Tip/Quote of the Day!

"Believe in classical dressage, particularly if you have a horse who is a tough subject. Eventually, it will pay off and you will have a happy, healthy, sound horse who wants to do the work."

Keep the horse's back up into the halt by riding each step from behind into your hand.

When you first begin to work on movements like shoulder in and haunches in, always start out with minimal angle and focus more on the quality of the bend.

"Sit on your bum. If you do that you’re part of the movement. If you squeeze with your thighs you can’t sit. Stay soft in your hips, draw yourself into the saddle and keep the calf just against his rib cage." ~ Bettina Hoy

If you are nervous right before you enter the show ring, take a moment to talk to and pet your horse. And make it genuine, no matter how your warm up went! It will relax both of you, and help you to focus.

Without understanding and some degree of feel, you will have a hard time reproducing the good moments that you might achieve in lessons. This is why it is so important that your instructor has the ability to help you understand the details of each training concept, and to help you to learn how to feel those details.

"If the rider can halt his horse in any lateral movement, so that it stands quietly in the same position, or ride straight forward without hesitation, it is proof that the horse was going well between hands and legs." ~ Borries von Oeynhausen

"A horse doesn't get collected through hand and spurs, but through exercises." ~ Georg Theodorescu

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.