Canter poles

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MiCsarah

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My boys canter is coming along really nicely but would like to do some canter poles with him. I've never had to put them out myself so can't for the life of me remember how far to place them. Can I have the answer in human strides please or as I remember rightly a human stride is 3ftish?
 
Initially set the poles around 2.7m apart = 8'9" - 9' apart. Always approach in trot and encourage the transition into canter so that the feet land centrally between the poles. If used to act as a placing pole in front of a jump then place at 5.2 - 5.8m 17 - 19' from the base of the jump.

Measure your stride, in your normal riding boots, toe heel for short distances, by steps for longer, don't try to take big steps just your normal stride.

Easiest way is to measure your boots from heel to toe. Then for the longer distances, mark on the ground and walk a few steps and mark and then measure the distance and divide by the number of steps. Will give you a good average.
 
I worked out that fort girl trotting
Poles for me are about 2 1/2 pigeon steps then for canter I take everyother one out making it 10 pigeon steps. I start off by making the last 2 or 3 strides slightly shorter as she gets quite carried away and long. Not sure if it's 'correct' but it works for us.
 
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