Polework creations: The sweetie

The ability to make small, quick adjustments to your horse’s way of going will make everything you do together much more enjoyable. After all, responsiveness is a basic requirement for a happy schooling session as, without it, it’s no different to driving a car without an accelerator or brakes.

So, to improve your horse’s responses – whether that’s by upgrading his focus or boosting his activity so you get a first-time reaction – this pole layout is just the ticket. Here are a few exercises you can try to help refine your aids and make sure you and your horse understand each other perfectly.

Set it up

You’ll need

• Ten equal length poles, ideally 3m standard ones.

Build it

Construct a square around X in the middle of your arena. From here, create two equilateral triangles attached to either end, with the points of the triangles touching opposite sides of the square.

TOP TIP

If you don’t have enough poles, try taking away the side poles from the triangles. This will increase the difficulty of keeping straight when you ride down the centre line, though.

Exercise one: Transitions

Improves your: responsiveness and engagement

The beauty of this layout is that there are so many lines you can ride that pair nicely with transitions. The idea is to switch to the new pace before riding over the poles and returning to the previous pace afterwards.

The poles come to your aid by encouraging activity and engagement from your horse’s hindquarters, while also improving your precision – not only in straightness, but also by acting as a focal point for both you and your horse.

Start by asking for your transitions a few clear strides either side of the poles, and work towards achieving them a stride before and after.

Line one: base to point

This line works as a great warm-up at the start of your session, and adding transitions to it helps to upgrade the challenge. Choose one of the two triangles and ride a line that takes you over the base head on, then the opposite point. Aim for the central stripe on the first pole, then focus on straightness by keeping your legs wrapped around your horse’s sides and your elbows secure to help him. After riding through this line a few times, try reversing it and approaching the triangles point to base.

Check out November Horse&Rider for more of Tania’s top tips and how to progress this exercise further! Grab your copy today!