PREPARATION

Just like in horsemanship, walking your trail pattern on foot is a crucial part of nailing your approach to the obstacles. Walk with cadence and uidity—don’t start and stop at each maneuver. If you have to walk the pattern with other people, wait until you can walk the obstacle all the way through without stopping. You want to know where you need to approach the obstacle, and where you need to guide your horse within the obstacle.

Get comfortable walking a 3-foot stride on foot, and memorize what that feels like. For a typical Western stock horse, one trot stride covers 3 feet, and one lope stride covers 6 feet. If you have two poles placed 6 feet apart, make sure you can get two of your steps between the poles. If it’s a pinwheel, you’ll typically want your horse to lope three strides, so count out six steps between the poles. Count when you walk: one, two; one, two, three; or one, two, three, four, depending on how many strides you want within the poles.

through the obstacle, it’ll encourage too much speed.

Use your feet to effectively control your horse’s rhythm at the trot. Press on his sides to push him to your chosen entry spot. At the lope, connect to your horse with your outside leg in rhythm with his stride toward the beginning of the maneuver.

Mastering transitions will help you gain control over your horse’s rhythm—his stride length and cadence. Practice going from walk to lope, jog to lope, lope to jog, and jog to walk. Seek a consistent rhythm of your horse’s legs in each transition. straight ahead of you, it’s not as difficult to determine where you want to enter it. But if you have to make a turn before or on the obstacle, you must allow enough room for your horse to make that turn. When possible, cross the pole straight instead of at an angle, which can lead to knocking the pole.

Once you get to the pole or obstacle, with your horse balanced and traveling with rhythm, it’s time for your horse to show his athletic ability. You did your job of planning to position him to enter the obstacle; it’s his job to get over the pole. Get out of the way, and let him do his job.

Try It Yourself

Here are three pole-based obstacles commonly used in trail courses. I’ll describe each obstacle, present its ideal approach, and offer tips for success to be sure you maximize your score at each obstacle.