Awesome jumping exercises

Practising your jumping will be waaaay more fun if you have a go at our awesome exercises. They’ll help you improve your pony’s rhythm and balance over fences, and they’ll teach you to ride smooth turns, too. Plus, each set up can be ridden a few different ways, so you can base a whole schooling sesh around just one exercise!

Jumping exercise: Boxing clever

Who knew that you could get so many benefits from four cross-poles? This layout will work on all the skills you need to ace a course of fences.

Set it up

Build four cross-poles in the middle of the arena to create a box shape. Each pair of fences should be two canter strides (approx 10m) apart.

How to ride it

1. Start by trotting your pony over the cross-poles as doubles. Focus on keeping him straight by aiming for the middle of each one.
2. Move up into canter and jump the first pair of fences again. Keep a positive rhythm and count the number of strides your pony takes between them – it should be two. If he pops in an extra stride, try again but this time ask for a more forward canter by squeezing him with your legs.
3. Now try linking the doubles of cross-poles together in canter. Beginning on the left rein, jump the first set of fences, then make a smooth, sweeping turn to the left and go over the second pair.
4. This time include a change of direction. Start on the left rein and canter over your first double. Then, come back to trot, change canter lead and make a turn to the right before jumping the next pair of cross-poles.

Check out our other two jumping exercises in March PONY, on sale 15 January.