The Hexagon: part one

Posted 24th June 2024

Get your pony straight and supple with This Esme and Joey

The-hexagon

If your pony’s straight and supple, he’ll be able to perform at his best, whether that’s in the dressage arena or on the cross-country course!

Last month, I had an epic lesson with Inspire Dressage’s Tania Grantham when we worked over this fun polework layout that improves both these skills! In the first part of our session, we focused on straightness. Now check out the tips Tania shared with me!

Set it up

You’ll need six poles that are all of the same length – ideally 3m long. Set them up in a hexagon formation (just like my logo!) in the middle of your arena. To check your shape is symmetrical, you can use some extra poles to measure the distances from the corners to the middle.

Top tip

Polework can be really challenging for your pony, so make sure you factor plenty of walk breaks into your session.

Warm up

Your pony needs to be on the ball for polework, so spend time getting him fully focused in your warm-up. To allow him to use his muscles effectively and to get stronger, encourage your pony to work in a long and low frame and practise riding lots of different shapes on both reins to engage all his muscles and get them ready for action.

Discover how to ride this exercise in August PONY – out now!

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