Trotting poles

[Harriet]

Hello everyone,

How far apart should trotting poles be?

Harriet

[Maci]

My instructor usually counts one and a half of her feet between each trot pole.
Maci :)

[lamprellsarah]

All horses have a differnet stride one might need 1 foot will another might need it 2 foot, if you have a slightly damp surface so that when you trot you can see the hoof marks, i would sugest you trot him over this surface once at you normal speed and pace once you have done this measure the length between to hoof marks and this is about the amount of space you should leave between each pole.

[Harriet]

Thanks for that -
Thats a really good tip - this site is brill.

regards

Harriet

[LindaAd]

Maci, I think maybe she means one or two strides, not feet - unless feet means something different where you are. A stride is the distance between the front foot and the back foot when you are taking fairly long steps.

[Harriet]

Im so glad you wrote that...

GOOD GRIEF!
My poor horse, when she was saying feet I thought she meant your own feet not feet as in foot and inches.. I think we will try that again tonight.
You'll be glad to hear I gave up in the end and just concentrated on getting him over one pole he seems to think he has to jump it, however we will try again tonight counting feet and inches!
Harriet

[Maci]

When I said 'feet', I didn't mean the actually measurment, I meant she count two of her actual feet in between the poles, but measuring the stride is better advice!

Sorry You Misunderstood!
Maci :)