Dear Diary,

Today, I had a perfect pony—well, not all day, but for most of it! I’ve been so excited to try out this new exercise, but Dude… not so much. He’s terrified of oxers—like flared nostrils and starfish legs kind of scared. I have no idea why, but it’s a thing for him.

Getting him to go over the poles at first was a struggle. His brain just couldn’t grasp the concept of two poles close together, but with some encouragement, we managed. We started by trotting over all the flat poles. Once we got the hang of that, it was time for the real challenge.

At first, he wanted nothing to do with the jumps. I had to try a few times, really give him some leg, keep my shoulder back, and throw in a couple of “yah, yah”s—his favorite jump cue, lol. And then, he finally flew over the jumps like a dream! It’s honestly the best he’s ever felt over a jump.

Dude did the exercise like a true champion. He jumped the first two poles, over-strided like a pro, and somehow managed to fit three strides into a one-stride jump (don’t ask me how, I have no idea). Then, he sailed over the upright, and it felt incredible.

Time : 30 Minutes |  Level : Novice

Oxer Week: Day 1 – Understanding Oxers

Monday, 26 August

Dude, my horse, is terrified of oxers. According to Dr. Google, he struggles to understand what I’m asking when I set up two poles with some distance between them. So, after doing some research, I’ve come up with a step-by-step exercise to help him learn and build his confidence over oxers.

Let’s Start: Day 1 – Understanding Oxers

For this exercise, you’ll need six poles.

Setup:

  • Pink Poles: Flat on the ground.
  • Yellow Pole 1: On the ground.
  • Yellow Pole 2: Raised on the jump fence (indicated by the shadow in the image).
  • Grey Circles: Jumping fences.
  1. Set up the first pair of pink poles about 40cm apart on the ground.
  2. Measure one canter stride (the “H” shape in the image).
  3. Place the first yellow pole flat on the ground.
  4. Set up the second yellow pole as an upright jump (60cm high), with the second pink pole flat on the ground in front to indicate the take-off point.
  5. Finally, measure two canter strides and place the last pair of pink poles flat on the ground.

    Warm-Up: Warm up over this setup to build confidence. Remember, this is a canter exercise. If you try to trot through it, your horse might treat the floor “oxer” as simple trotting poles, which defeats the purpose.

    Exercise: Canter into this exercise, jump the flat pink poles, canter one stride, jump the upright, and then jump the final flat poles (floor oxer).

    Today’s goal is all about building confidence. If your horse gets comfortable with this exercise quickly, you can move on to Step 2 (read here). If not, stay at this level until they’re happy.

    Try to stick to this exercise for roughly 30 minutes.