How To Work Over Ground Poles
Hello this is Will Faerber from Art2Ride and today we are going to have a lesson about how to go over trotting poles. As you can see in the video, the horse goes over the poles with absolutely no change in rhythm or frame. We are doing this in a complete stretch, in a good working trot and swinging over his back. Demonstrating on the horse today is my associate trainer Amber Matusek. Look how she keeps him in the same frame all the time. As the horse is stretching down, notice Amber is stretching up and not interfering with him by leaning forward. A lot of people will lean forward in the stretch, but this will throw the horse onto it’s forehand. He stepped on that last pole, so we are going to ask him to open up his frame just a little bit more so that he has to reach just a little bit more.
Once again, our horse Zoolander as you can see sometimes gets behind the vertical because he was a horse that had been broken in the third vertebrae, so our goal is to get that nose straight out in front of him. See how beautifully he is able to go over now? Now we will bring him up into a working frame by asking him to bring his poll up without anymore flexion and without changing the rhythm. Beautiful!
Now we try in the opposite direction first in the stretch and then in the working trot. The only difference between the stretched and working trot is the neck comes up, the rhythm does not change. We will reward him for such a good job by bringing him all the way back down into the stretch. Start doing this exercise at home by performing it in the stretch and then the next time around try bringing him up as high as you can, but if the horse goes hollow or you lose the rhythm then you know that you have done too much. Be sure you start the poles with a four and a half foot distance. You may need to make that a little shorter distance if you have a smaller horse and longer for a larger horse. You never want to be more than five foot for any horse.
Once again, this is Will Faerber from Art2Ride with my associate trainer Amber Matusek and our wonderful boy Zoolander. We will see you next time!
2 responses to “How To Work Over Ground Poles”
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Desiree says: These video blogs have been invaluable! I am very grateful for them, as is my horse. I would love to see one that covers lunging equipment– when to use a caveson, when to use just the bit ring. Also, I would appreciate information on how to select a caveson– what qualities are important for safety and effectiveness? Is a halter a viable option or will it not have the same affect? Is the caveson only useful in initial training or is it something that is used throughout a horse’s training? Thank you!
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Kali says:
I always start horses in a Caveson until the contact with the bit has been established and the horse has developed contact with the bit that is soft and quiet. That is, the horse keeps it’s mouth closed and you see a line of foam forming around the horse’s closed lips. As to which Caveson, just be sure that the side straps don’t hit the horse’s eyes. Some times when using a caveson, it will pull around on the horse’s face while lunging and the outside eye will get hit with the strap on the outside of the headstall. You can use a caveson for lunging at anytime in the training and may be continued for all levels. I usually work the more experienced horses off the inside ring of the snaffle as I get more of a feel of riding from the ground using this method.
These video blogs have been invaluable! I am very grateful for them, as is my horse. I would love to see one that covers lunging equipment– when to use a caveson, when to use just the bit ring. Also, I would appreciate information on how to select a caveson– what qualities are important for safety and effectiveness? Is a halter a viable option or will it not have the same affect? Is the caveson only useful in initial training or is it something that is used throughout a horse’s training? Thank you!
I always start horses in a Caveson until the contact with the bit has been established and the horse has developed contact with the bit that is soft and quiet. That is, the horse keeps it’s mouth closed and you see a line of foam forming around the horse’s closed lips. As to which Caveson, just be sure that the side straps don’t hit the horse’s eyes. Some times when using a caveson, it will pull around on the horse’s face while lunging and the outside eye will get hit with the strap on the outside of the headstall. You can use a caveson for lunging at anytime in the training and may be continued for all levels. I usually work the more experienced horses off the inside ring of the snaffle as I get more of a feel of riding from the ground using this method.