Even when you don’t have time for a full ride, you can keep developing your horse’s way of doing with this simple groundwork exercise.
All you need is two poles and 10 minutes – and you will reap the long-term benefits as your horse develops his foot-eye coordination and activates his core.
Aims
Fine tune horse’s motor control
Activate postural muscles
Improve rideability from the ground
The setup
You will need: a training halter, lunging cavesson, or your horse’s usual bridle.
Place two poles at a right angle to each other, with one end touching.
You can raise the outside end of either or both poles on to a block to create a slightly more demanding groundwork pole exercise.
How to do these exercises
Exercise 1
(Image credit: Future)
Exercise 1
Position your horse with his head in the corner, adjacent to and parallel to one of the poles
Ask him to move his hindquarters round, stepping underneath his belly. He should keep his head in the corner and step round with the hindlegs to stand parallel to the other pole. It should take three to four steps.
Keep the front feet in the corner; he should not pull backwards or step over the poles.
Exercise 2
(Image credit: Future)
Exercise 2
Position your horse in a square halt, with this front feet just behind one of the poles (you can stand just in front of the pole and slightly to the side).
Ask your horse to take a step forward over the pole with both forelegs, then step back over the pole.
Do this five or six times.
You can also ask the horse to step just one front leg over, pause for a few seconds to stretch the shoulder, then step back, alternating front legs
Exercise 3
(Image credit: Future)
Exercise 3
Ask your horse to do a small circle, over both poles. Stand outside the setup and, as if you were lungeing, ask him to do a 5m circle around you, incorporating the poles.
Tips and troubleshooting
1. Knocking poles down
The whole point of these groundwork pole exercises is to help the horse lift his core, and fine-tune his proprioception so he knows where he is putting his feet. His foot-eye coordination will develop through practice.
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Make sure you are not restricting your horse’s head and neck with your lead rope, as he needs the release in front to drop his head and look at the poles.
These are simple exercises at a slow pace, so keep practising – little and often, rather than drilling him in one session.
If possible, use heavy wooden poles rather than lightweight ones which the horse will be less aware of hitting. Raise both ends of the pole on to blocks to encourage him to lift.
2. Ride it
This exercise can also be ridden in walk. As you have practised it from the ground, your horse should understand what you are asking from the saddle with your seat, hands and legs, which consolidates your aids.
Martha is an experienced journalist who is mad-keen on horses and dogs. Her reporting CV includes the Paris Olympics, European championships, Aachen World Equestrian Festival and World Cup finals. After growing up with assorted liver and white springer spaniels, she enjoyed 14 years with two rescue dogs. Now, her constant companion is Fidget, an extremely energetic and habitually muddy black and white springer. Martha has written on topics as diverse as a top horse’s clone to the best GPS trackers for dogs, as well as equestrian and rural matters for Country Life, The Field, The Times, The Spectator and The Telegraph alongside Horse & Hound.
