Your horse’s first instinct may be to completely duck away from the pole. Don’t fret about this and either ask your horse to step back over the pole with a front foot, or back up, realign and come at the pole straight.

The key at first is patience and letting your horse come to understand what your goal is. When you ask him to step back over the pole, he may go in the complete other direction. You are refining your horse to not offer too large of movements and listen, instead, to exactly what you are asking.

If your horse is overcompensating and moving his feet for the sake of moving, take a pause then slowly ask again. Use the least amount of pressure necessary to get the job done, then apply more pressure as needed.

This photo shows Vince starting to understand and straddle the pole with his front feet. This offers Peyton the opportunity to move the hind feet or hip to get in line with the front and straddle as well.

Here again, Vince needs to shift his hind just a little to the right. Peyton applies her left leg farther back to encourage pushing that hip over and pulls back on the reins if Vince wishes to walk forward, stopping him. We can also see, based on these photos, which way Vince and Peyton favor.

If you and your horse are a little stuck, feel free to leave the pole, walk around for a moment, and approach the pole from a straight position. Taking your time and applying patience allows for you and your horse to remain calm and think through the situation.

Peyton is developing a feel of where her horse’s feet are in relation to the pole. Try to feel where your horse’s feet need to be then check where they actually are.

Try to keep your horse happy and relaxed through this exercise. It may require some brain power from them. Take frequent pause breaks when they take a step in the right direction.

If you or your horse get really frazzled while working on straddling a pole, take a lap or two at a speed with some life to it (this can be in a walk, trot, or lope). A lot of horses feel the need to free up their feet and are often inhibited by what this exercise requires: more lateral work than forward gait.

If your horse successfully steps over the poles and straddles them, pause, throw slack in the reins and pet them. This can help them develop a want to be in that position from your positive rewards. If this exercise was an immense struggle, pause a little longer once you’ve reached this position. If your horse can easily walk up to the pole and straddle it, work on smoothly walking the length of it straddle, then backing at a straddle. Start very slowly so you can precisely place each foot.