Think of pushing your stomach towards your hands, rather than bringing your hands backwards towards your stomach to connect. And if you feel like you must bring your hands back to connect, your reins are too long.
"I like to think about making my body longer in the front to make me sit up instead of thinking ‘shoulders back,’ which can make you stiff." ~ Mary King
"The greatest hindrance to driving the horse properly comes from riders stiffening their legs…. The horse cannot monitor tight legs as aids and will sour to the pressure, which he will interpret as a meaningless second girth." ~ Charles De Kunffy
"The horse's engine is in the rear. Thus, you must ride your horse from behind, and not focus on the forehand simply because you can see it." ~ Bill Steinkraus
"Eventing horses need exercise and plenty of it. Walkers and treadmills are great as you can work your horse without the added burden of a rider weight, but if you don’t have these at your disposal, long walks on a loose rein or paddock time are equally beneficial." ~ Michael Jung
"What is Feel? Feel is the invisible quality in every good rider who is communicating with her horse in harmony. She can perceive where the horse is during every step because he accepts the rider’s seat, leg and rein aids through the connection. The rider can then communicate with the horse in a stable, sensitive and relaxed manner." ~ Sarah Geikie
I’ve been starting to ride a horse for a woman. She is an adult amateur jumper rider with a big warm blood – easily over 17 hands. She describes him as very strong, almost like a freight train, particularly on his way to fences.
She had been trying a series of very strong bits, ones that dressage people usually roll their eyes and shake their heads about. None of them seemed to help much. I decided I just wanted to feel him in a regular snaffle to find out what I was dealing with. (Click on Blog Title above to read full entry)
If you want your horse to take a better, deeper lateral step in any lateral exercise, engage your seat bone on the same side as you use your leg. For example, to better engage your horse's left hind leg in a left shoulder in or a spiral out on a left circle, you need to engage your left seat bone as you are closing your left leg.
Don’t try to rebalance your unbalanced horse with one big, crude half halt. It won’t work. Intelligent use of figures, frequent transitions, and the use of multiple smooth and subtle half halts as needed, ridden within the rhythm of the horse’s stride, will bring you the best results.
If your leg aids are too strong, your horse will either stiffen and brace against them, or quickly learn to tune them out. Every time you catch yourself applying a strong leg, stop and refresh your aids.
With some horses it can be a good idea to check on and refresh your horse's response to your inside leg before you begin a circle. Who can tell us what I mean by this?? (Click on Discussion Title above to read or join in on this educational discussion)
When riding any lateral movement on a straight line, be clear in how you straighten your horse at the end of the movement, and before turning through the next corner.
"A happy cooperation should exist between rider and horse, without the horse having to sacrifice its alertness, personality or interest." ~ Bert de Nemethy
There is almost no better way to teach a horse to be more quick thinking over fences than to practice bounce fences. Try to incorporate them into ALL of your jumping training situations, not just in gymnastic lines. Even though you will not see a bounce combination on a show jumping course at a competition, putting them up in your course work at home will sharpen up your horse!
"After each down transition that was well absorbed by the hindquarters the rider's hand has to yield by uncoiling the wrist so that the front legs can advance by a foot in order to relieve the haunches of their acute flexion, which they cannot maintain, and to reduce the weight that is placed on them. If the rider does not allow that, the horse is forced to take a step backwards with his hind legs in order to keep his balance, and that is a mistake." ~ E.F.Seidler
Think of that girth tight against your horse's side… after a while he tunes that out and barely notices it. The same will happen with your legs if they are always tightly clamped on his sides.
"When you have finished your training session, give the horse the rein and go out on the road for a walk. Half an hour, up and down. Give the horse this hard ground and you will get strong hooves, good joints, strong tendons and a healthy horse." ~ Gerd Heuschmann
"Dressage is not an easy sport, there are so many variations, but the reaction to your leg, and straightness, are so important. You just don’t see top Grand Prix riders kicking or straining for a result. Don’t tease him, tap there so quick he doesn’t know it is coming. Everything in a horse’s life should be black and white, not grey." ~ Debbie McDonald
In the process of training horses, it is almost always more difficult and time consuming to go back later to fill in holes in their foundation, than it is to just take the time to do things correctly in the first place.
"We must always remember that the horse, by its anatomy, is not meant to carry weight. Therefore the most important task after getting him used to the saddle is getting him used to the weight of the rider. The horse needs enough time for that. It is better to train five times a week for ten to twenty minutes than three times a week for half an hour. The horse may develop muscle soreness which can take a long time to disappear. It is especially important during this period of his training that the horse has the opportunity to enjoy some free movement out in the paddock." ~ Susanne Miesner
A few strides of lengthening or medium here and there in whatever gait you are working in will add energy to that gait. You can then turn that energy into engagement with a half halt or downward transition.
From Facebook Fan Gabby Ballin ~ "Some rides are going to be perfect. Some rides are going to have you wondering why you don't quit riding. When that happens, take a deep breath and go back to something you know you and your horse can do easily."
"To reach a major aim the rider needs many small aims. Following them, they can check whether they are on the right track. Every stepping stone builds on the previous one. If one is missing and the rider continues regardless they will take the problem with them until one day the whole thing falls apart. As in the primary school, if the student doesn’t pass his first exam or is not considered mature enough, he will not be promoted to second class hoping he can make it there. It is the simple but basic things that need the most work." ~ Susanne Miesner
"The back is the bridge in the horse, and it can only be there if the hind leg is really working. The rider has to influence the hind legs to build that bridge, otherwise it is a horse in three pieces, back, front and you somewhere in the middle." ~ Francis Verbeek
Horses are not actually "stiff in the jaw" when they resist your hand, even though that may be what it feels like. If the feeling in your hands makes you think that your horse is stiff in its jaw, then you need to look for the real cause of the problem, which is usually a braced, rigid back.
The strong willed type of horse WILL test you, many times for no reason other than they want to be top dog! But take solace in the fact that the most difficult horses are almost always the best ones in the end. Often because they are so damn SMART.
From Facebook fan Barbara Martin ~ "What happens on the ground is just as important as what goes on in the saddle. Make sure you are giving clear signals to your horse as to who is in charge. We forget this sometimes, I think!"
The movement of the half-pass helps to develop the brilliance of the extended trot, by increasing hip and stifle flexibility, and freeing up the horse's shoulders.
The main objectives of the warm up phase of riding is to loosen the horse's body (especially the back muscles) and ensure he is attentive to the rider's aids.
