Home schooling
Posted 20th November 2024
Refine your cross-country skills in the arena with Ingrid Klimke’s cavaletti course plan

Cross-country is at the heart of eventing and was created as a test of all-round athletic prowess and controlled boldness. Adaptability and rideability are essential, which is why it’s so useful to work on cross-country skills in the school because it allows me to fine-tune every aid and improve that crucial communication with my horse.
Exercise one: the warm-up
The goal: Committed, pre-planned lines – essential for cross-country riding.
Set it up: You’ll need eight cavaletti or raised poles, set to 15cm or so, in two sets of four on opposite sides of a 15m circle, following its curve. One set will be 1.2m apart at the central point of each pole, while the other 2.5m apart.
How to ride it: These cavaletti are set on standard trot and canter pole distances, and, while that might sound easy, it’s an advanced test of your ability to ride a line and your horse’s readiness to follow those instructions. If you drift off centre, you’ll change the distance between them, making the exercise much tricker.
Begin by establishing a positive working trot and circling around the outside of the poles, using them as a visual aid to ride the shape. Then, move on to adding the trot cavaletti, letting your horse use his head and neck. He should have an inside bend that matches the size of the circle, and this exercise will help you learn to ride from your inside leg to your hand without drifting to the inside.
Once comfortable with this in trot, pick up canter, sit in your saddle and ride the wider-spaced set, avoiding the trot poles.
Finally, put the two sets together, riding transitions between trot and canter at the midpoint between both sets. The quality of your transitions will be key – sink into your saddle and ask with the softest aids, so you don’t fling your horse into canter and jeopardise his balance.
Top tip
If your horse picks up the wrong leg on the straight line, he’s probably bent to the outside. Add a little inside flexion to restraighten him and shift your weight slightly into your inside stirrup to encourage him to pick up the correct leg.
Discover more of Ingrid’s exercises to refine your cross-country skills in the arena in January Horse&Rider – out now!