If you follow enough professional riders on social media, the amount of education and new tools you can pick up is rather remarkable. British 5* winner Gemma Tattersall shared a few pole exercises she’s using at home this winter that can easily be incorporated into your program as well.
“The exercises in the video can be used with horses of all levels from babies right up to established 5* eventers and GP show jumpers!” Gemma describes of the video above. “We set out two lots of 3 poles on a fan – 3 yards middle to middle – which are primarily there to help with control but can also be used to help improve flying changes. We’ve then got two oxers – 6 yards apart with poles in the middle and guide poles in and out to help with straightness.”
Remember: jumps don’t have to be big to be instrumental. Exercises like this are generally set small to reduce wear and tear and focus instead on fundamentals and strength building.
“All of the exercises can be done individually or as a sequence together on either rein and can be done out of trot if you’re on a young one,” Gemma explained in her post. “I’ve found these really get the older ones thinking about their feet & staying straight too!”
Happy practicing! Go Eventing.
