Trotting poles?

ShowJumperBeckii

ShowJumperBeckii

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Hello :)
i was wondering how high to raised trotting poles need to be? before there to high or to low? and many min do you put out? and how many steps inbetween?

also ebs has had just over two weeks off of jumping which isint alot but i was wondering what you would classfil a 'short break' i was was thinking 4-6 weeks? :o

thanks you :)
 
Sometimes mine will get 2 months off jumping and then go out and jump round a discovery :eek:

Not ideal, but he doesn't seem to make a difference to mine! :D
 
Raised trotting poles really don't need to be that high at all. Even a little extra hight can make then feel alot harder for a horse not used to them. Think along the lines of raising them a couple of inches. I put ours out in sets of 5 usually, for our horses stride length at trot I usually have about 5 of my feet inbetween. Pretty vauge, sorry! Best to guage her normal trot stride legth with std trot poles, then just raise them a little. To keep you in a straight line you can just raise alternate ends of the poles. Make sure you have a good impulsive trot going in, flat or rushing will make it v hard work indeed!
 
glosgirl said:
Raised trotting poles really don't need to be that high at all. Even a little extra hight can make then feel alot harder for a horse not used to them. Think along the lines of raising them a couple of inches. I put ours out in sets of 5 usually, for our horses stride length at trot I usually have about 5 of my feet inbetween. Pretty vauge, sorry! Best to guage her normal trot stride legth with std trot poles, then just raise them a little. To keep you in a straight line you can just raise alternate ends of the poles. Make sure you have a good impulsive trot going in, flat or rushing will make it v hard work indeed!
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just what i needed to know :D thanks alot :D x
 
I usually do slanted raised poles so say if you have a line of four poles on the first raise the right hand side, second raise the left, third raise right and fourth left. That way you have a definite centre line to follow. I would usually do these with blocks at each side with the block laid horizontally so prob about 10inches off the ground. Start small and play around with them to see what level she is most comfortable working at. I would also introduce raised poles one by one at the end of a line fo trotting poles as when she is quite a forward going mare she may get confused and try to jump them. Ensure you are maintaining a nice steady even trot and if she does jump or dive at them a bit just hold your balance and keep her as steady as you can while continuously trotting over them. Don't stop and start between going over the poles, do them, keep trotting ensuring you are maintaining a good regular trot and keep coming again.
Different horses suit different lengths of breaks. For example my own mare suits only very short breaks with no jumping when she is fit however other horses may suit a longer break. There are two books which you would prob find very interesting and helpful in pole exercises for ebs...Anthony Paalman's Training Showjumpers and Ernest Dillon's Showjumping - For Fun or Glory. Both are great books to dip in and out of for various exercises. Hope the collarbone is not too sore!!
 
To be fair, if she's still being ridden and schooled, a break from jumping won't have weakened her back I don't think - unless she had issues in the first place?

Start low yes, 1.20m is never a good place to start! :)
 
amage said:
I usually do slanted raised poles so say if you have a line of four poles on the first raise the right hand side, second raise the left, third raise right and fourth left. That way you have a definite centre line to follow. I would usually do these with blocks at each side with the block laid horizontally so prob about 10inches off the ground. Start small and play around with them to see what level she is most comfortable working at. I would also introduce raised poles one by one at the end of a line fo trotting poles as when she is quite a forward going mare she may get confused and try to jump them. Ensure you are maintaining a nice steady even trot and if she does jump or dive at them a bit just hold your balance and keep her as steady as you can while continuously trotting over them. Don't stop and start between going over the poles, do them, keep trotting ensuring you are maintaining a good regular trot and keep coming again.
Different horses suit different lengths of breaks. For example my own mare suits only very short breaks with no jumping when she is fit however other horses may suit a longer break. There are two books which you would prob find very interesting and helpful in pole exercises for ebs...Anthony Paalman's Training Showjumpers and Ernest Dillon's Showjumping - For Fun or Glory. Both are great books to dip in and out of for various exercises. Hope the collarbone is not too sore!!
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ok thanks alot :D we dont have blocks but could i use jump wings and put the cup right at the bottem? guessing that will do that same thing? :p
and i dont want to start jumping again and shes not ready lol
ill have a look for them got to get gcse books too so i think they come first :rolleyes: lol
thanks alot :) xx
 
Stencilface said:
To be fair, if she's still being ridden and schooled, a break from jumping won't have weakened her back I don't think - unless she had issues in the first place?

Start low yes, 1.20m is never a good place to start! :)
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sorry im lost? i havent said anything about her back? :confused: [but it is getting checked monday :p] shes lost her confidences thats why shes having a break :o

ahh yes :) just do x poles the first time i think :) thanks :) x
 
Just you mentioned about building her back up, but now I see where I've gone wrong on the wording :D

If you're building confidence, I think a great way to do that is out hacking if there are any logs etc and you have a good nanny horse, takes the pressure off ime :)
 
Stencilface said:
Just you mentioned about building her back up, but now I see where I've gone wrong on the wording :D

If you're building confidence, I think a great way to do that is out hacking if there are any logs etc and you have a good nanny horse, takes the pressure off ime :)
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haa sorry i should of explain better :rolleyes:
really? well shes being a right little cowbag in the school and i was thinking a week of hacking just to get her out and seeing new things shes had 5 weeks and had about 2/3 hacks with other people not alot to what shes used too
thaanks :)
ps. whats a nanny horse? :rolleyes::o lol xx
 
Just out of interest - what has Ebs jumped since her fall, and what has she done to make you believe she has lost confidence? Presumably she has jumped with someone else, as you have been "off games". You may find she is more than happy when you start jumping her again, as opposed to a stranger.
 
amage said:
I usually do slanted raised poles so say if you have a line of four poles on the first raise the right hand side, second raise the left, third raise right and fourth left. That way you have a definite centre line to follow. I would usually do these with blocks at each side with the block laid horizontally so prob about 10inches off the ground. Start small and play around with them to see what level she is most comfortable working at. I would also introduce raised poles one by one at the end of a line fo trotting poles as when she is quite a forward going mare she may get confused and try to jump them. Ensure you are maintaining a nice steady even trot and if she does jump or dive at them a bit just hold your balance and keep her as steady as you can while continuously trotting over them. Don't stop and start between going over the poles, do them, keep trotting ensuring you are maintaining a good regular trot and keep coming again.
Different horses suit different lengths of breaks. For example my own mare suits only very short breaks with no jumping when she is fit however other horses may suit a longer break. There are two books which you would prob find very interesting and helpful in pole exercises for ebs...Anthony Paalman's Training Showjumpers and Ernest Dillon's Showjumping - For Fun or Glory. Both are great books to dip in and out of for various exercises. Hope the collarbone is not too sore!!
Click to expand...

^^^ excellent advice, esp the alternated raised ones, and introducing one at a time. that's exactly what i was about to write!
 
You could also used raised ones in a circle, this helps with their suppleness over the poles as they have to bend correctly which normally helps them to become more supple.

Also raising them, the bottom holes of wings do work but it looks more like a jump, we use old books that we don't need any more and put the pole on them (we have square poles though so they don't roll off it might not work with round poles although never tried it)
 
I would echo what others have said - also if you are in the market for books Cavaletti by the Klimke's is very good and easy to understand and has pole work and gymnastic jumping plans for all types of horses. I use alot of them with my boy and you don't have to have proper cavaletti just raise the poles to the same heights. Was recommended to me on an equine body orker course to imprve suppleness and hind leg action.
 
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