Some of your favorite pole/grid exercises?

[TheJenners]

Since it is readily apparent I will never be able to find a trainer with lesson horses so I can work on me… I need to work on me on mine, which means I want some exercises to slow down/regulate a horse that anticipates, so that I don’t do all the things I do when he does the things he does.

This is stemming from a cool video I saw of a horse cantering a stretched out S of poles set 8’ apart so that the canter stayed rhythmical and he didn’t rush. My gelding hasn’t been jumping and I suspect, owning him for the last 11 years, that he is going to be rushy and anticipatory when we start jumping this year. But poles! He loves poles. Poles are his bff. When he’s happy I’m happy. We can’t start with the cantering an S of poles 8’ apart tho, so where to start? Give me some good exercises, bonus if they are cantering without making an overthinking emotional horse try to jump all of them. Extra bonus if it’ll help me have a quieter seat. Final boss bonus if they transition into a grid or line so he can connect the dots between not rushing through poles to not rushing at jumps.

[Bluey]

@TheJenners

Since it is readily apparent I will never be able to find a trainer with lesson horses so I can work on me… I need to work on me on mine, which means I want some exercises to slow down/regulate a horse that anticipates, so that I don’t do all the things I do when he does the things he does.

This is stemming from a cool video I saw of a horse cantering a stretched out S of poles set 8’ apart so that the canter stayed rhythmical and he didn’t rush. My gelding hasn’t been jumping and I suspect, owning him for the last 11 years, that he is going to be rushy and anticipatory when we start jumping this year. But poles! He loves poles. Poles are his bff. When he’s happy I’m happy. We can’t start with the cantering an S of poles 8’ apart tho, so where to start? Give me some good exercises, bonus if they are cantering without making an overthinking emotional horse try to jump all of them. Extra bonus if it’ll help me have a quieter seat. Final boss bonus if they transition into a grid or line so he can connect the dots between not rushing through poles to not rushing at jumps.

Maybe check with this trainer, see if some of these basics may help you:

Cavaletti Training in bent and straight lines

[crackerjack]

Poles are awesome. I trying and incorporate poles into most of my rides. When I’m feeling lazy and don’t want to set up too much my go to is stride adjustment between poles. Because my ring isn’t large I usually set up two poles with 5 strides inbetween. Ride it in a 5, then a 4, the a 6 and then back to the 5. Do both ways. What you want is to make sure the strides are even, your path is straight and in the middle and you have a constant rhythm. You can also set up three poles in a line and adjust the number of strides inbetween those. So a 2 to a 2, 3 to a 2, 3 to a 3 or 3 to a 2 etc.

Another one I do is a clover leaf. Put four poles with the the ends of each pole touching, so that the poles are at 12 o’clock, 3 o’clock, 6 o’clock and 9 o’clock. I tried drawing it but it won’t format correctly! It’s basically a very large plus sign…

Then you canter each pole always turning left or always turning right so your pattern looks like a clover leaf. It’s hard to explain!

And there’s always 4 poles on a 20ish metre circle (12, 3, 6, and 9 o’clock but on the path of the circle. Try and get an even number of strides- usually 3 or 4 - between the poles, maintaining your bend, rhythm, pace etc.

All very simple in theory but less so when you want it to be perfect!

[TheJenners]

@crackerjack

Another one I do is a clover leaf. Put four poles with the the ends of each pole touching, so that the poles are at 12 o’clock, 3 o’clock, 6 o’clock and 9 o’clock. I tried drawing it but it won’t format correctly! It’s basically a very large plus sign…

Then you canter each pole always turning left or always turning right so your pattern looks like a clover leaf. It’s hard to explain!

No I got you! I’ve done this at the trot when working on other things, not necessarily tempo and rhythm. This would be a good one to use on my pony to get her rocking back at the canter, if I can keep the canter . My arena is smaller as well, 70x150, and I’m not sure I can fit my guy’s canter into a cloverleaf inside of it, at least not right now. Maybe that can be a goal for us for the year! Thanks I am very black and white and my brain is rather rigid, so even tho I know the exercise, I can’t put it into other situations like cantering. My brain filed it under “trotting exercises” and there it would have stayed.

[crackerjack]

I can never remember where I’m supposed to be going when I do this exercise! I get lost…

[Spudsmyguy]

A simple one I like is two poles about 35’ apart on a straight line. Canter through it and see how many strides it is between the two poles and then try to add or subtract a stride each time.

I also like setting about six or more poles in a zig zag down the center. You can trot or canter over them. Go over one pole, tight right turn to the next pole, then tight left turn to the next, and so on down the line.

[TheJenners]

Oh love it!! Can try for lead changes too.

[Spudsmyguy]

I drew the pattern out for you

[endlessclimb]

I do the zig zag with loops instead of the turn. I’m gunna ride it your way next time!