A Detailed Guide To Advance Pole Work with Heidi Maxwell with Vet Physio Megan Rees

This article, written by IH student Heidi Maxwell with expert Megan Rees, is a two-part series on polework exercises. Part 1 focuses on in-hand exercises, while Part 2 covers ridden exercises at walk, trot, and canter.

Key benefits of polework:

• For the Horse: Improves spinal and limb flexibility, posture, core stability, and power. It also enhances proprioception (awareness of where limbs are) and can add interest or intensity to a training session.
• For the Rider: Adds focus to a training session and can improve the relationship between horse and rider.

Practical advice:

• You can start with just a single pole, but Megan Rees advises having at least 3-5 poles and using “potties” as raisers.
• Megan emphasizes that walking is not “wasted time” and is the best way to improve a horse’s spinal flexibility and core strength.
• For quality of movement, it’s more important to use good posture than to have high raised poles.
• For horses that frequently knock poles, a good exercise is to randomly place poles in the arena and practice different turns or transitions over them.

The article demonstrates several exercises, including:

• Poles on a Line: A row of poles laid end-to-end, which can be done in a serpentine pattern.
• Cross: A cross of poles in the middle of a circle of four outer poles.
• S-Bend: A maze of six poles on the ground where the horse weaves through.
• Spaced Poles: Poles set at different distances for walk, trot, or canter to develop specific muscle groups and skills.

A key takeaway is that polework is beneficial for all types of horses, from athletic showjumpers to green youngsters and “golden oldies”