Exercises for all levels of riders using ground poles or jumps.
About "Over Fences / Ground Poles Exercises"
Over Fences / Ground Poles Exercises
No label Figure 8 Jump/Poles Course
An eight jump course set up as a figure 8. The exercise is broken up into several pieces...
No label Serpentine Over Jumps/Poles
Using only four jumps, this exercise can be ridden at the trot or canter. At the canter, the serpentine pattern helps riders learn leads and work on turns.
No label Four Poles Pinwheel Exercise
Using only four poles or jumps, set them up on a large circle. Students will walk/trot/canter over the four jumps on the circle, both directions.
No label Four Poles/Jumps Cloverleaf
Using four poles or jumps on a circle, ride a cloverleaf pattern between the poles or over them...
No label Four Poles/Jumps Spiraling
Using four poles/jumps, this exercise involves riding around the outside of the poles in a circle and then spiraling over all four poles, and spiraling inwards to circle the inside of the poles. Riders will then spiral back out over the poles, and to the outside of the poles again.
No label Four Poles Circling Exercise
Using four poles, riders will ride a small circle around each pole. Can be done at a walk, trot, or canter both directions...
No label Four Poles/Jumps Figure 8
Using four ground poles, you will ride a small figure 8 around one set of poles and a larger figure 8 around the second set of poles at a walk, trot, and canter.You can also have students try the figure 8s over fences.
Using poles to set up horses and riders for learning flying lead changes.Â
No label Four Centerline Poles/Jumps
Using four jumps or poles set up down the centerline, here are a few different exercises for your riders to work on their turns and bending...
No label Five Poles, Five Exercises
Using just four poles, here are five exercises that include the walk, trot, canter, leg yielding, and riding over the poles on an angle...
Set up two low verticals and two oxers. You will ride over the verticals on a 20m circle. Take the bending line to oxer. Rollback to the next oxer and bending line to the vertical. The whole exercise is to work on collected canter and work on a horse's over fences form.
No label Collected Walk Over Poles
Using four ground poles only 2' apart ridden in a collected walk, this exercise will help strengthen your horse's core...
No label Zig Zag Poles/Jumps
Using four poles set up in a zig-zag pattern, students will walk, trot, or canter over the poles. Next, raise the poles to jumps...
No label “L” Pole Chute
Set up poles in a big "L" and ride one of the following exercises such as riding through the poles without touching any...
No label Trot Pole Fan
Set up a few ground poles on an angle so they look like a fan. Due to the angling of the poles, riders will need to get their horses into a collected and lengthened stride to ride the different paths of the pole fan...
No label Triangle Pole Exercise
Using six poles, you will set them up in a triangle-like pattern, riding over the poles in different paths to keep your horse listening and not anticipating...
No label Canter Leads Over Single Pole
Using one single pole, practice picking up the correct lead and landing on the correct lead over the pole. You can continue around on a circle and change directions or ride a figure 8...
No label Switchback Poles/Jumping Exercise
A few exercises over "V" shaped poles or jumps placed down the centerline to focus on bending and steering
No label Lead Finder Exercise
Using ground poles or jumps, riders will ride straight over a couple of poles and depending on how they land in the canter will pick the jump on the bending line to the right or left...
No label Figure 8 Between 2 Poles
Use two poles to make a chute to ride through as the middle of a figure 8 pattern.
No label Figure 8 Over One Pole
All you need is one ground pole for this exercise of riding a figure 8 at a walk, trot, and canter. Great practice for canter leads...
Using five poles spread out 4ft 6ins from each other, raise the ends of alternating middle poles to for the ultimate strengthening exercise...
No label Trot to Walk Poles
With only four poles, this exercise will improve your rider's trot to walk downward transitions...
Spread out two ground poles and ride over them in a walk, trot, and canter. Count the number of strides and shorten or lengthen your horse's stride to change the number...
Set up two poles or jumps across from each other on a circle. Try to get the same number of strides on both halves of the circle
No label Simple Four Poles/Jumping Exercise
Using only four poles or jumps, trot the course both directions. You can have riders also try holding their two-point over the whole course and canter over the course on the correct leads...
No label Scattered Poles/Jumps
Randomly scatter several jumps or poles around your ring. Have riders create and ride their own courses - the possibilities are endless! Can practice riding the courses in a walk, trot, and canter...
No label Judging Jump Courses
Set up a jump or poles course for riders of any level (Can walk, trot, or canter) and judge each rider on how smooth the course was or even time the course for the fastest ride...
No label Bending Line Exercise
Using four poles or jumps to create an exercise to practice bending lines...
No label Looking Up Jumping/Pole Exercise
Have a student who likes to look down while jumping? This exercise forces riders to change their gaze as they count the instructor's fingers while going over fences...
No label Walk & Jump the Course
Set up a jumping course and before your students get on their horses, have them walk the lines with you and count strides. Then have them mount and ride the course...
No label A Few Exercises Using Only 4 Poles
Hone your student's and your horse’s focus, control, and precision for reliable communication with these exercises...
No label Poles for Suppleness & Straightness
Encourage your horse to round his back, engage his abdominal muscles and develop suppleness and straightness by using this pole exercise...
Tricky gymnastic patterns demand precision – but if you’re riding a horse who’s keen or strong it can feel like a bit of a battle. This canter grid gives you and your horse confidence to slow down...
Help your horse shorten his stride, engage his core and tuck his hindquarters beneath him with two straightforward exercises...
No label Skinny Jump Practice
If you can’t ride a straight line, or your horse wavers off it, you’ll find jumping narrow fences tricky as the small dimensions mean less room for error. This exercise works to improve straightness, as well as being good prep for skinnies.
If your horse struggles to pick up different leads after jumping, but performs perfectly in their flatwork, it may be that your horse is not straight approaching the jump...
No label Jumping on an Angle
Jumping at an angle is a useful skill to master. It boosts your horse’s confidence, can get you out of sticky spots if your stride isn’t quite right and helps you beat the clock.
No label One Cross Rail, Two Exercises
Think you can’t do much with just one cross rail? Here are two exercises for you to try, which will not only improve the way your horse goes, but also stops the boredom setting in...
When your horse rushes at fences, it’s easy for him to make mistakes and pay little attention to where he’s putting his feet. Try the following exercises...
No label Ride A Bounce
Training your horse over a bounce fence will improve your accuracy and control, as well as your horse's athletic ability...
No label Left or Right Fence Exercise
This exercise gets your horse listening to you better. You will need four jumps all together, two on the centerline and then one jump set up to the left and one jump off to the right...
No label Ride A Jump-off
The final exercise requires you to ride a jump off. It’ll bring out your students competitive side and help train their mind for a competition...
No label V-Poles Exercise for Jumping Clear
The shape of the V-poles encourages the horse to bring his front end up more and round his body over the fence. The narrower the angle, the bigger your horse should jump. Read on to learn how to set up the poles!
No label Raised Poles Before & After Fences
One raise poled placed before and after a fence helps your horse to stay straight and keep the same rhythm before and after the fence, which is important when jumping a course. It also stops him from opening up his frame and getting too long as he canters away. Learn how to set up the exercise...
This exercise only uses one pole and helps to build a rider's eye.
If your horse struggles to pick up different leads after jumping, but performs perfectly in their flatwork, it may be that your horse is not straight approaching the jump. Read how to set up v-ground poles after the jump...
No label Chase Me Charlie
This game is usually played over a single jump. Riders attempt the jump in a single-file line, one at a time. After the last rider clears it, a helper raises the height of the obstacle.
No label Exercises for Seeing Distances
A compilation of exercises for building a rider's eye at seeing distances.
No label Bascule Exercise
4 trot poles to a vertical, then change to oxer(pole-4’9"/pole-4’9"/pole-4’9"/pole-9’6"/jumpThen, you can add a one stride 18 or 19 feet after that, and add on as needed.For the oxer with canter poles, place a pole out on each side of the jump between 10 and 11 feet (this smaller distance will help force him to rock back). The trick is to make the oxer really wide. Doesn’t need to be tall, just wide. This is a great tool to see a horse’s best form, and will quickly show any physical weakness or limitations.
No label Adjust Your Stride Exercise
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.
No label The Maze
Polework for horses can increase the range of motion of the horse’s limbs and joints, engage the hindquarters, increase stride length and core stability, and improve balance and proprioception (the sense of position and movement).
No label Six Pole Exercise
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.
No label Four Poles, Six Exercises
Don’t forget that you can adjust transitions and pole heights to match riders of all levels. I like to keep it simple by setting up one exercise in the arena for the day or even the whole week, then modifying it as needed. For beginners, I lower the jumps to ground poles, and for advanced riders, I raise the poles. This saves time and effort, with less equipment to move around!
No label Turns Beside a Pole
A simple yet powerful drill to improve your horse’s balance, body awareness, and responsiveness to your aids.
No label The Garland
A great way to combine transitions and bend work—ideal for horses who already understand basic gait changes and are ready for more precision.
While the mini maze exercise may appear deceptively simple at first glance, it represents one of the most sophisticated coordination challenges you can present to your horse. This brilliantly designed exercise forces horses to engage their problem-solving abilities while testing balance, lateral suppleness, and core stability in ways that few other ground exercises can match. The genius of this exercise lies in its demand for conscious thought and deliberate movement. Unlike flowing patterns that horses can navigate through momentum and habit, the mini maze requires your horse to think carefully about which foot to move first, creating a mental engagement that translates into physical coordination improvements throughout their body.
The Full Circle Triangle Exercise involves riding small circles through the triangle points created by three poles arranged in a triangular formation. The beauty of this exercise lies in its versatility—it can be performed at both walk and trot, with the angled poles naturally encouraging your horse to work harder while developing crucial movement qualities. The exercise challenges riders to find the perfect line for their individual horse's stride length while maintaining accurate, continuous circles throughout the pattern.
The Cavaletti Curve Exercise represents a sophisticated training tool that addresses multiple biomechanical requirements simultaneously. This intermediate-level exercise combines the benefits of cavaletti work with the engagement demands of curved lines, creating a comprehensive training experience that develops hindleg engagement, elevation, impulsion, and suppleness. The exercise is particularly valuable for both dressage and jumping horses, as it addresses fundamental movement quality issues that translate across all disciplines. The primary training objective centers on activating the inside hindleg through the curved approach while maintaining straightness and rhythm through the cavaletti sequence. This dual requirement challenges horses to coordinate bend and elevation simultaneously, developing the neuromuscular pathways essential for advanced work.
The Centerline Weaving Exercise is an advanced training pattern that develops exceptional suppleness, balance, and responsiveness in your horse's canter work. By weaving through gaps between poles placed on the centerline while performing alternating lateral movements, your horse learns to move their body in different directions while maintaining rhythm and balance. This creates the coveted "uphill" canter feeling while building strength and coordination. This exercise is particularly valuable because it challenges your horse to stay balanced and engaged while constantly adjusting their body position. The result is improved suppleness, better responsiveness to aids, and a more collected, athletic canter that benefits all aspects of riding.
The Backing Up Through Poles Exercise is a simple yet highly effective training tool that combines precision work with therapeutic benefits for the horse's lumbar-sacral joint. This exercise requires minimal equipment while providing maximum training value, making it an excellent addition to any lesson program or individual training routine. The primary benefit of this exercise extends beyond simply improving rein-back quality. The backing movement specifically rocks and loosens the lumbar-sacral joint, providing therapeutic value for horses that may experience stiffness in their lower back region. This makes the exercise particularly valuable for older horses, those returning to work after time off, or any horse that could benefit from improved flexibility through the hindquarters.
Obstacle courses are often viewed as the domain of trail riders or western pleasure competitors, but this perspective severely limits their training potential. In reality, well-designed obstacle work develops fundamental skills that benefit riders across all disciplines. Whether you're a dressage rider working toward precision and suppleness, a jumper needing accuracy and confidence, or a western rider developing maneuverability, obstacle training provides cross-training benefits that enhance performance in your primary discipline. The beauty of obstacle work lies in its ability to develop problem-solving skills, build confidence, and strengthen the partnership between horse and rider. These challenges require horses to think, assess situations, and respond to rider guidance while navigating unfamiliar or complex tasks. This mental engagement translates directly to improved performance in all riding contexts.
No label The Figure 8 Pole Exercise: Developing Adjustability and Precision Through Versatile Pole Work
The Figure 8 Pole Exercise represents one of the most versatile and adaptable training tools available to riding instructors. This exercise can be modified to suit any arena size, horse experience level, and training objective, making it an invaluable addition to any lesson program. Whether used as ground poles for sensitive horses or raised as cavaletti for more experienced combinations, this exercise develops stride adjustability, timing precision, and confidence with pole work.The exercise's strength lies in its infinite adaptability. Instructors can omit or add poles based on available space, student capability, and specific training goals. This flexibility makes it suitable for everything from introductory pole work to advanced adjustability training.
No label Trot and Canter Poles on a Square: Progressive Training for Accuracy and Rhythm Development
The Trot and Canter Poles on a Square exercise provides systematic training for accuracy, rhythm regulation, and corner riding skills through progressive challenges. While the setup appears straightforward, the exercise demands considerable discipline and precision from riders to execute effectively. This two-phase exercise builds essential skills for jumping preparation while developing flatwork quality and spatial awareness. The exercise serves multiple training purposes: establishing consistent rhythm over obstacles, developing forward vision and planning skills, improving corner riding technique, and building the accuracy necessary for successful course work. The progression from trot to canter allows systematic skill development while increasing complexity appropriately.
This exercise builds skills that transfer directly to jumping course work while developing flatwork quality and accuracy. Regular practice creates horses that are more balanced, responsive, and comfortable with pole work while building riders with better planning abilities and rhythm awareness. The systematic progression from simple to complex elements provides clear benchmarks for development while maintaining appropriate challenge levels throughout the training process. The Serpentine Pole Exercise serves as both training tool and assessment method, providing valuable feedback about horse and rider development while building essential skills for continued advancement in multiple riding disciplines.
No label The Railroad Tracks Exercise: Systematic Straightness Development Through Parallel Pole Work
The Railroad Tracks Exercise provides a fundamental approach to developing straightness in horses and riders through the use of parallel poles that create clear visual and physical boundaries for straight-line travel. This exercise addresses one of the most common challenges in horse training - maintaining consistent straightness across all gaits while building spatial awareness and steering precision. The exercise's effectiveness lies in its immediate feedback mechanism. When horses or riders deviate from straight-line travel, the pole boundaries provide instant correction opportunities without instructor intervention, creating self-correcting learning experiences that build lasting improvements in straightness and accuracy.
No label The W Poles Exercise: Cross-Disciplinary Training for Accuracy and Proprioceptive Development
The W Poles Exercise utilizes a zig-zag pole configuration with 90-degree corners to develop accuracy, proprioceptive awareness, and straightness across multiple riding disciplines. This versatile training tool challenges both horse and rider coordination while building essential skills that transfer to competition and practical riding applications.The exercise's unique value lies in its dual application potential - riders can navigate individual poles for accuracy training or ride straight lines through the angled configuration for proprioceptive development. This flexibility makes it valuable for jumping, dressage, western, and recreational riding programs.
No label The L-Shaped Pole Figure-8 Exercise: Developing Precision and Balance Through Compact Pattern Work
The L-Shaped Pole Figure-8 Exercise utilizes two 8-foot poles arranged in a 90-degree configuration to create a compact training pattern that challenges accuracy, balance, and coordination. This exercise develops essential skills for navigating tight spaces while building the horse's ability to maintain rhythm and balance through frequent direction changes. The exercise's effectiveness lies in its spatial constraints, which demand precise steering and planning from riders while requiring horses to coordinate their movement through challenging geometric requirements. The compact nature makes it suitable for smaller arenas while providing substantial training value.