Cavalletti exercises are excellent for strengthening your horse.

Cavalletti exercises are excellent for helping your horse develop rhythm, build his topline, gain confidence over obstacles and become a better athlete.

Proper placement of the cavalletti, or even of ground poles, is critical. If the poles are too close together you will cause the horse to shorten his gait; too far apart and it will cause your horse to rush or become unbalanced. You should always start your horse over distances that are natural for your horse. Once you’ve established rhythm and balance you can adjust the distances to enable training. For example, increasing the distance between the poles can help your horse build the strength to hold a trot lengthening.

Instructions

• For work at the walk, place poles 3 feet apart, starting with poles on the ground.
• For work at the canter, start with the poles 9 feet apart.
• When your horse is comfortable with this distance and no height, then raise one side of the poles without changing the distance.
• You can begin to increase the distance between the cavalletti once your horse is moving rhythmically through the series. This will help your horse build the strength to sustain suspension.

Tips and Warnings

• Cavalletti work is very tiring for horses. Make sure to take breaks and do not overdo the exercises.
• Every horse is different. Be prepared to adjust the distances to suit your horse.
• It’s much easier to set up cavalletti when you have someone on the ground to help you. Otherwise you’ll be hopping off your horse every time he knocks a pole out of position.

Video Demonstration

Bridging your reins is a useful technique

“Bridging” your reins is a way for riders to maintain a steady contact with their horse’s mouth when riding.

It keeps the rider from fussing with their horse’s mouth, from inadvertently pulling back, or from having the reins pulled through their fingers by a horse that pulls. It’s also a helpful technique to know when you’re hacking out and need to hold your reins in one hand.

Instructions:

• Hold your reins so that you have light contact when your hands are 4-6″ in front of your horse’s withers.
• Take the “bite” of the rein from one hand and cross it over the horse’s neck so the reins are stacked on top of each other.
• Grab the stacked reins with both hands.
• Hold the doubled “bridge” of reins on either side of the horse’s neck.
• Press down on your horse’s neck to remove any slack.
• Hold the bridge approximately where the neck strap of a martingale or breastplate would be located.

Tips

Some trainers suggest that students tie a knot in their reins and hold at that point. This also helps you keep a steady contact but it does not allow you to easily slip the reins when needed.

Hooking your index finger through your breastplate can also help stabilize your hands and keep you from pulling (or being pulled).

You can buy reins that come with a bridging attachment such as the “4-Star Bridging Reins“.

Most of the time your horse (hopefully) stops on cue. You increase the contact on your reins and simultaneously ask your horse to slow by stopping his forward motion with resistance from your seat.

On rare occasions, you may need more stopping power. It could be that your horse has bolted or started bucking, or you could be out galloping with a group of friends and find you need just a bit more than normal to get your horse under control.

Teaching the runway stop. Photo from http://www.horseproblems.com.au

The one rein stop is a tool that you should (and your horse) should know for those “just in case” times. But it’s not something to try for the first time when you need it; it’s something you need to teach your horse in advance.

• Start training the one rein stop at the halt. Using one rein ask your horse to bring his head around to the side so that his muzzle is either touching, or close to touching, your leg. You should not have any contact on the other rein. (That’s why it’s called a “one rein” stop).
• Hold until your horse relaxes into this position. You should see his eye soften and he should not be fighting.
• Release and bring his head to the opposite side.
• Rinse and repeat until there is no resistance. You may need to do this dozens of times. Don’t overdo each individual session and remember that your horse will learn what you want him to do.
• Next, try this same procedure at the walk. Bring your horse’s head around to your knee and hold the position until he is completely still and has relaxed into the position.
• Remember to keep your core strong so that you stay in the center of your horse. Don’t lean into the bend because you will unbalance your horse.
• Once you’ve mastered the one-rein stop at the walk, step up the challenge and try it first at the trot and at the canter. Make sure you’ve completely mastered each gait before you move on and make sure you always get to a complete stop.

Why do you need to practice this? First, you need to know the technique before you need it and second, horses learn to relax into it the stop once they’ve been trained with it. If you have a horse that’s panicing, putting them in the one-rein stop can help them calm down.

Equestrians, walkers, joggers and bicyclists all want to use the same trails. There’s only so much public land and it’s important that trail users get along.

Here are some tips for that can help make trail users more comfortable with their shared existence.

Tips for cyclists and joggers:

• Horses are animals and as such, are not predictable. Since they evolved as prey, they have strong flight instincts and can be spooked by creatures they don’t recognize. Things that look normal to us (someone wearing a back pack, riding a recumbant bike, or carrying a child in a back pack) can really frighten a horse.
• If you come up behind a horse, please call out or ring a bell. If we know you are there we can prepare for you to pass. Talking to us is best because then the horse will understand that you are human. Every winter my horse gets spooked by cross country skiers the first few times we encounter them. As soon as they talk to us he calms right down.
• Take your time when passing and leave plenty of room. On a road please don’t ride right next to us or at top speed. If you slow down and give us some room our horses probably won’t even flinch. On a trail, it may be better to wait for a wide spot, especially if you are pushing a stroller.
• If a horse looks scared, please stop your bike or stroller and wait. We don’t want to disrupt your ride or walk, but we also don’t want you to get hurt. Please remember that the average horse weighs more than 1,000 pounds and has steel shod hooves.
• If you’d like to pet a horse, please ask first. My horse is good with people and kids and I usually invite people to approach and get to know us but not every horse is so accommodating.

Tips for equestrians:

• Make sure you have the skills to control your horse before you leave home. Sometimes it’s better to go out on the trail with an experienced trail horse to get your horse used to the sites and sounds.
• Desensitize your horse to potentially scary things such as tarpaulins, flapping paper, dogs, etc. at home. Working with your horse will help build his confidence in you and will teach him how to accept new things. If your horse is scared of bikes, have a friend come over and ride a bike near you in a ring or a field until the horse starts to accept that bicycles are not dangerous.
• If your horse doesn’t do well on their trail, don’t take him to areas where you know you’ll encounter hikers, joggers or cyclists. Work him in quieter areas until you gain more experience or, stay home. Not every horse enjoys being on the trail.
• Remember that most people don’t know anything about horses or how to behave around them. In fact, many people are afraid of them. Don’t assume that people who ride close to you are being rude; they likely have no idea that they could cause an accident.
• Talk to the people you encounter on the trail. Many people are really interested in learning about your horse. Be an ambassador for our sport.

With some mutual respect and education we can make our roads and trails safe and fun for everyone who wants to use them.