Poles for performance: part three

Working on your horse’s suppleness will help develop his strength, power and muscle tone, helping him be better balanced and therefore able to perform to his full potential. But bending and suppling exercises don’t have to start and end with the same old schooling shapes and lateral work – did you know poles are a great tool to give you focus while achieving the desired results? Let’s take a closer look.

Set it up

This is the same layout I showed you last issue, but with two fewer poles. You’ll need 12 poles in total, ideally 3m standard ones. Start by making a square in the middle of your arena then, at one end, create a triangle on each corner. Place two poles parallel to each other between the triangles – if you’re using five-band coloured poles, place them in the middle of the second and fourth bands.

Get in the zone

You might have a certain warm-up routine that works well for you, and that’s fine as long as the outcome is a supple, responsive and alert horse. But if you’re looking to tailor your warm-up so you can get the most out of your polework session, try incorporating some of the following exercises…

• progressive transitions between paces
• circles of varying sizes
• lateral work, such as turn-on-the-forehand and leg-yield
• shortening and lengthening each pace
• square turns on and off the track

Remember to warm up your horse equally on both reins and consider his response to the work being asked of him – if he’s feeling tired, rather than just lazy, it’s best to leave polework for another day.

Stay in check

It’s easy to focus solely on your horse and his way of going, no matter the activity you’re doing with him. But don’t forget that you’re his biggest influencer so you need to be at the top of your game to give him the best chance to work to his full potential.

When working him over poles think about your…

• eyes Are you looking up and ahead?
• upper body Is it facing forwards in the direction you’re going?
• hands Do you have a consistent rein contact that allows your horse to stretch his head down?
• hips Are they relaxed and moving with his movements?
• seat How evenly are you sitting in the saddle?
• legs Are they wrapped around your horse’s sides evenly?

There’s a lot to think about, but by perfecting your own position you’ll be able to reap so many more of the benefits of polework. 

Check out Nina’s super suppling polework exercises in March Horse&Rider – on sale now!