I'm about to ride poles but don't know what exercises to do. I want to ride poles in walk, trot and canter, but ideally light in the canter as she isn't very strong in canter yet.❤️

Hi! I love working with poles, it is such good strength work for the horse.

One of my favourite exercises is to lay the poles out as an L, but doubled. So two Ls inside each other, leaving a corridor between them. There you can work both over the poles and between them with turns and similar. In the turn inside the L, the horse has to shorten its steps and really step round with the hind legs. That is hugely useful for both the topline and the hind legs. Walking through the L and then trotting over the poles is one way to ride the exercise.

Laying the poles out in a zigzag is also a very useful exercise. Picture the pattern looking like a staircase from above. There you can practise manoeuvrability and coordination by varying your line, either with small loops (going over and then turning at each pole) or larger loops. Good for really engaging the hind legs.

Another exercise I like is to lay the poles out in a square and ride along the poles around the outside of the square. The horse should go as slowly as possible, stepping under itself and crossing the hind legs at each corner. Perfect for activating the back and the hind legs.

A final exercise I am fond of is laying four poles out as a plus sign. Each pole is one arm of the plus, but leave a little space in the middle so you can ride diagonally through it. With this exercise you can work over large or small circles, ride large figures of eight by cutting through the middle, or invent your own lines over the poles. You can vary it endlessly!

Good luck, and get in touch if you would like more exercises 💞