BABES LITTLE TWISTER

      Trail classes use a lot of poles in the pattern.  Horses need to be able to negotiate the poles, have a correct cadence and steady pace.
      In this video Babe and I are jogging over poles set in a circle.  The poles are set for jogging or loping.     
      Jog overs are set three feet, as one trot stride is about three feet. Lope overs must be six feet for every stride.  To be able to jog or lope the shortest distance between two poles is six feet.  The wider spaces are set at six foot increments.
      Cathy Hanson, trainer of AQHA World Champion trail horses is helping me with the exercise.  Cathy teaches the online courses Preparation for Competition and Showmanship in Hand for www.horsecoursesonline.com. 
      Cathy is writing a course about training a trail horse and it will be available soon.
      Click here to see Babe's video of loping over the poles in what Cathy calls "The Wheel of Torture".