Quiet Riding

"I do not think there is anything that can take the place of cavalletti work in the training of a horse. It can help lower the horse's head, even his rhythm, develop his balance and impulsion, and lengthen or shorten his stride."

"Walk cavaletti are spaced 2' 4" apart for most of our horses, and up to 2' 10" for horses over 16 hands."

"Trot poles are set up four feet apart and can go out to 4' 6"."

"Do not trot your horse over walk poles or walk him over trot poles as this would defeat the purpose of the exercises."

"Always do enough flat work to warm up your horse before doing cavaletti work, to avoid damaging his muscles and tendons."

"If you start right out with trot poles, it's a must that you start with just one or with two singles — one on each side of the arena."

"There isn't any value in using more than four cavalletti. It's strenuous work for the horse and four are quite sufficient to get any results you need."

"While you can ride across the walk cavalletti sitting in the normal, balanced position, you should always take the forward position and put your hands down on the horse's neck when starting him on the trot poles. Lots of horses feel they have to give a mighty shove with the hind legs, and you do not want to bang their backs and mouths."

"All cavalletti work is strenuous, so twenty minutes of concentrated work every other day is plenty — or about ten or fifteen times across each way mixed with flat work daily."