Prepping for the show ring.

Warm up excersises.

For limited space.

Today's exercise is designed to utilize very little equipment and work on elements of ride ability, rhythm, stride length and track control.

I find this exercise great to use at horse shows when we have limited space and access to jumps.  It is also a great way to warm your horse up for a jump school with course work at home. 

1. Start with a proper flatwork warmup. 

I like to make sure that I school my horse through the walk, trot and canter prior to introducing poles.  In your flat work you want to focus on elements that practice rhythm like transitions and lengthening and shortening your horse's stride.  I also recommend utilizing a variety of patterns in your flatwork to help you focus on your track and schooling your horse to stay between your aids so that you are able to ride an accurate track when we add poles or jumping. 

Even in a busy warm up ring at a show you should be able to find a few spots to practice smaller circles in the corners or a shallow loop on the long side. 

Remember to work progressively through your flat work.  Practice walk trot transitions before trot halt transitions.  Practice larger circles before you practice smaller circles.  I also recommend always practicing lengthening your stride before you work on collecting the stride to support riding forward from the leg to the hand.

Poles & Bend

2. Over the poles.

Practice riding a rhythm and measuring your horse's stride length while working through some smaller turns and changes of bend. This will help our horse's suppleness and our accuracy riding a track. 

Set the jumps as poles to start. 

You can start on either lead.  If your horse is stronger on a particular lead, start on that lead.  Establish a good canter rhythm and then approach Jump.  Ride 5 strides between Jump 1 and Pole 1.  If you approached the exercise on the left lead then turn left after the line and bring your horse back to the trot to approach the poles.  After the poles change the bend and pick up your right lead to approach jump 1 off the right.  Practice riding 5 strides in the line again before turning out the same lead as your approach.  Come back to the trot and use the poles to change direction through the trot again.  You can repeat the exercise several times until you have found the correct canter pace to consistently get the strides between the poles.  

As your horse becomes more advanced at this exercise you can ask them to add a sixth stride between Jump 1 and pole 1.

Pay attention to your horse's track.  Make sure you work to ride over the center of your poles.  Make sure you stay straight in the line.

Eyes up. Accurate to center.

Ride eyes up, accurate to the center of the pole and measuring the distance between the poles.

Pay attention to your horse's change of bend.  Make sure they stay straight and balanced over the trot poles.  Many horses predict the canter departure and try to fall in towards the new lead.  Make sure you are pushing out off your inside leg into the canter transition so that your turn back to the jump doesn't get too small or push you past the center of Jump 1.  

Look through the turn.

Look through the turn while keeping your horse balanced with inside leg to outside rein.

Repetition is key here.  With practice your horse and yourself will improve.  Take your time.  If you or your horse is struggling with any particular element you can repeat it before continuing. 

Don't underestimate the power of a walk break. 

Horses usually need a physical rest for their adrenaline to come down.  Once their adrenaline comes down they are able to think and understand the exercise a little better.  Remember this is about your flat work over the poles.  If the poles don't feel great focus on the flatwork in front of them.  Rhythm and suppleness are really important here and most problems will stem from an issue with these two elements.  Make sure to ride this exercise off both leads.  Your horse may need to repeat it more on one lead than the other but try to work the pattern as equally as possible so that you are developing your horse equally.

Setup the jumps.

After you are feeling confident with poles you can create an xrail or small vertical at the first jump.  You can also keep your horse in canter and practice cantering pole 2 and 3  before the change of direction and practice the change of direction through a simple lead change after the poles or a flying lead change for more advanced horses.  With Jump one becoming a jump instead of a pole the distance in between the jump and Pole 1 will ride a little bit shorter so we will focus again on five strides in this space.  You and your horse can practice shortening the stride and making the five strides still fit equally between the two obstacles.  

Ride accurate. Center.

Ride accurate to the center of the pole, looking down the line while maintaining a balanced position.

With practice, you should be able to ride five smooth strides between the jump and the pole, execute a smooth turn back to the canter poles, execute a prompt lead change and smoothly ride the exercise off of the other lead.  I hope you find your horse is stronger on elements of rhythm, stride control, suppleness through a turn and their lead changes.