# How many steps between poles?



## NavigatorsMom (Jan 9, 2012)

It depends on horse stride and what gait. I can't really comment on canter poles, but for trot poles I do about 3 of my strides (I think that's about 9 heel-toe steps) between each pole. That's pretty average for my 15.3 horse. Maybe one step more if I want him to lengthen stride, one step less if we want to work a bit on shortening stride. If you google pole exercises for horses you should be able to find striding for different gaits. That will give you a starting point that you can then tweak spacing on to fit your horse better.


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## Jolly101 (Jul 2, 2018)

I did about 4.5 - 5 steps (4.5 ft) between poles for my 16hh horse. I can't comment much on Canter poles either, but I think they are supposed to be between 9-12 ft apart, depending on your horse's stride. I would start with 10 and go from there.


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## Interstellar (Feb 15, 2020)

Trot poles should be set at 3-4 feet, (I do 4 heel to toe steps when I set them) canter poles should be about 10 feet. Any more than that and it's no longer a stride/bounce, it's a full step.


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