Micah Hansen

You don’t have to have an entire trail course setup to practice trail at home. In fact, there’s a lot you can do with just four poles set up as a box. While in competition you often see a 6-foot box used to turn in, but there are several ways you can approach this obstacle at home to improve your steering, cadence, and confidence riding over poles.

When done properly, an L-shaped back-through in a trail pattern should look almost effortless. Acing this type of maneuver requires hours of practice, teaching your horse to back with ease and cadence while listening to a combination of your hand, leg, and seat cues.