

2. Format: Set up three sets of three or four trotting poles on a serpentine and trot over them from both directions. This exercise works the horse’s gluteal, abdominal, oblique and trapezius muscles and, if done regularly, will really improve their physique and muscle tone.

Points to remember: Always be looking ahead to the next set of poles so you have time to prepare and can ride the line you want. Aim for the middle of the poles.

What Caroline says: “This exercise gives the rider responsibility for their line and teaches a horse to be careful. Have the right energy, be balanced and be patient if your horse wants to canter through the poles, keep riding through it concentrating on your line and let him work it out.”

3. Format: Lie a short pole at either end of the arena with a set of jump wings halfway between the two poles. Ride over the middle of the first pole, through the jump wings and then over the second pole to practise your straightness. Start the exercise in trot and then progress to canter before making the poles into skinny jumps and the jump wings into an upright.

Points to remember: As you ride down the line keep your eye on the final pole/jump to help you maintain a straight line. Stay straight for a few strides after the final pole to ensure your horse learns good habits.

What Caroline says: “With this exercise less is more. Ensure you only use light aids and try not to interfere too much with the stride pattern, focus on your line and the rhythm will come. If you start to deviate from your line use shoulder in to correct yourself.”

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4. Format: As exercise three (above) but add in cavalettis on an off-set angle either side of the upright. Then ride in a straight line over the first two elements before taking a curving line to jump the cavaletti.

Points to remember: Always look ahead, keep an active canter and wait for the fence to come to you.

What Caroline says: “You are your horse’s sat nav, they don’t know where they are going so make sure you tell them before you jump so they are looking at the next fence. Concentrate on your line and your rhythm rather than worrying about seeing a stride.”

For all the latest equestrian news and reports, don’t miss Horse & Hound magazine, out every Thursday

Once you’ve learnt how to lunge a horse, you might want to introduce lungeing over poles to his routine.

Lungeing over poles is a great strengthening exercise for the horse and can add variety to a training programme.

Why should I lunge my horse over poles?

There are benefits to using pole work during a lungeing session, including:

• Gives the horse something different to think about
• A solid introduction to pole work and jumping
• Helps the horse improve his balance and technique over poles without the weight of a rider
• Aids the horse’s muscle development and helps him to work from behind 
• Helps the the horse develop his length of stride
• If a horse rushes to a fence, lungeing over poles teaches him to find his own stride pattern

How do I lunge my horse over poles?

If you would like to introduce trotting poles into your lungeing sessions, but you’re not sure how to start, here are some tips:

Using trotting poles on the lunge is a good exercise, but always warm your horse up on the flat first.

Introduce the poles in trot, but don’t go over them every time. Making the circle smaller or larger to miss or include the poles will make the horse work harder.

Start off with four poles fanned out on a circle with the distance at the centre of the poles correct for your horse or pony (between 4-5ft). Use coloured poles if possible as the horse can see them easier than rustic poles.

The poles will encourage your horse to look down, stretch the muscles in the neck and back. This will improve the activity in his stride, help him keep an even rhythm and increase engagement behind. If working in side reins make sure they allow this stretching to take place.

To encourage more joint flexion, poles can be raised at alternate ends using jump blocks. This encourages the horse to work harder and prevents the poles from rolling out of place. Working over raised poles is strenuous and shouldn’t be over done.

Canter poles can be used if your horse is sufficiently balanced to canter on the lunge. Cantering over a single pole helps the horse negotiate a stride and multiple poles will improve rhythm. Start with a single pole and then add two more poles approx 9ft apart – you may need to adjust the distance to suit your horse.

Your can vary the distance between the poles to encourage the horse to shortern or lengthen his stride in trot and canter. Never use two poles as the horse may jump them.

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Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now