Cavaletti for dressage

[Mouse_amp_Bay]

I was fortunate enough to attend the Ingrid Klimke clinic in Toronto this weekend. A wonderful world class clinician, excellent exercises and fabulous improvement in all of the participants.

The dressage groups consisted of horses at 2nd/3rd level up to PSG horses. All were 8 years or older. I found it very interesting that many of these riders commented that this was the first time their horses were being asked to go over trot poles or cavaletti.

Thus my question, as a weanie eventer to the dressage folk - do you not use cavaletti to train and develop your young horses? I had assumed this was commonplace, but maybe it is an eventing thing??

[TrailRides4Fun]

I think cavelletti is useful in the training of all horses, regardless of discipline.
Sadly, a lot of trainers know very little, to nothing at all, about using cavelletti to
help develop the horse.

[pn]

I too attended this wonderful clinic!!! I learned so much and for sure will blow the dust off our cavaletti!!
I vidioed some of the excercises so hopefully can remember them!

[2DogsFarm]

In true COTH fashion, I am aghasted to hear this.
I thought ground poles/cavaletti were a foundation of any training.

Back in the Dark Ages - the 90s - I took a clinic with an O Judge who used them, later another clinic with Ralph Hill and today I am using them to get my gaited horse to trot.
Surprised to hear dressage riders at 3rd & up have not used this tool.

[Shagyas_Rock]

I have used them for years. . . . I’ve found them invaluable for a number of purposes. not the least of which is developing abdominal strength, etc. . . .

[Pocket_Pony]

Lucky you to go to that clinic!

I love cavaletti and have always used them in my training. There are about a million exercises you can do and I’ve already started my filly just walking and trotting over one on the ground. It should be No Big Deal and part of every horse’s training, IMHO.

[TequilaMockingbird]

I have used cavaletti often both under saddle and on the lounge, though I’d like to use them more than I do. They’re just a pain to setup and I often can’t use them unless I want to drag them in from a muddy outdoor arena one at a time.

I also use smaller jumps and bounces, though that is usually on the lounge only.

[arlosmine]

The dressage trainer I grew up with in the Midwest always had a set of raised caveletti set up on the curve in the “dead zone” of the corners. Inside the 20m track. Could could change rein around them, do voltes around them…or go over them. Normal, every day part of riding.

People are stupid, though…think the speshul dressage horses will hurt themselves.

[beowulf]

it’s not as commonplace as you might think - and it’s not anything new, before anyone laments the bygone era where everyone trained over cavalettis.

if it’s useful to your program, you use it. but cavalettis aren’t just like throwing a rug over the horse’s back in the cold - cavalettis done properly are HARD WORK for the horse, some people are afraid of adding more strain to a horse’s already “teeming” work schedule.

and then there’s the time - they are a huge PITA to set up, as another poster noted.

poles i use daily during schools, but cavalettis i don’t.

[sascha]

I’m lucky that I had the use of my coach’s set 100 years ago, and that she showed me and then let me play, and research, and figure them out.

I finally built my own set this past spring and I love them. I don’t find them any more time consuming to set up than poles, BUT, I was thinking ahead to our fairly limited indoor space and made them only 6’ wide. Wide enough that a well schooled horse will not scoot out if longeing over them, but light enough and small enough to carry and store easily.

[quietann]

[QUOTE=TequilaMockingbird;8430660]
I have used cavaletti often both under saddle and on the lounge, though I’d like to use them more than I do. They’re just a pain to setup and I often can’t use them unless I want to drag them in from a muddy outdoor arena one at a time.

I also use smaller jumps and bounces, though that is usually on the lounge only.[/QUOTE]

Pretty much this. My barn actually has a few in the indoor, but they are extremely heavy. And other riders get annoyed by them; no matter where you put them in a 20x40 meter indoor, they will be in the way.

A couple of us have asked about having a “cavaletti day” once per week – a day where they get set out in the least problematic location early in the afternoon, and left out until the end of riding (which would be around 8-9 p.m.) That seems to be a no-go.

I like the idea of making them narrower.

[Silverbridge]

@beowulf;8430728

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and then there’s the time - they are a huge PITA to set up, as another poster noted.

This has been the deterrent in my experiences with them. I’ve been at two boarding places/training groups with cavaletti, including currently. And we have enjoyed them.

But there are too many other trainers and disciplines sharing the space to leave them set up, and so the cavaletti work becomes an afterthought based on the inconvenience of hauling them up and down, or even from one arena to another.

People who have their horses in home arenas or who have control of their own spaces have an advantage for sure.

[slp2]

We don’t have cavaletti’s at our barn–but we do have lots of ground poles. I have been setting up ground pole exercises once a week for my husband and his horse—and I ride my horse through them too. It breaks up the routine for the horses, and it is hard work for them. I really have noticed my horse getting stronger in her hind end since we have been using them regularly.

However, I have yet to have a dressage instructor pull them out and use them in a lesson. Which is too bad, because I think they are useful for training.

If you are looking for clever ideas and patterns using ground poles and cavaletti’s, there is a great facebook page called “Horsephysio”. We have been using the ideas from that site and been having a lot of fun with all the clever patterns he comes up with!

[scruffy_the_cat]

I use them nearly every day. I’m the sole dressage rider at my barn so they are always in the ring anyway. I set them up for my new horse who needed strengthening as well as the help they provide in avoiding spooks. :lol:

[LarkspurCO]

I love using cavalletti and just got permission from my vet to start some trot poles with my young horse I am rehabbing from an injury. Besides the gymnastic benefits, the poles really make the work more interesting for the horse.

I converted Ingrid Klimke’s handouts from German/metric to English/imperial and uploaded the results (for us dummies who still think in feet and inches):

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1QR0mctuiJo7KE-5FIDcN2Agey7UusLn6/view?usp=drive_link (Klimke-Cavaletti-English.pdf)

[sascha]

Ok, those of you complaining they are a pain honestly need to get a short set. The arena I’m at gets used for turn out so we can’t leave anything within reach. The short 6 footers are a breeze to set up and put away. I usually do it with my pony in tow so she’s getting a little extra walking/cool out time while I do it.

They are so beneficial, I can’t believe I waited so long to build some of my own.

[CFFarm]

Dr Klimke used them before every training session. Rhythm, tempo, balance, adjustment, stretching, lifting…what’s not to like?