Remember that even a COW can jump a 3 foot fence from a standstill... if it wants to. So never worry about whether or not your horse has enough scope to do lower level eventing or jumping. The bigger issue is whether or not you can keep him balanced at the canter.

The key to a successful transition back into a working trot after a stretching trot is to ride forward as you are adjusting the reins, while maintaining the bend. Note that "forward" does not mean faster! Read all about forward here. 

Riding out in the fields over undulating terrain helps a rider to develop a good, solid seat much more quickly than riding around and around in the ring. 

To be the most successful when dealing with horses, you need to be a fair, calm, and confident "herd leader" to them, whether in the saddle or on the ground.

Every time you pull back on the inside rein, you block your horse's inside hind leg from stepping fully underneath his body.

Regularly ask yourself if your posture at that moment is inviting your horse to have good posture. 

The sequence of an aid is not complete until you soften it.

"There is one principle that should never be abandoned when training a horse, namely, that the rider must learn to control himself before he can control his horse. This is the basic, most important principle to be preserved in equitation." ~ Alois Podhajsky

It can be more difficult for a rider to improve their jumping when they only have one horse to ride. Since it is not usually a good idea to jump a horse more than a few times a week, it is smart to take advantage of the many ground pole exercises available to practice the many skills that produce good jumping.

It is more difficult to maintain tension in the body when smiling. Make yourself smile whenever you feel tension creeping in.

From Facebook fan Jennifer Stankiewicz ~ "When your horse loses his 'go', try sitting lighter, not deeper. I find on my mare, when I'm loosing impulsion, I'm gripping or riding too deep and when I just relax my legs and drape them and use my hips more, my horse goes forward. Sometimes that means standing for a split second and readjusting my seat to get lighter but it works!"

From Facebook fan Joan Dunlap ~ "Your horse really appreciates it when you keep yourself fit." 

"The horse will work out the distance if the line looks sensible to him, so ride a good line, in balance, and don't try to overly manage the stride length." ~ Chris Bartle

"If your horse in trot feels too comfortable, he's probably going too slow!" ~ Carl Hester

"The moment you doubt whether you can fly, you cease to be able to do it." ~ JM Barrie

If your horse is not honestly in front of your leg, every single movement will be negatively effected. And things like "throughness" and collection will never happen for you.

Varying the degree of your half pass can improve your horse’s suppleness from all angles, as well as increasing his responsiveness to your aids within the movement. In other words, while going in half pass across the diagonal, half halt, and do a few strides with a steeper angle (more sideways than forward), then go forward again.

"The horse must perform from joy, not subservience. Praising a horse frequently with voice, a gentle pat, or relaxing the reins is very important to keep the horse interested and willing." ~ Klaus Balkenhol

Some horses find it easier to make a smooth transition into canter from the walk rather than the trot. If you have a horse like this, it's ok to practice mostly walk to canter transitions at home for a while (even though lower level horses always go from trot to canter in the Dressage tests.) With repetition of quality walk to canter transitions, the horse will become stronger and better balanced in both walk to canter and trot to canter. 

"I often tell my students that the outside rein is like the vinyl wall of an above-ground pool; elastic, stretchy and flexible, but enough of a boundary to keep the 'water in the pool.'" ~ Elise Vandover

From Facebook fan Jackie Ericksen ~ "Ride as many different horses as you can! Each one has something to teach you."

"A horse which doesn’t relax the mandibular and the tongue muscles cannot be entirely relaxed. That is why it is so important that the horse accepts the bit, and the sign of that is the actively and relaxed chewing." ~ Christian Thiess

"It is the difficult horses that have the most to give you." ~ Lendon Gray

"If you say nothing to a horse, you mean nothing to a horse. We have to be in a conversation and teaching them." ~ Robert Dover

"The better my dressage transitions are, the better the thoroughness, it means the horse can go from very fast, to very balanced and collected on the hindquarters, energy from behind, through – no argument with the bit – because the transition is through and fine, the horse can focus on the jump." ~ Ingrid Klimke

From Facebook fan Joan Dunlap ~ "You must conquer your own fears, lack of knowledge and short-comings before you can even start to help your horse with theirs."

Think of riding the horse's outside hind leg actively through the turns to your jumps, to keep that canter well engaged behind.

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It takes an experienced instructor to know whether a rider who has lost their confidence needs to move back to smaller jumps and more simple exercises, or if that rider instead needs to be shown the exact techniques that are going to fix their problem, and then pushed hard, so they can see how easily they really CAN do it.

"Do your warm up trot sets with shorter stirrups in a two point instead of posting. If you listen closely, you can hear me laughing… most of us cannot trot in two point for three five minute sets, much less stay there for our conditioning sets. Even though you will probably fail, stick with it. Make a project of your fitness while you condition your horse." ~ Jimmy Wofford

While the distance in between the jumps is a big deciding factor in the speed and length of stride that you should approach with... generally approaching a combination or complex off of a shorter, bouncier stride will give you more options.

Many riders think too much about stopping in downward transitions... meaning they won't be truly riding forward. This will likely cause the horse to brace against the hand, and/or to lose the activity of the hind legs. Instead, try thinking of changing gears without losing any of the energy and activity in the hind legs. 

The quality of your turn into the jump will go a long way towards producing a quality jump.

From Facebook fan Jackie Ericksen ~ "Ride as many horses as you can! Each one has something to teach you."

To help keep your horse uphill when spiraling in on a circle, imagine that you are going up a spiral staircase. With each stride inward on the spiral, grow taller and think about going up an imaginary step.

"We cannot touch the mouth until the horse is making enough energy that it's safe to touch him in the mouth." ~ Laura Graves

I don't remember the first time I met you, but I am so glad that I did.

I have hundreds of pictures of me, as a little girl, hugging you tight and smiling from ear to ear and genuinely from my eyes.

You have been in my life from the beginning. You have been my guide, my mentor, and my longest friend... (Click on Blog Title above to read full entry)

Always keep in mind that you need to engage your horse's brain to get him to truly think forward. Your goal should not be to merely get his feet moving, but to ignite the area of his brain that makes him decide to want to move forward. Only when your horse really wants to go forward do you truly have a forward horse... no matter how fast you are actually traveling.

As my horse's leader, it is my job to always try to be aware that I am the leader.

Eventers need to make sure that the saddle that they use for cross country is truly suitable. The flap needs to be forward enough to give you room to easily push your feet out in front of you for security whenever necessary (such as galloping downhill, drop into water, deep mud on a downhill landing, etc.) 

If you are riding any transition on a curve, do not forget to maintain your inside bend and flexion throughout the transition. This will help you to keep the horse straight (aligned to the curve), balanced, and connected.

"I do hundreds of transitions, loads of them, so transitions become like 'pouring cream.'" ~ Carl Hester

"Be ambitious about taking responsibility for your weaknesses." ~ Bettina Drummond

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When your horse is not being as responsive as you'd like, pushing harder is never the answer. In fact, that only makes the problem worse. Instead, go back a step and remind/re-educate your horse about being hot to the leg aids.

Many horses actually like and do well with a little bit of rein contact throughout the jumping effort. But there are some that are so sensitive, that any amount of feel of their mouth at the top of the jumping arc will cause them to either jump with their nose tucked to their chest, or try to fight the rider’s hand in the air. Both of which will ruin the quality of the horse’s jump.

"I do a lot of cavaletti work also with my dressage horses because then I can really make them active behind, over the back, stretching into your hand, and really supple in the back." ~ Ingrid Klimke