How to incorporate pole work into exercises on the ground for your horse…
Pole work is a fantastic way of improving your horse’s suppleness and balance whilst helping to maintain fitness and mental stimulation. Performing groundwork exercises can be very beneficial to develop the bond and trust between horse and handler - we have some simple yet effective exercises for you to try below.
Poles can make groundwork sessions much more interesting for both you and your horse, as well as increasing range of motion, which will help with your ridden work.
Most of these exercises should be done at walk, this is because walk encourages the horse to use their backs correctly and helps to minimise the stress applied to the joints.
Exercise 1
For this exercise, lay out 6 poles, 4ft apart. Walk your horse down the centre of the poles. Be sure to encourage the horse to walk forward, straight and to pick his feet up so he is clearing each pole. You can approach them from both directions and on each rein. To increase the difficulty, you can raise the poles either at one end or both ends. Be careful that your horse does not try to speed up or jump, increase the height gradually and do not exceed 1ft. You want to allow them to look down at the poles and reach up through their shoulder. This exercise is a wonderful warm up and a way of encouraging the horse to keep a steady rhythm.
Exercise 2
For this second exercise, lay 3 poles evenly down the centre line. Ask your horse to serpentine over the poles, make sure that you are straight when you reach each one and keep your horse going forward; you are looking for a nice, brisk walk. Once again, be sure to do this on each rein. To increase the difficulty, add more poles so that your serpentines become shallower. This exercise helps encourage the horse to use his core. You can also add some raised poles.
Exercise 3
This exercise requires 6 poles in maze formation. This formation can be used in two different ways. The first way is to follow the yellow arrow and walk straight down the middle. This will encourage straightness.
The second way is to follow the blue arrows and walk the maze without touching any of the poles. This will help the handler think about control and get the horse thinking about where to put his feet to avoid the poles. It’s ideal for encouraging suppleness and flexion.
Exercise 4
This last layout can be done in hand (both green and blue arrows) or on the lunge (following the blue arrows). Lunging over poles helps with bending and encourages the horse to engage his core. These poles can also be done at a trot. The green exercise will encourage straightness and suppleness, remember to keep the walk forward and brisk without losing control!
Consider joint supplements to support your horse’s mobility…
Every horse could benefit from a joint supplement, even those in reduced or little work. Have you heard of ActiVet? It contains a great blend of ingredients which support both muscles and joints for optimal musculoskeletal health! This is just one from our range of mobility supporting supplements, just tap here to learn more about our popular range.
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For free advice and support call our Science and Nutrition Department on freephone 0800 585525, we are open every day. You can also talk directly to Dr Stephanie Wood (PhD Equine Nutrition) by emailing [email protected]