Grid Work Exercises
(Horsemart, 2010, Graham Lovegrove, How to use Grid Work in Training)
Related distances are as below;
Grid work is a progressive training exercise using poles and fences at pre-determined distances. The horse learns to be athletic, quick-thinking, accurate and confident over jumps. Grid work exercises will also improve the horse’s rhythm, balance, reaction time and technique (Gregory, 2014). Horses learn to be quicker on their feet and will also improve the quality of the horse’s natural bascule (Orme, 2006). Grids can be made up of bounce jumps, doubles or triples, they can be simple or made much more complicated. The fences will aid suppleness, gymnastic ability and mental agility to the horse (Cook, 2014). A grid should be designed depending on the ability of the horse and the rider; the exercise may start off as pole work and progressively get harder by using bounce jumps (Wallace, 1997).
A horse must be familiar with a placing pole before attempting a grid; a placing pole will put the horse in the correct position for take-off. The trot pole should be placed 1.8-2.7m away from the cross pole (Wallace, 1997). The rider should be able to jump a single fence confidently before tackling a grid and have a reasonable amount of balance; however grid work will help the rider’s technique as well as the horses (Orme, 2206). Using a cross bar will give both horse and rider the advantage of seeking the centre of the jump (Allen and Dennis, 2010). Once the horse is able to do the exercise the cross pole can be changed to an upright moving the place pole to 30-60cm away (Wallace, 1997). When designing a grid the fences should progress in height, this will help the horse to maintain balance and work rhythmically. Fences can be as low as 30cm but must not exceed 1m. (Orme, 2006)
A horse must be familiar with a placing pole before attempting a grid; a placing pole will put the horse in the correct position for take-off. The trot pole should be placed 1.8-2.7m away from the cross pole (Wallace, 1997). The rider should be able to jump a single fence confidently before tackling a grid and have a reasonable amount of balance; however grid work will help the rider’s technique as well as the horses (Orme, 2206). Using a cross bar will give both horse and rider the advantage of seeking the centre of the jump (Allen and Dennis, 2010). Once the horse is able to do the exercise the cross pole can be changed to an upright moving the place pole to 30-60cm away (Wallace, 1997). When designing a grid the fences should progress in height, this will help the horse to maintain balance and work rhythmically. Fences can be as low as 30cm but must not exceed 1m. (Orme, 2006)
Figure 13, (Allen and Dennis, 2010)
Figure 13 shows an idea of how the below exercise could be set out.
Figure 13 shows an idea of how the below exercise could be set out.
Every horse and rider must be able to alter the amount of strides between each jump; this will outline how much control the rider has over the horse. The gymnastic exercise ‘gymnastic to a single fence on a straight line’ is an exercise that can be used to practice altering the amount of strides between jumps after a horse has completed a gymnastic grid. The exercise measurements are for a 15hh horse however may still need to be altered depending on the horse. (Allen and Dennis, 2010)
The exercise begins with trotting poles, which are spaced 1.4m apart, and then a cross pole spaced 3m from the trotting pole (as shown in Figure 12). The horse will then naturally land in canter and jump a vertical, which would be 5.5m apart. The last fence would again be a vertical however can be as many strides away as desired, the fence may be placed 6 canter strides away however the exercise may be to only take 5 strides by achieving an extended canter. (Allen and Davis, 2010)
The exercise begins with trotting poles, which are spaced 1.4m apart, and then a cross pole spaced 3m from the trotting pole (as shown in Figure 12). The horse will then naturally land in canter and jump a vertical, which would be 5.5m apart. The last fence would again be a vertical however can be as many strides away as desired, the fence may be placed 6 canter strides away however the exercise may be to only take 5 strides by achieving an extended canter. (Allen and Davis, 2010)