The Triangle

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Some of these exercises are more difficult than they look! I had a go at them myself a few days ago and was surprised at how challenging both myself and my horse found them! I made the mistake of using short 6ft poles to begin with, but soon realised that they weren’t long enough, so swapped them for the 12ft poles instead to make it easier, you could leave a gap in between the ends of the poles instead of them touching each other 🙂

Working from left to right then down:

1️⃣ Light blue, egg timer shape. Using the point of the triangle to aim for to aid with accuracy and straightness, go straight over the point and aim for the middle of the bottom pole. Stay straight for 7-8 strides, then track right and imagine you’re riding 1/4 of a 20m circle, focusing on balance and bend. When you get level with the pole, go straight and aim for the middle of the two side poles. The odd angles will encourage the horse to look down to negotiate them, and therefore lengthen the back and neck. Stay straight for another 7-8 strides and track left, making another 1/4 20m circle back towards the point of the triangle, again thinking about the bend and balance and repeat the exercise. Remember to change the rein and do the exercise equally each way.

2️⃣ Pink, figure of eight. This requires a lot of coordination and is mentally stimulating for both horse and rider. This exercise focuses on bending both to the left and to the right, and the poles covered encourage the horse to lengthen through the back and neck whilst on the bend, as well as engaging the hind quarters.

3️⃣ Orange, curved lines. You could either use these as an exercise on their own and change the curve in to a circle, or just ride a curved line in between other exercises. These focus on the horse’s bend and prioperception and you could change the position of the curve to encourage with lengthening or shortening of the stride.

4️⃣ Green, heart shape. Go over the middle of the pole and when you get to the centre of the triangle track right, ride a half 10m circle and then ride straight to the starting point. Go over the middle of the pole again but this time track left before riding a half 10 circle and then going straight to the starting point. Remember to carry out the exercise equally on both reins, focusing on bend, balance and straightness.

5️⃣ Circles on the corners. This is the exercise I found most tricky, but is great for bend and prioperception. Ride a 15m circle round one corner, and then move on to the next corner and repeat. Then move on to the next corner. Change the rein and repeat going round the other way.