Serpentine jumping exercise

Whether you’re jumping for fun or want to boost your skills to bring home rosettes, our fun serpentine exercise will step up your riding ability as well as your pony’s suppleness. Why not give it a go?

Build it

You’ll need six poles and three pairs of wings or blocks for this exercise. Start by laying out a set of poles and wings over X, so you can approach from E or B. Then, place the next set half way between X and A, and the third half way between X and C.

Step one

To start with, practise riding over the poles in walk and trot. Work on perfecting the lines of your serpentine and changing bend through each turn.

When you’re confident in trot, try in canter. You can ask for a flying change over each pole or make a transition to trot before or after, picking up canter on the new lead to make the next turn.

If you want to ask for a change of leg…

• ride a smooth turn towards the pole, while looking up and over it
• a stride or two away from the pole, ask your pony to bend in the new direction of travel, shifting your weight into that stirrup and looking around the turn – you might find you need to exaggerate the movement to start with
• as he takes off over the pole, shift your new outside leg backwards and create more bend to the new inside – this should encourage him to swap leads over the pole
• ride away and give him a pat for a job well done

Grab a copy of  July PONY mag, on sale 01 June 2022, to find out how to progress this exercise!