Tip/Quote of the Day!

You should strive for the feeling that you can feel your horse's hind legs in your hands in your connection.

Too much repetitive motion has a tendency to inhibit muscle symmetry. Always aim to mix things up in your training (whether horse or human), so that you can develop balanced musculature. 

Training a horse can sometimes be quite a long process! But it's worth it. And you don't get the same feeling from shortcuts.

If you hold too much rein contact on the approach to a fence that your horse is suspicious of, or is "having a look" at, you can easily cause a stop. If a jump is backing your horse off even slightly, that is a free half halt. All you have to do is ride forward!

"The more horses you ride, the better your horsemanship." ~ Michael Jung

In order to do successful lateral work, a rider must have an independent seat, so their aids can work precisely and independently.

"A good horse should be able to sort out his own feet." ~ William Fox Pitt

Test your horse's balance with a half halt and a test for self carriage before asking for any transition.

"You have to constantly refine your program and train with the best people that you can find so that you’re always growing and staying competitive." ~ Jessica Phoenix

The halt (and half halts) must come from the body of the rider, not the reins.

To improve your security over jumps, think about sinking into your ankles as you land.

Think of your brain as a densely wooded area with paths running through it. Whenever you are trying to learn how to do something new, you have to blaze new pathways in your brain.

If you need to use a double bridle to keep your horse in a frame, your work is very incorrect.

Every well ridden corner in the Dressage ring is a suppling exercise, and should be recognized as such.

A rider's hands can only be as good as the arms they belong to.

Turn on the forehand is a great tool to improve your connection and to teach your horse to engage the inside hind leg. Used early on in your warm up it will mobilize your horse’s lumbar back and hips, and will give you a chance to improve his response to your lateral aids.

The more thoroughly you have prepared for a movement or transition, the more you can just allow it to happen, rather than making it happen.

Your engaged core is what allows your position to be unaffected by your horse's changes of speed.

"Permeability can only exist when, on the one hand, the thrust and impulsion from the hind legs reach the forehand undiminished, and on the other hand, when the weighting and flexing half-halts fully reach the hind legs. This requires the forehand and hindquarters to be aligned in such a way that, on a single track, the horse always adjusts his spine to the straight or curved line of travel, so that the hind legs follow in the same line as the front legs." ~ Waldemar Seunig

Don't half halt or make an adjustment in front of a fence unless you need to. So often I see riders that ruin their good canter on the approach by taking back unnecessarily. And the same holds true on the flat…. If you have a good trot or canter, leave it alone!

Some people misunderstand the term "on the forehand",  which refers to the horse's shoulders being down, regardless of where his head and neck are positioned.

Be careful not to sit the trot too early on in a ride. Doing so before the horse is fully warmed up and truly moving through his topline can often be detrimental, as the horse is more likely to stay stiff and tight in his back.

Soften and let your horse lengthen his neck, while trying to maintain the feeling that he stays sitting behind, with a lowered croup and well engaged hind legs.

The more successful you are in getting your horse to relax and swing through his back muscles throughout his work, the less likely he will be to lose focus and spook.

Since it is rather easy to forget to do so, challenge yourself to focus more on maintaining an even rhythm when doing figures of any kind.

"Learning to ride is a test of one's character." ~ Steinbrecht

"If you ride and train for a living, have something else that you do. Don’t make this your whole life. The bad days - and there are always bad days - will eat you up and spit you out. Have something that you do that has nothing to do with horses, to help put yourself back together again." ~ Lauren Sprieser

"I do not ask the rider to alter the horse’s step in front of the pole because I want to awaken the horse’s initiative. Whether he takes a slightly long step or adds a step before the pole, I am equally satisfied. If he steps on the pole, the chances are good that he will learn from the experience and not do it again. If he continues to step on the poles on the ground, I ­suggest that the rider find another prospect, as this one is probably too dumb to improve over obstacles." ~ Jimmy Wofford

"Don't raise your hands. The poll should be higher than the rider's hand." ~ Stefan Wolff

A calm yet mobile mouth means that the horse is light in the hand, and relaxed through the jaw and neck, which allows for easy swallowing.