Cool cavaletti

Not only does cavaletti work help improve your pony’s way of going, it makes your training sessions way more fun, too! There are tons of different cavaletti layouts that you can try, but here are my three faves.

Let’s get started

These exercises are great because you don’t need much equipment – only four poles and four cavaletti! Check out the diagrams to find out how to set it up and head to bit.ly/KNOW_THE_DISTANCE for the ultimate stride guide. Make sure you warm up your pony before getting started. Ride lots of transitions until he’s listening and paying attention to your aids, as well as some lateral movements to get him feeling supple.

Exercise one: Walk it out

Your pony will work really hard in this exercise because he has to engage his core as he lifts each leg. The angled poles encourage him to look at what’s underneath him and think about where he has to place each foot to avoid touching a pole – it requires a lot of brain power!

TOP TIP

You can use small blocks for these exercises if you don’t have cavaletti, just be sure to keep the poles low to avoid your pony tripping and hurting himself.

Ride it right

As you ride through this exercise think about…

• Allowing with your hands to let your pony stretch his head and neck down – this means he’ll be more able to see the obstacles
• Squeezing with both legs to ask him to keep working actively and step over each pole clearly

TOP TIP

If your pony keeps kicking or knocking over the cavaletti, ask your instructor for advice. He might be weak and finding it difficult if he’s not used to working over poles, or it could also be a sign that he’s stiff or sore.

Check out more of Meg’s cavaletti exercises in August PONY – get your copy today!