What are cavaletti used for?
Cavaletti are used for horse training. Although these training tools are simple, they are extremely useful and necessary in everyday training.
Cavaletti are raised jump poles that can be used as ground rails or even stand alone as a small jump. They can be used for various training exercises, from practicing finding a distance over a single cavaletti, to jumping them in a grid to practice a horse’s straightness and ridability.
How do I set up cavaletti?
Every cavaletti has three different settings, or heights:
- A low rail, lifted slightly off the ground
- Flip it one rotation from the low rail to raise it a bit more
- Another flip brings it to its highest height
The cavaletti can be set at various distances away from each other depending on what you are trying to accomplish and what exercise you are performing. See the cavaletti exercises below for specific distances and ways to set them up.
Cavaletti exercises to do with your horse
There are an infinite number of ways to use cavaletti in your horse training!:
- Use cavalettis to warm up before jumping larger jumps. Paul O’Shea says doing this is better for the horses’ legs and causes less wear and tear.
- Set a cavaletti as a single to practice finding distances over small obstacles.
- Use them to form a line and practice your horses’ adjustability. Steven Bluman of Bluman Equestrian explains how doing this can be beneficial here.
- Use cavalettis in a gymnastics grid to practice balance and build strength for both horse and rider. Kelli Cruciotti-Vanderveen has a great example of this here.
- Set them up in a circle to practice bending your horse and having better ridability. Watch Andrew Bournes demonstrate the exercise here. Frank Madden also does a version of this exercise with his up-and-coming equitation and hunter riders.
Check out DJC’s youtube channel for more cavaletti and jumping exercise demonstrations from top showjumpers.
Purchase your very own cavaletti today! Dalman Jump Co. offers both wooden cavaletti and aesthetically pleasing (and lightweight) aluminum cavaletti.