Trot Poles/Jumps, how far apart?

[amanda1788]

Hi

I would like to try some trot poles and small jumps with my horse but as i am new to horse owning i dont know how far apart they should be? As at RS instructor would do it. So could anyone tell me how far apart they should be? thanks in advance. xx

 

[Toby_Zaphod]

You need to allow 6' for the take off before the jump & 6' for the landing the other side of the jump. A horse's stride is roughly 12' so if you wanted 2 strides between two jumps you would need to leave a gap of 36'. The 36' being made up of 6' for the landing, 24' for the two strides & then 6' for the take off.
It doesn't matter if your horser is 15h or 17h, the stride should always be measured at 12'.
In metres a stride is 3.65mtr.