What is Cavaletti?

[JessPickle]

Was browsing through the new robinsons catalogue, and saw some cavaletti poles and blocks. Now to me they just look like jumps that are hard to knock down !

So what are these, and what is cavaletti?

Link To Cavaletti Blocks

 

[rema]

Years ago the caveletti jump was the then poly blocks of today.You could adjust the height,stack them up or just use them as trotting poles.God they bring back memories for me!!.

 

[alicedove]

traditionally they were always like this


X-------X

all out of wooden parts

so they were impossible to knock over, they are about one foot off the ground, a horse can trot over, or you can canter them, they are good for gymnastic exercise. You can do bounces, strides, between or whatever, or teach a horse to stop rushing, pop them into a circle, perhaps use them to teach flying changes, etc.

No need to buy if you have poles and adjustable fences/blocks, etc that will do instead! Unless of course your horse learned to not respect the lighter poles and means to knock them...

 

[wizoz]

OH MY GOD

I feel old now

we used to love using the cavaletti's to jump over cause you used to be able to build them up on top of each other, the blocks are definately the 21st Century Cavaletti!

 

[JessPickle]

AHH now AleeDee what you said about horses not respecting lighter poles describes pickle to a tee! he has done so much XC that unless he knows there hard, he will knock them over and not even care slightly!

 

[skewbaldpony]

They were bolted onto one side of one of the cross pieces, therefore had four different heights, went out of fasion as dangerous (as someone else said, you can't knock them down) but millions of us must have used them safely in the meantime. Everyone else's dad could always make them but mine couldn't (or wouldn't LOL) They were always painted white, and I have vague memories of a pony club Prix Caprilli competition, which was basically a dressage test withe caveletti kind of on the diagonals. Do they still do that?

 

[kerilli]

cavaletti are old-fashioned little jumps, basically an X of wood at both ends of a single pole fixed in the corner of the top v of the X, if you see what i mean, so that as you rotate the X, the pole becomes different heights. they used to be very popular, for instant raised poles, and stacked up to make jumps, until people realised that they wouldn't fall down if you hit them... maybe they caused a few accidents, but suddenly they weren't acceptable to Pony Club and B.H.S. etc.

 

[kerilli]

oh gosh, i remember Prix Caprilli. haha, in the days before everyone was in a dressage saddle...

 

[dieseldog]

You must be young! And have never been to PC camp in the 80s

 

[rara007]

I used to have them and im young! They are aseveryone has described.........I used them as small jumps.

 

[B_2_B]

we have cavaletti at Mossburn.
X's and straight pole, all wooden

 

[Shilasdair]

OMG
Trip down memory lane there - they were good for teaching beginners to jump as you could put them tiny height and practice jump position...then roll them to up the bigger height.
Does anyone else remember, though, how the crosses at the end always used to become wobbly and you used to spend lessons trying to kick them straight? ...
Now considered 'unsafe' so not used...it was probably my use of them that highlighted the dangers

S

PS Apologies to anyone I may have taught over them!

 

[skewbaldpony]

Yes, I remember positively balancing them in position! I also once fell off a 12.2 pony in a lesson, whilst demonstrating to its rider how hopeless she was being, not using her legs and letting it stop. I came off over its head and it kicked a caveletto (wooooooooh) into my leg and I still bear the scar.
I still say they were no more unsafe than anything else thought.
Although it was a bit iffy when we used to balance them on the top of 45 gallon drums .....

 

[Shilasdair]

Trust me, when I used them, they were unsafe

Mind you...even in my R & RS exam they told me they had 'never seen anyone so dangerous' which I thought must have been a compliment....don't you think?
S