As a team of horse owners, we know how important those first riding experiences are in shaping a young rider’s confidence, skills, and passion for the sport. That’s why our SEIB Rewards partner, PolyJumps, has teamed up with sponsored rider Frankie Townsend (of Frankie’s Ponies on Instagram) and her mum Jennie to share their favourite exercises for young riders.
From learning the basics of control, to building up towards their first course, these fun and practical polework ideas are designed to support both rider and pony every step of the way.
Learning the Square Halt
Using poles on the ground are a great way to make simple things really fun. Learning how to halt effectively is one of the most important things for a little rider to learn, before they start going faster or learning to jump. It’s also a really important exercise to establish respect from the pony. Particularly if a child is little, it can be very easy for the pony to override their aids, so practicing simple things like halting is vital.
Using 2 poles as tramlines, ride in between the poles in either a walk or a trot. At some point in between the poles, ask them for a halt transition. The tramlines help to keep the pony straight and give the little jockey somewhere to aim for, making visualising the exercise much easier. Start at a walk so both the rider and pony understand the exercise and then progress to a trot when they are confident.
To level up this exercise and make it slightly trickier, make a square out of the poles and have them ride into the middle of the square in either a walk or trot, and ask for a halt transition inside the box. Because this is a little bit harder and requires more accuracy, it’s a great way to get the pony listening to their rider.
Teaching the Pony to Bend
Learning to steer a pony is one of the first steps to learning to ride. Once this has been established, the next step is to start teaching them to ask the pony for bend (or for those more experienced “flexion”). This can be quite a difficult concept to explain to a little rider so using an exercise to show them how to get the bend and having them learn from feel is what we found to be the best way.
To do this, set up a triangle of 3 poles on the floor and then add 3 more poles on either side wide enough for a pony to go in between. At a walk, ask them to ride around the triangle inside the tram lines. This is a super exercise to get the pony stepping underneath themselves so your little rider can start to feel what inside bend is, we’ve found this is the best way for them to learn! This is also a super exercise to teach them that bending doesn’t come from the reins (like steering) but from their body position. This sets them up well for dressage tests and jumping courses later on too!
Pole Work Exercised for Little Riders
Both simple and more complex pole work exercises are super effective to encourage both rider and pony to focus- not always an easy task! Poles set out at the correct distances are a great way for riders to learn about their pony’s stride and way of going as well as challenging and engaging them both.
Once the pony and rider are confident with poles at a trot, we add in some canter exercises which are great for confidence building and creating adjustability in the pony. Because young riders are often less accurate in their striding and distances, having a pony who can adjust themselves and help their rider out is so important. We like to put poles on a 20m circle with poles at 12, 3, 6, and 9. This encourages a nice rhythm and will teach the rider how a good canter for course jumping feels.
We love to use raised poles on a curve, encouraging the pony to gradually work towards the widest part. This is a great way for the pony to engage their abs and glute muscles, and work through the hocks effectively, whilst also helping the little rider to practice accuracy and control through the poles. This exercise can be progressed to include bounces using the star or cross cavalettis, which adds a super gymnastic element for the pony. Using curved pole exercises also helps the combination learn to ask for and pick up the correct canter leads, which is so important when progressing to jumping a course.
Learning to Ride a Course of Jumps
Putting it all into practice and starting to jump a course is a super exciting milestone in any little rider’s career (and a nerve-wracking moment for all the horsey parents out there!). When Frankie was little, we would set out a jumping course with wings and put all the poles on the ground and have her ride around the whole course at a canter. This is a safe way for them to learn how riding a course feels, practice their steering, and learn their changes, whilst remaining relatively low risk with poles on the floor. That way if they make a mistake, there is no chance of any nasty crashes, stops, or run outs, whilst building confidence in both rider and pony.
A big thank you to Frankie, her pony, and her mum Jennie for sharing their insights with our SEIB Rewards partner, PolyJumps. We hope their tips have inspired you and your young rider as you start building those all-important foundations in the saddle.
If you’d like to see Frankie and her pony in action, head over to PolyJumps’ social media (@polyjumps) or Frankie’s page (@frankies_ponies) to watch these exercises brought to life!
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