Lydia00
Olympic Poster
I have nothing to fear; and here my story ends. My troubles are all over, and I am at home.
Posts: 922
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Post by Lydia00 on Dec 26, 2005 19:10:49 GMT 1
After a very very very long time of not even touching a pole (due to confidence lack after a jumping fall) i would now like to start building her muscles up ready for jumping and getting both our confidence levels back on track with this pole/jumping business! I am determined to get myself hooked up with an instructor but before then i would like to improve my mares fitness and as polework stregnthens horses backs i am keen to get going. (Been doing the usual schooling and hacking for too long now although she is moving very well). My question is -
In books i have, in tells me the correct distances of trotting poles and canter poles but to be honest i dont fancy going into the arena with a tape measure and looking like a right dork infront of everyone, spacing out the poles! So does anyone know them in strides? (if that makes sense) Like MY walking strides OR my feet? If i put one foot directly infront of another, how many would it be? I
I hope ive made sense! Thankyou for any help.
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cubic
Grand Prix Poster
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Post by cubic on Dec 26, 2005 19:47:40 GMT 1
It depends on how big your strides or feet are! Perhaps, in the privicy of your own home (!) you can measure out the distances you need (from your book) and work out how your strides fit the distances.
You could also try putting the poles on a circle, so that they are closer together towards the inside of the circle, and further apart on the outside and you can pick the part that suits your horse's stride as you go over them on the circle.
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stef
Olympic Poster
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Post by stef on Dec 26, 2005 19:52:44 GMT 1
Well, I have been doing a bit of instructing myself, i have helped the YO's daughter to get her confidence up and will be teaching her to jump in the summer. where abouts are you? To start yourself off I would begin by using a single ground pole, then after you are 100% confident with this only then do you progress to more, I would say to now use 3 poles, which are about 2 average people strides apart. Then go to 4 or 5 poles, the same distance apart. After you have done plenty of polework, i would then put out 2 poles, then a very small cross pole, then another 2 poles and do this to get you back into the actual jumping. I would then progress to a very small grid of 3 or 4 fences, 1 horse stride apart (7 people strides- 2 for the horses landing and take off and 3 for the non jumping stride inbetween the fences) If you have any more questions I will be happy to try and help you out. hope this helps (and i hope that i havent confused you lol!- i quite often get a bit carried away lol!)
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stef
Olympic Poster
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Post by stef on Dec 26, 2005 19:55:31 GMT 1
One last thing... this will help with your confidence levels... ALWAYS try to end on a good note so that the next time you ride you are a bit more confident because the previous lesson ended well. And... set yourself goals for the lesson, even if it is only to get yourself over a 6 inch jump, if you can manage it, then you have succeeded! good luck!
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berylsmum
Grand Prix Poster
My Baby
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Post by berylsmum on Dec 26, 2005 20:29:21 GMT 1
Through trial and error I have found that Beryl needs trotting poles 4 1/2 of my feet apart (but she only has little legs). Try measuring the correct distance at home and seeing how many of your feet it is.
Good luck I hope all goes well.
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Post by showjumper on Dec 26, 2005 20:30:33 GMT 1
I agree with all of the above here, about the average distance would be approximately 2 people strides inbetween poles depending on your horses stride length, Start off with the poles at this distance and see how the horse copes with it, then make the distance wider or narrower. Stef has some very good advice about progressing onto proper jumps and gridwork etc.
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Lydia00
Olympic Poster
I have nothing to fear; and here my story ends. My troubles are all over, and I am at home.
Posts: 922
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Post by Lydia00 on Dec 26, 2005 20:36:16 GMT 1
Thankyou v much for the advice. I shall remeber that and put it into practise as soon as poss. The only thing that worries me now (and i know it sounds silly) is people watching me or riding whilst i do some pole work. People know how good my horse used to be at jumping so they might coment on why im doing "silly" pole work instead of getting stuck right into it. (im normally very outgoing but i really do want to take it slow so i get it right) Also i think i may have to use a martingale, she can get a bit wobbly when jumps are involved if we get it wrong so it might help the both of us.
Stef, can you suggest some interesting excerises with polework (rather than just four in a row). Just so i can vary what she does so as not to get bored. Like ive said i do have a book but its more on jumping & gridwork rather than just polework.i.e - circles, boxes? Thankyou
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berylsmum
Grand Prix Poster
My Baby
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Post by berylsmum on Dec 26, 2005 20:45:16 GMT 1
I really like the book 101 Jumping Exercise For Horse And Rider by Linda L Allen it has loads of polework exercises, 36 different ones to be precise so you and your horse don't get bored.
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Post by jor on Dec 26, 2005 20:55:47 GMT 1
Just to give you ideas for pole work. Once you are established over straight lines, start to do poles on a 20 m circle in trot (easy to measure, the same stride length in the middle of the poles but on a circle, obviously) then progress onto a 15m cirlce and even a 10m circle (is quite advanced) You can also then start to use trotting poles when you do two half 10m circles across the centre line to change the rein (actual move is a basic dressage one but the addition of two poles on each 10m circle adds extra interest and will definately help with correct flexion and engagement)
Another interesting exersise is raised trotting poles (raising alternative ends of trotting poles approx 6 inches) again start in straight lines and progress onto curves and circles, serpentines with trotting poles on the curves and one on the centre line (i used to trot the curves and canter the straights doing flying changes over the poles, again quite advanced but AMAZING for engagement and responses)
Another exersise including small jumps (can be 1ft X poles) Is to have one X pole on the centre line and three poles and a jump to the left and the same to the right and have someone call 'LEFT' or 'RIGHT' as you jump the first fence, this improves your concentration and control over fences having to think and react as you go over a fence and enables you to learn to 'ask' for a leading leg in canter as you come over a fence, which is a good thing when jumping a course of fences.
I have a very good book on course building (simple) distances and how horses jump different type of fences. Cant remember exactly what its called (think its courses for horses...) but I will find it and let you know if youd be interested, may be an interesting read for you and Im sure you could find one on ebay pretty cheaply.
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hebs
Intermediate Poster
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Post by hebs on Dec 26, 2005 21:18:00 GMT 1
Hi I was told its 4 to 1, 4 human strides (normal not exaggerated paces) to 1 horse stride. Thats how I work it out and it works, well for me anyway.
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Post by lucitania on Dec 26, 2005 22:09:08 GMT 1
My instructor uses her own feet to measure the distance. NB- she says always to use one or three poles, or more, but never two, as the horse might not get the point and try and jump over them in a great big catleap!
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Lydia00
Olympic Poster
I have nothing to fear; and here my story ends. My troubles are all over, and I am at home.
Posts: 922
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Post by Lydia00 on Dec 26, 2005 23:07:09 GMT 1
Thankyou, all tis advice is greatly appreciated!
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Post by jennyb on Dec 27, 2005 8:39:18 GMT 1
When I was doing my teaching exam we were told poles need to be about 1.2-1.3m apart depending on stride length. Now, either I've got really long strides or you lot have got really short ones, coz I measured my average stride length at home and it's just short of 1m, so I figured out that I need one stride and one pinstep between poles! Always works for my horse and those I teach.
Lydia, if you like I can dig out my PTT book and find the exact quoted distance for you?
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Post by jor on Dec 27, 2005 10:55:44 GMT 1
The actual distance for a pony is 4ft-4 1/2ft Distance for a horse is 4 1/2ft to 4 3/4ft (trotting poles NOT canter poles) Most people have a stride length of approx 1m (3'3'') (for a 5'7'' ish female)
Its best to lay a tape measure on the ground for the distances you require and do them in pin steps, that way when you get to the yard and start to set them out you can do them accurately.
Just thought is clarify the distance thing.
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Lydia00
Olympic Poster
I have nothing to fear; and here my story ends. My troubles are all over, and I am at home.
Posts: 922
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Post by Lydia00 on Dec 27, 2005 11:46:26 GMT 1
Sorry to sound really dumb, but what do you mean by pin steps?
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