By Nancy Brannon
Barnfly Farms in Springfield, Tennessee hosted a Pole Bending clinic with Ken Smith on May 6-8, 2016. Tracy McPherson, owner of Barnfly, actually got to ride in the clinic, too, and was well pleased with the instruction.
Tracy wrote: “The clinic was awesome! We had some really great people in the clinic and had everyone from beginners to experienced pole benders. Ken Smith is a wonderful clinician! He was able to help everyone in the clinic and gave encouragement where and when it was needed.
“On Saturday morning he had us all do a pole bending run at our current level. For some of us that meant running; some of us were loping; and some of us were trotting. Ken gave us all a lot of one-on-one instruction and a lot of information to take home and build on. He showed us how to position our horses through the poles and why it works.
“Joe (my husband) was a spectator over this weekend. When we all did our pole runs on Sunday afternoon, he was really amazed at the progress that everyone had made. I would love to have Ken back and would encourage anyone to go to one of his clinics if they ever have a chance!”
Ken begins his clinics with the foundations for “speed event horsemanship.” He teaches flexion, rein and leg aids; and positions, such as hand, leg, and body positions. Everything else builds on these basics.
Ken’s technique uses a zig-zag pattern. “It is a slalom. Think ‘skiing’,” he says. This approach encourages the horse to move through the pattern following its nose with its shoulders, and hips out away from the poles.
The other approach that is commonly practiced is the side-pass. But Ken says this method encourages the horse to run with its shoulders and hips in, with a falling kind of action, as well as using up a lot more space. “This method results in a lot of poles being tipped by either the rider’s knee or the horse’s hip,” he explained.
Tracy continued relating what she learned: “We learned drills for our run down, first turn, bending, using our seat and speed building drills. We would work each drill at a walk and then a trot. Each time we worked through the drill, he would ask us for a little more. Before you knew it you were running through the pattern without thinking about it.
“Starting each drill at a walk and slowly progressing helped us to remember to ask our horses to bend and to help them, rather than just pulling them through the pattern. This helped several of us build confidence at speed.
“Mr Smith teaches the zig-zag pattern on the poles. He helped us all to see how working through them in a zig-zag motion, rather than a weave, was much more effective for successful runs. It allowed us more room to move though the poles cleanly.”
Ken’s anatomy of the zig-zag, slalom pattern starts with the position of the horse in the bend and moves to the connection between the turns and the bending segments. “A successful bending segment is critically dependent upon the proper completion of the preceding turn,” he explained.
In the session on turns, he teaches the basics of the three-pivot turn, preparing the horse for the turn, rider position for the turn, applying basic horsemanship, and properly finishing the turn. He stresses the importance of “looking with your body” and avoiding being “behind” the horse’s motion.
Smith has a Pole Bending Help page on his website where he generously offers a detailed explanation of his method and the causes of problems that riders may encounter. He also offers a Pole Bending Technique DVD for further instruction. For more information about Ken Smith, visit Sunrise West Quarter Horses at: www.sunrisewest.com. For more information about Barnfly Farms, visit www.barnflyfarms.com
Barnfly Farms in Springfield, Tennessee hosted a Pole Bending clinic with Ken Smith on May 6-8, 2016. Tracy McPherson, owner of Barnfly, actually got to ride in the clinic, too, and was well pleased with the instruction.
Tracy wrote: “The clinic was awesome! We had some really great people in the clinic and had everyone from beginners to experienced pole benders. Ken Smith is a wonderful clinician! He was able to help everyone in the clinic and gave encouragement where and when it was needed.
“On Saturday morning he had us all do a pole bending run at our current level. For some of us that meant running; some of us were loping; and some of us were trotting. Ken gave us all a lot of one-on-one instruction and a lot of information to take home and build on. He showed us how to position our horses through the poles and why it works.
“Joe (my husband) was a spectator over this weekend. When we all did our pole runs on Sunday afternoon, he was really amazed at the progress that everyone had made. I would love to have Ken back and would encourage anyone to go to one of his clinics if they ever have a chance!”
Ken begins his clinics with the foundations for “speed event horsemanship.” He teaches flexion, rein and leg aids; and positions, such as hand, leg, and body positions. Everything else builds on these basics.
Ken’s technique uses a zig-zag pattern. “It is a slalom. Think ‘skiing’,” he says. This approach encourages the horse to move through the pattern following its nose with its shoulders, and hips out away from the poles.
The other approach that is commonly practiced is the side-pass. But Ken says this method encourages the horse to run with its shoulders and hips in, with a falling kind of action, as well as using up a lot more space. “This method results in a lot of poles being tipped by either the rider’s knee or the horse’s hip,” he explained.
Tracy continued relating what she learned: “We learned drills for our run down, first turn, bending, using our seat and speed building drills. We would work each drill at a walk and then a trot. Each time we worked through the drill, he would ask us for a little more. Before you knew it you were running through the pattern without thinking about it.
“Starting each drill at a walk and slowly progressing helped us to remember to ask our horses to bend and to help them, rather than just pulling them through the pattern. This helped several of us build confidence at speed.
“Mr Smith teaches the zig-zag pattern on the poles. He helped us all to see how working through them in a zig-zag motion, rather than a weave, was much more effective for successful runs. It allowed us more room to move though the poles cleanly.”
Ken’s anatomy of the zig-zag, slalom pattern starts with the position of the horse in the bend and moves to the connection between the turns and the bending segments. “A successful bending segment is critically dependent upon the proper completion of the preceding turn,” he explained.
In the session on turns, he teaches the basics of the three-pivot turn, preparing the horse for the turn, rider position for the turn, applying basic horsemanship, and properly finishing the turn. He stresses the importance of “looking with your body” and avoiding being “behind” the horse’s motion.
Smith has a Pole Bending Help page on his website where he generously offers a detailed explanation of his method and the causes of problems that riders may encounter. He also offers a Pole Bending Technique DVD for further instruction. For more information about Ken Smith, visit Sunrise West Quarter Horses at: www.sunrisewest.com. For more information about Barnfly Farms, visit www.barnflyfarms.com
