"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
"First, [the rider] has to be ambitious. Mentally, he has to be well balanced and consistent. He has to be tougher on himself than on the horse. If he gets after the horse too much, he will not get far. One must really be able to push oneself harder than one ever pushes a horse. Then, success will follow." ~ Ernst Hoyos
"Make him proudly independent of you so that he understands his job so well you merely walk the course and then show him the way. Tell your horse what you want him to do, and then allow him to do it." ~ Jimmy Wofford
"When you are in the Comfort Zone, you can ride without thinking. In the Stretch Zone, you are working on something you can’t do by habit. In the Panic Zone, you can’t think clearly and are paralyzed. These zones apply to both horses and riders. If both horse and rider go into the panic zone, they lose control, and it spells trouble for the future. Some horses go into the Panic Zone very quickly. They need riders who are comfortable." ~ Kyra Kyrklund
"To become a rider it is not enough to be able to sit elegantly on a horse. Even a good seat and balance does not make you a ‘rider’. To be able to ride you must be able to influence your horse and to extract the best performance from him." ~ Christian Thiess
"The volte is one of the most important movements you can ride. It is teaching the horse to bend in his ribcage, within his body, and then to maintain a rhythm – in the future this movement will become a half pass. We are working on control over the balance of the horse so that it is learning to maintain a rhythm." ~ Ernst Hoyos
"The goal of our training is to build the horse's mind and his muscles. Suppleness and relaxation require adequate muscle strength. strengthening requires both contraction and relaxation. Blood flow and oxygenation occur when the muscle relaxes. If the muscle is kept in a constant state of contraction, it loses power and strength, and actually becomes smaller. Frequent rest periods, especially for a young horse at a free walk on a long rein, are necessary. The rest periods are not for a rider's fatigue, but to allow the horse to stretch and relax his muscles. The rest breaks will give you a completely new horse. This is the systematic gymnasticizing of the horse." ~ Klaus Balkenhol
A horse has to bestraightto have true impulsion. Anystoredenergy leaks out where the body is crooked, changing the energy in the stride from impulsion to merely forward momentum.
"The most important thing is for the horse to be thinking on its own. Unless you’re Michael Jung, you make mistakes and things go wrong. You have to teach the horse the stride isn’t always right, the line isn’t always right, and that’s why we start from trot." ~ William Fox Pitt
It is very important that your horse does not learn how to run out on skinny jumps or corners. Because once they have learned to associate either type of jump with running out, it can be very difficult to correct. Do not take the schooling of these type of jumps lightly, for this reason.
The extra thrust created by lengthenings will solidify your connection if it was correct to begin with. The extra impulsion created can then be turned into real collection.
"The legs bring the horse to the seat, and the seat brings the horse to the hands. When the teacher says 'shorten the reins' it needs to be translated into: 'engage the hind legs, sit on them, and then take the slack out of the reins', because if you shorten the reins from front to back, the horse will only resist." ~ Thomas Ritter
"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
Remind yourself to breathe before and after every difficult exercise. Of course you need to breathe while riding each exercise as well! But thinking about checking your breathing before and after is a good first step.
Remind yourself to breathe before and after every difficult exercise. Of course you need to breathe while riding each exercise as well! But thinking about checking your breathing before and after is a good first step.
"Only use the spur to correct. The spur is not intended to ride a movement. It cannot just support the gait or the movement. Make a clear correction with the spur. If you are constantly giving your horse an aid, he will get numb to it." ~ Steffen Peters
True lightness does not come from playing with the bit until the horse feels lighter in your hand. Only hind leg engagement and lowering of the horse's quarters will bring about true lightness.
If your horse does not offer to stretch near the end of a workout, there is a good chance that you didn't have him working correctly through his topline during your ride.
When working with a horse that does not have a great natural trot lengthening, make sure that you don't ask for too much too soon. Compare this to a singer who is training their vocal cords… they gradually expand their vocal range until they hit their limit. This helps to prevent them from overextending themselves, and builds up confidence in their abilities.
"The volte is one of the most important movements you can ride. It is teaching the horse to bend in his ribcage, within his body, and then to maintain a rhythm – in the future this movement will become a half pass. We are working on control over the balance of the horse so that it is learning to maintain a rhythm." ~ Ernst Hoyos
Whenever you are facing any type of jump with a ditch in front of it, think of it as a "free" front rail, or a rolled out ground rail. Focus on the top of the jump (ignoring the ditch), and ride freely forward to it in a balanced, rhythmical gallop.
If you want to improve your medium and extended gaits, improve your collected work. The more your horse can "sit" behind, the more expressive your mediums and extensions will be.
"I find it better to often have short, intensive moments – ten or fifteen minutes – not longer, then a break to allow the muscles to recover. If you want the horse to carry more weight, then you need time for muscle recovery." ~ Johan Hamminga
Activity doesn't really start in the horse's hind legs... it starts in their brain. They have to decide to create activity before it will appear. Why is this significant? You need to train your horse's brain to understand and respect your light leg aids, rather than try to physically push him anywhere.
"I make my students ride in gallop position in trot and canter with no rein contact and no hands on the neck, as there is no point in trying to progress until a good balance is in place. It is a great concern to me that so many riders are out of balance between fences, and then too stiff and upright on the approach to the fence" ~ William Fox Pitt
