Distances between fences in grids

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shoniedaspony

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Aug 22, 2003
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Are there any good ways of estimating how far apart to put fences in grids in order to give you a set number of strides in between fences?

I'm sure I remember someone saying x measurement for landing stride, then x for each stride in between...?

Obviously this needs to be adjusted to the individual horse, but as a guide?

I'm thinking for a 14hh pony :)
 
As a general rule of thumb I reckon 12ft is a canter stride (I have a big horse) .. to measure I walk (a stride being roughlt 2ft) a one stride as

1 stride - landing
4 strides - distance
1 stride - take off

Adjust per size of horse.. for a pony I would shorten a canter stride to about 10ft..
 
I do 2 steps for landing (depending on the type of fence for my mare, as she lands quite long) 2 strides for a 'stride' and then another 2 steps for take off.

as BI said ponies will be slightly shorter.. but when I was little with ponies it used to be the same as I had a little stide!
 
Squeeley said:
I do 2 steps for landing (depending on the type of fence for my mare, as she lands quite long) 2 strides for a 'stride' and then another 2 steps for take off.

as BI said ponies will be slightly shorter.. but when I was little with ponies it used to be the same as I had a little stide!
Click to expand...

Sadly I am no longer little, and still riding ponies :D

So for a fence with 2 strides between, i can just double the 'middle' distance i measure?

and does this tend to change with fence height, or just minimally?
 
One of Max's canter strides is 9/10 'pigeon steps':eek:
I'd always been told that you should allow half a canter stride before/after the jump for landing and taking off.

So if I wanted to do a bounce fence I'd leave 18/20 'pigeon steps' between them, if I wanted him to put one stride in then 27/30.
 
shoniedaspony said:
So for a fence with 2 strides between, i can just double the 'middle' distance i measure?

and does this tend to change with fence height, or just minimally?
Click to expand...

Yep - thats right! Just add your landing and take off each time.

At a show they wouldn't change the stride to suit the fence, so if you are aiming to got out then it is good to keep at a set distance, so your pony can learn to adjust himself! :)
 
2 Strides for landing - always
2 strides for take off - always

Then for every horse stride you want in between, 4 strides.

So a bounce , i.e. no horse strides, is the 2 for landing and 2 for take off = 4
A related distance of 4 horse strides - mandatory 2 landing/take off strides plus 4 x4strides (16) therefore 20...
 
Is a pigeon step where you put the heel of one foot in front of the toe of the other and each foot length is one step?

Can we do all these distances in that measurement please?!

I tried to build a trebble bounce last night and it was a disaster, although not sure how much was fence and how much was pony, we had a leap then back to trot for the final part. HELP!
 
2 strides for landing
4 strides for a horse stride
3 strides for a pony stride
2 strides for landing

so in a double you want 8 strides for a horse and 7 for a pony :) obviously alter it depending on how long their canter strides are but ahve a play around and see what fits but that is the general way of measuring.
 
Please do not get hung up with 'what is the correct distance'.
Grid work should be used to tackle a specific area of the horses training. This may be to lengthen a horse with a short stride, shorten a horse with a long stride, make a horse quicker to snap up or become neater with his feet, to sit them back on their hock more etc.
What you want to achieve will determine how you set up the grid.
For instance, if you want to make the horse sit back on hock more then set the grid to your horses nomal stride but make each fence in the grid slightly higher than the previous one. This effectively shortens the stride available making the horse use its hock more as it goes down the grid.
If you want to make the horse think a bit more then set up a grid where the stride varies betwen fences form normal to short to long to short etc so the horse has to learn to react to what is available.

To find the starting point for a normal distance bounce for your horse, set up the grid just as canter poles and try cantering through. The horse should have to lengthen vary slightly to get through cleanly. Adjust until that is the case them measure the distance between the poles. That is your horses normal stride which is critical to know when jumping courses. Without it you will never know if a distance is good, long or short for your horse, just that it is standard, long or short. ;)
 
DavidH said:
If you want to make the horse think a bit more then set up a grid where the stride varies betwen fences form normal to short to long to short etc so the horse has to learn to react to what is available.

To find the starting point for a normal distance bounce for your horse, set up the grid just as canter poles and try cantering through. The horse should have to lengthen vary slightly to get through cleanly. Adjust until that is the case them measure the distance between the poles. That is your horses normal stride which is critical to know when jumping courses. Without it you will never know if a distance is good, long or short for your horse, just that it is standard, long or short. ;)
Click to expand...

On the basis that we've done at most 2 jumps in a single line, and barely any bounce fences, I am going to start nice and simple :)

Then we will go on and work on changing distances between fences in order to work on his and my adaptability, etc.

I am the rider and jump mover, so was looking for a guide of what distance to start off from so i'm not totally out at the start. I'm happy to get on and off but hoss is never as pleased :D

Thanks for all advice
 
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