"The position and length of the horse’s neck, through its many anatomical interconnections with the trunk, has a direct biomechanical effect on the back. If the head is placed unnaturally deep or the neck is unnaturally shortened it will inevitably lead to movement faults and eventual health problems." ~ Angela McLeod
"Self carriage is really easy to see. The best thing you can do for self-carriage is the give and re-take of the reins. It is amazing how you forget to do that when you ride on your own." ~ Carl Hester
"I'm very visual. I also am good at making myself into a pretzel. Last night I thought of how a skier in slalom changes direction with subtle motion, otherwise they'll bite it. With that subtlety, my mare easily floated back and forth in the zig zag [half passes.]" ~ Annette Gaynes
You have to think about how you can get into your horse's head, to win him over to your side, rather than trying to muscle him around. Horses usually seek where they are most comfortable. Always keep that in mind.
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 particular problem, and then pushed hard, so they can see how easily they really CAN do it.
"When a correctly positioned rider is viewed from the side, her whole leg will lie flat against the horse in a relaxed way with the knees and toes pointing forward. In order to achieve this position, you must develop the ability to stretch the inner adductor muscles in your thigh." ~ Sarah Geikie
"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
"When the horse is forward, when the horse is using his hind leg more under the body and the neck falls down from out of the wither, then it doesn’t matter if the nose is a little behind the vertical if there is no pulling by the rider." ~ Johan Hamminga
A great instructor is always thinking and learning about new ideas and concepts, and is always looking for new ways to impart those ideas to their students. The minute one stops learning, one stops growing - and can become stagnant.
The Counted Walk is an "old school" Dressage exercise that I find to be highly overlooked and under utilized! It can be effective in improving the horse's balance and carriage, and to help him to better understand how to remain active behind even when going slowly.
It will also strengthen the horse, and address suppleness in the body in a unique way. Riders can use this exercise to teach their horses to respond to feather light aids. It can also be quite useful in improving Dressage movements such as the turn on the haunches, pirouettes, and the halt. And it can be a great way to build into half steps, the piaffe, and higher levels of collection. Read on to learn more about it! (Click on Article Title above to read full article)
"Imagine hanging a wet towel over your horse's back. The pressure of your leg aids needs to be similar to the pressure of the towel on the sides of your horse. Your horse should go on his own with this passive leg aid, and if he does not, you need to give him a firmer reminding aid." ~ Steffen Peters
"The key to successful half halts is, first, to have a very clear idea of what you want to achieve: Do you want your half halt to create more balance? More collection? More flexion? Self-carriage? Roundness? Second, you need to recognize--with listening aids--when your horse responds correctly so you can soften or give at the right moment. During your softening moment within the circle of aids, your whole body rewards the horse and tells him, 'That's what I wanted.' The horse feels this instantly. The quicker you notice your horse's positive response, the better trainer you are." ~ Oded Shimoni
It is perfectlynormalto feel nervous at times, but you DO have the ability to control and redirect your thoughts. Like anything else, it is a skill that you have to work at.
"Usually, the half halt should be invisible to the eye--not only because it looks good, but also because it doesn't disturb the rhythm and flow of the horse's movement." ~ Oded Shimoni
If you don't train for self carriage at the gallop, and instead attempt to hold your horse with a strong contact the whole time while on course, you will probably get really tired by the end of a long course, and your horse's mouth will become more and more "dead", and less and less responsive.
"For a horse to be in balance, it has to be relaxed which is why it must not be compressed. To cease the aids does not mean to leave the horse on its own but to keep the contact while doing as little as possible." - Nuno Oliveira
Remember that what you do habitually will feel normal to you, whether it is right or wrong. This is why riders at all levels need good eyes on the ground.
Trainers, and farriers… these are two very important people that will make or break your experience in the horse world. The right trainer is the key to your success with riding, and the right farrier is key to your horse's soundness.
Generally a good, smooth, clean show jumping round happens when you have the right quality of canter, and your horse is rideable and adjustable between fences. If your horse is lacking in rideability or adjustability, it does not matter how great the canter is that you start off with - as you will find that the quality of your canter will likely diminish as your round goes on. And because your horse is not easily adjustable, you will probably be unable to truly fix it while on course.
I will start by defining and discussing the difference in the meaning of the two terms, and will then give you an exercise that will show you exactly how much of either quality your horse currently possesses! This exercise can be adapted to suit all levels of horse and rider, and all disciplines of riding. (Click on Article Title above to read full entry)
"May every rider strive for a better connection with his or her horse by observation, closer understanding and patient groundwork. It matters not what discipline is pursued, only that there be a perfectly balanced union between the two – man and horse – so that the two become one." ~ Frederic Pinon
"The horse has to learn to look after himself, otherwise I might as well get off and just chuck him over. And I’m not that strong. I don’t go to the gym." ~ elite show jumper Ben Maher
So our balance seems to be getting better because Ranger no longer feels the need to run into our departures. We can’t quite get one from a walk, but we can from a very slow jog. Now we are working on keeping consistent contact through them. To the left he actually is doing a lot better, but to the right, he uses his head and neck for leverage to pick his front end up when he makes the transition. Most of the time, he is really good and consistent with the contact up until that step off into the canter, so I can’t really abort the transition. Any advice? (Kayla)
Hi Kayla!
Glad to hear that things are improving, and your horse no longer runs into the canter! That kind of progress is always rewarding, isn't it?? When horses try to hollow in upward transitions, it is usually because... (Click on Question Title above to read full answer)
"Riders tend to lean back and pull on horses who are rushing, which makes a bad situation worse. When you pull back against your horse, he will usually invert, drop his back and lean against your hand. Once he is in this shape, no bit in the world will solve your problem." ~ Jimmy Wofford
"The much more important things to me are the walk and the canter. They’re the two things you can’t change. With the trot, by teaching the horse to have more suspension, you can change the trot. I never worry about how bad the horse trots. I know with my training, I can make it look spectacular. Even a really ugly horse, you can make it look really special. Don’t worry if you have an ugly horse." ~ Charlotte Dujardin
"The most important point is the character. If they are not willing to work with you, then they can have the best quality in the world, but it won’t work. If you go to the Olympic Games, you can see fifty horses that are qualified, all these fifty horses can do the Grand Prix, but the winner is the one who does it at the moment he is asked to do it. He wins with his talent, but he also wins with his brain – this is so very important, the way you live with your horses every day, that you have the horses on your side. Horses must be happy horses, they have to be willing to work for you, you cannot make them work. That’s why in your daily work you must think hard about your horse – how is he feeling? Is he happy? He has to be obedient, but he cannot be squashed, you have to leave him with his personality. Sometimes horses with not such good qualities, they can win if they want to do the job." ~ Jean Bemelmans
Transitions act as a test of your connection. If the quality of your connection is lacking as you begin a transition, it will be particularly evident as you execute it.
