Instructions:

“Place three poles on the ground with 18 meters in-between.

It’s normal to ride five strides between the poles, so for the young horse this is an excellent exercise to practice keeping a straight line with five+five strides. It’s not as easy as it sounds, and you really don’t have to make things more complicated than that. 

With more experienced horses that you want to practice tempo changes with, but at the same time staying in the rhythm, you can vary from four longer strides to five normal, or six a bit shorter strides.

If you want to make it even more difficult, you can start playing with your stride pattern. Example: Five strides between the first and second pole and four strides between the second and third – and vice versa.

What you want to accomplish with this exercise is creating a balanced and rhythmical canter on the line. Once you have a balanced and rideable canter, you can adjust the speed quite easily while keeping the impulsion.“