ROUTINE LAURA COLLETT’S pace-perfecting POLEWORK The UK’s best-selling equestrian monthly 2022Oct6–Sept8£4.49637Issue DJMur phy A TURNOUT RUG FROM HORSEWAREWIN! One Our guide to buying RACEHORSERETRAINEDa ALL ABOUT KISSINGSPINESWINTERCOATS TRIED & TESTED Your DILEMMAS,RUGGING answered any horse can ace SIMPLE GRID 17 TIPS FOR THE CLIPPERFECT SITTINGMASTERTROT ways to Make your horse’s stable a HEALTHYHAPPY,PLACE 8 On riding, training & the stars in his stables TOM MCEWEN
Hoping to focus a busy brain?
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Olympic eventer Laura Collett shares her polework layout to channel your horse’s energy in the right direction
An event horse has got to have his wits about him. Come competition day, there’s so much going on that he needs to be capable of digesting his surroundings while simultaneously focusing on the task at hand. That’s why I aim to get my horses accustomed to schooling in busy environments at home. However, it’s not just eventers who’d benefit from a bit of ‘organised chaos’ and this month’s exercise is an example of just that. As you’ll see from the photos, I’ve weaved it into one of my old faithful gridwork exercises – I’ll tell you more about that one next month. But for now, let’s get started on this simple but e ective pole-based challenge.
In this feature. . . Set up a serpentine-based pole exercise
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at a distance of 3m. 3. A pair or two of tram rails, with a width of 1.5–2m between them. I’ve used one each of the above options, but to introduce this exercise, I’d choose two sets of trot poles and a pair of tram rails. Canter poles will drastically heighten the di culty of this layout.
You don’t necessarily have to canter through the canter poles if you include them in your layout – your horse should be able to fit two trot strides in the distance.
Ride each of the parts individually Put it all together
1.5m3m 1.5–2m
In the saddle
Short on space? While I’ve based this polework exercise on a four-loop serpentine, if you’ve only got space for a three-loop serpentine, you could pick two of the three elements to work over in your schooling session.
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Short on time? It’ll depend on your yard’s rules, but the great thing I fi nd about this exercise is that any horse can benefit from the lessons it teaches. Why not see if you could leave the layout out in the arena for a day – or a couple of days – for the rest of your yard to try? That way, you could lay it out and someone else might be able to put it away later on. HEK MBF
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You’ll start by riding the di erent components separately, incorporating them into circles and lines throughout your sessions. Then, once you’re confident riding over each part separately, you can start building towards riding over them all in one as a serpentine.
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Our expert Laura Collett has been a regular on the Team GB roster since her gold medal-winning pony days. Most recently, she became an olympic team gold medallist at Tokyo 2020 and won the Badminton Horse Trials title in 2022. Our MoonlightmodelCharmer is a nine-year-old gelding who’s half-brother to 2019 Burghley winner, MGH Grafton Street. With Laura, he’s won five national classes, come second in Burgham’s CCI2* and third at Houghton CCI3*.
Set it up Based on a 2.1.centrecrosswherethearoundofchoicesetserpentine,four-loopupyourpolespointstheytheline…Asetoffourtrotpoles,atadistanceof1.5m.Asetofthreecanterpoles,
Short on poles? While I’d recommend using the number of poles above, if you’ve only got a handful, just alter the layout to your advantage. For example, you could use just three trot poles instead of four, or include two sets of tram rails and just one set of trot poles.
Dressage superstar Sir Lee Pearson o ers tips on riding lateral movements, breaking bad habits and how to ride smoother trot-to-canter transitions W hether you wish to move up the levels of dressage or simply improve your training at home, teaching a horse the lateral movements is a great way to make him more supple, straight and balanced. Not only will a better schooled horse be more enjoyable to ride but by keeping him in better shape, you’ll give him the best chance of having a long and soundTrycareer.nottofeel daunted by having a go at lateral work or worry that you’re going to ask for the movements in the wrong way. Having a better knowledge of where your horse’s body needs to be positioned in each movement will go a long way to helping you understand how to ask him in the right way.
In this feature. . . Lateral work explained Breaking bad habits
TOP TIP I like to have a canter before doing any lateral movements as I fi nd it makes the horse more active and forward thinking.
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How to achieve smoother trot-to-canter transitions
Our models Daniel Bates is a grade V para dressage rider who is partially sighted and can only see up to 1m in front of him. Daniel’s trained with Lee for two
Our expert 14-time Paralympic Games gold medallist Sir Lee Pearson has represented Great Britain in Sydney, Athens, Beijing, London, Rio and Tokyo. He rides Styletta, his 13-year-old homebred mare.
HORSyears.E&RIDER 47 Zion, Lee’s Rio horse, is an 18-year-old gelding. “He’s competed up to Medium level, but he owes me nothing and everyone loves him,” says Lee. In the saddle
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Careful considerations If your horse has been living out for longer over summer, it’ll be a shock to his system to suddenly start coming in for lengthy periods of time.Because this adjustment in routine represents a significant change in your horse’s diet and management, the British Horse Society (BHS) recommends completing this change gradually, over 10–14 days, to help reduce the risk of colic and keep him happy, too. Start by bringing your horse in for a few extra hours a day with some hay, slowly increasing the amount of time to help avoid a suddenHorseschange.arehappiest in numbers so if you change his routine, try to make this fit in with his friends. If all his fieldmates are still out at night while yours is coming in, he’s likely to be stressed by being alone. Make sure you’re bringing your horse in with at least one other equine friend who he’ll be able to see clearly and possibly interact with from his stable. If he associates being brought in with stressful experiences, like being separated from the herd for prolonged amounts of time, it’s going to make the transition much harder. Therefore it’s important to make sure he’s got access to forage and friends.
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StroudJonPhotos: no escaping the fact that summer’s on its way out, but what does this mean for our horses? While it’s bound to bring changes to the time your horse is exercised, stabled or turned out, the most important thing to do is consider his welfare before you start making alterations. Horses thrive on routine and often don’t cope well with the unexpected. Therefore, whatever adjustments you’re planning to make, you’ll need to manage them carefully as sudden di erences can have an impact on your horse’s mental and physical health.
The key to success is to introduce lifestyle changes gradually. We discuss some of the considerations you’ll need to make, helping your horse to stay happy and healthy in his new routine.
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As the seasons change, so too might your horse’s daily routine. Here’s how to make the transition from summer to winter stress free
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If you decide your horse can live out more than usual this winter, use the money you’ll save in bedding costs to buy a couple of decent turnout rugs. This will give you peace of mind that he’s warm and dry when the weather isn’t.
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