Pole Work for Dressage Riders: Building Concentration, Coordination, and Strength in the Horse

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Over 50 fun and easy-to-follow exercises using groundpoles to improve the horse's musculature and way of going. While working with ground poles is not new to most riders, incorporatingthem in training with creativity and regularity may require a littleinspiration and guidance. Enter Ann Katrin Querbach and her positive andpersuasive ideas for developing the horse's body and movement in healthy andcorrect ways over poles. With progressive exercises at all three gaits, on thelonge line and under saddle, she provides a basis for building a strongfoundation, step by step. Or, just as easily, the reader can cherry-pick theexercises best suited to resolving a particular issue or improving a certainquality.Readers will find exercises that focus on: - Rhythm and tempo- Forwardness- Straightness- Transitions- Collection and lengthening- And building the horse's abs, legs, and hind endPole work develops coordination, balance, and concentration inboth horse and rider. It helps the rider develop a feel for a "correct" trot, active hindquarters, and lifted back in the horse. The rider learns to maintain"positive tension" ("engagement") in her body, while still remaining relaxedenough to follow the horse's movement. The horse must lift his hind legssignificantly higher than usual in order to clear the poles, developing thecoordination of the dorsal and ventral muscle chains, lifting the horse's backand engaging his neck. He is encouraged to build muscle in a manner that's bothsystematic and correct. This collection of exercises seeks to provide all thesebenefits and more, not only for the dressage rider seeking to correct or optimizethe elements judged in competition but also for the recreational rider wishing tokeep her horse fit and sound over a lifetime.