Looking to give your horse a good winter workout but lacking inspiration? These four exercises involving poles will help improve your control and accuracy, as well as finessing your horse’s paces. Each method includes a diagram and ways to make the exercise more complex should you require a more challenging task, or wish to advance on the training in a further session.

Exercise 1: Pull off betters turns

Exercise 1: Pull off better turns

This exercise is great for young, green or new horses. It helps you to understand how your horse reacts to your hand and leg aids, and shows how much control you have.

Set it up: Set out four poles vertically along the centre line.

How to ride it:

  1. Ride a serpentine over the poles in walk.
  2. You’ll start to feel whether your horse finds it easier to bend one way rather than the other.
  3. Keep your horse straight through their head, neck and body, and ride to the centre of each pole.
  4. Look up and ahead in the direction you want to go, so that you ride an accurate serpentine.
  5. Repeat in trot and alternate your starting rein.
  6. Change your diagonal to help your horse’s balance.
  7. When you’re both relaxed, pick up right canter.
  8. Go over the first pole and around the first bend. Continue to the second pole and trot soon after.
  9. Trot around the next (left) bend and, as you exit, pick up right canter.
  10. Canter over the third pole, around the final (right) bend and over the fourth pole.
  11. Repeat, only this time start on the left rein.

The next step: Canter around every bend by being quicker with your changes. Return to trot after the second and third poles, then ask your horse to strike off with the other leg leading.

Exercise 2: Test your accuracy

Exercise 2: Test your accuracy

This exercise will teach you to look ahead to the next pole, preparing you for a show jumping course. It will improve your horse’s suppleness and straightness, and gives you change to practise canter lead changes.

Set it up: Place three poles in the middle of your arena in the shape of a Mercedes star.

How to ride it:

  1. Starting in walk, go over the pole on the left. Circle around to the left and walk straight over the top pole. Circle to the left again to come down across the pole on the right – this is shown in Diagram 2.
  2. Once you have ridden this on both reins in walk, pick up trot and repeat.
  3. When you and your horse feel relaxed and confident, move onto canter.
  4. Incorporate circles in between the poles to keep your horse from predicting where you’re going to ask them to go next.
  5. As you’re riding around a corner, keep yourself balanced in the saddle. Look ahead to your next pole so that you get a good, straight approach to what’s coming up next.
  6. Ride the exercise equally on both reins.

The next step: Turn the poles into small uprights. You can also put a second star in your arena and ride between both. This forces you to plan ahead and hold your lines and turns for longer.

Exercise 3: Assess your reactions

Exercise 3: Assess your reactions

This exercise will help you to ride smooth, accurate turns and ensure you are looking towards where you are going. It will also test your horse’s reactiveness to your aids.

Set it up: This exercise requires six poles. Place two of the poles on the centre line of your arena three strides apart. Place a pole either side on the diagonal three strides apart.

How to ride it:

  1. You can start at either end. Trot over the middle pole first and continue to the pole straight ahead.
  2. Next time, continue to the pole on the right.
  3. Then continue to the pole on the left.
  4. Now choose the left or right pole. Change the second pole you ride to each time.
  5. Repeat, starting over the pole you haven’t tried yet.
  6. Make sure you aim for the middle of each pole.
  7. Look ahead to the second pole you’re aiming for.
  8. Repeat in canter and vary the lines you ride.
  9. Always look ahead at the second pole. The change in your weight will indicate to your horse which leg they need to land with leading.

The next step: Have a helper on the ground. As you get to the first pole, ask them to tell you whether they want you to go straight, left or right on landing. This tests you and your horse’s ability to give/ react to the aids.

You could also put the poles into small uprights.

Exercise 4: Adjust your stride

Exercise 4: Adjust your stride

This exercise will help you to shorten into a bouncy, powerful canter and lengthen without galloping. It will also help you to learn how much ground your horse naturally covers.

Set it up: Place two poles across the centre line of your arena. Don’t measure the distance – just put them down.

How to ride it:

  1. Establish a canter and ride over the poles, counting the number of strides out loud.
  2. Continue around to the poles again. This time, aim for one extra stride between the poles. This means adjusting your horse’s canter so it’s shorter and covering slightly less ground.
  3. See how many strides you can fit it, maintaining a smooth, even rhythm.
  4. When you’re ready, ride the original number of strides you fitted in between the poles.
  5. Next time, aim for one less stride. This means your horse’s canter stride will need to be longer and cover more ground. See how few strides you can fit in without losing control.
  6. To finish, establish your first canter and ride the number of strides you did originally again.

The next step: Alternate between adding a stride and removing one each time. This tests you and your horse’s adjustability. You can also raise the poles to small verticals.