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

Martha Terry Martha Terry

    • 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.

    Diagram showing horse walk over a long line of poles

    Keep your horse facing forward and raise the poles once he understands the exercise.

    How to do this in-hand exercise

    1. 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.
    2. 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.
    3. Walk in a straight line away.
    4. 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.
    5. 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.
    6. 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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    Martha Terry
    Martha Terry

    H&H features editor
    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.
    Martha Terry

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