We asked Team Rider and show jumper Ioli Mytilineou to share her fav exercise with our community, and she let us in on her serpentines with cavaletti. The exercise can be carried out in two ways. She will go through both ways, but the first option will be explained in greater detail. So, let’s get into it! We’ll let Ioli take you through it in her own words. 

This is how you do it:

Option 1

“Follow the S-shape that has been built with three sets of cavaletti. A working canter will require five strides between each cavaletti.”
 

Option 2

“Ride the exercise in a straight line (cavalettis will then be jumped at an angle). A working canter will require four strides between the cavaletti.”

Purpose

“The purpose of the exercise is to incorporate dressage into jumping. It teaches the horse to follow the rider’s gaze and aids, but the rider has to make sure that they aren’t allowing the horse to fall into the bend or bulge out of it. It will improve precision on the track, but if done incorrectly, the approach to the cavaletti will be affected.”

Tips to succeed

“Focus on riding the serpentines the correct way, instead of on how well the horse is performing. By doing this, the horse will begin to feel comfortable and progress through repetition.”

Adjust the difficulty

“The difficulty can be adjusted by allowing for a larger distance between each cavaletti, thus creating more room and a larger bend. The shorter the distance, the harder the exercise. 

It can also be made easier by circling in between each cavaletti or by asking for a lead change on landing. To make it more demanding, you can aim to get the change over each cavaletti, resulting in the horse landing on the correct lead.

Another way to adjust difficulty is by alternating stride numbers – doing a double add, a double leave out, or a combination of the two.

Since it is not strenuous, I tend to incorporate this exercise into my weekly flatwork. As opposed to adjusting the exercise itself, I adjust the expectations I might have for the horse. Not all horses are suited for all exercises, so I allow a margin of error depending on the horse. In time, you will realize that this margin is becoming smaller. This is when you can decide whether or not to make the exercise more complex.”


Download Ioli's exercise Cavaletti on Serpentines.