Recent Articles

From Facebook fan Devan Cottrell ~ "When you think you need a half halt, try releasing first....then aha, there's your real half halt. Don't let the status quo be a heavy hand!"

"The basic techniques, or what they call basics, are more difficult than what comes later, this is the Trap of Dressage. Correct basics are more difficult than the piaffe and passage." ~ Conrad Schumacher

Riding in a position that puts you in perfect balance is obviously the best place to be much of the time. But there are plenty of times that it is better to be in a defensive balance, with your center of gravity slightly behind your horse’s center of gravity (meaning that you are slightly behind the motion), and slightly behind your own feet. There is never a productive reason to be ahead of the motion however.

Circles and basic lateral work offer the best opportunities to work on increasing the horse's understanding and acceptance of the rider's leg aids. 

"Beginners are not bad riders, they merely lack experience. The only truly bad riders are usually 'experienced' in the poorest sense of that word; those who blatantly and ignorantly bully their horses." - Egon von Neindorff

"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

From member Jennifer Stankiewicz  ~ "When my trainer tells me to adjust my body parts, it's always with mentally including maintaining where my center of gravity is in my hips instead of just focusing on the body part I'm supposed to adjust."

Always remind yourself that the basic rule of riding is that energy is created with the legs, directed by the seat, and guided by the reins.

"If the horse is straight, not with the haunches in or out, it depends not on the neck, but on the body. The body is from the shoulder and that’s how you get the horses straight, you get both sides in the same length, that’s it." ~ Wolfram Wittig

"It was a really good lesson for me to learn that sometimes to go forward with training you have to go back and fill in the holes." - Katy Barlow

From Facebook fan Mikki Schattilly ~ "I have struggled with my right leg/side since I broke my ankle my trainer had me working on my hip position and my leg got better. It's not always where you think you have the issue that fixes it."

"It is easier for horses to relax their muscles when there is no hand in their mouth." ~ Stefan Wolff

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.

Recently a friend and trainer Lesley Stevenson posted a question on her Facebook page asking how people recover from a bad ride. I loved reading the responses. Sharing ideas and experiences with each other is an essential part in maintaining our resilience in the face of challenge.  I also admired the wealth of knowledge, creativity and humor in everyone’s responses. As I read each comment, I started thinking about how the responses naturally fell into several categories which reflected the strategies for recovery recommended by sport psychology consultants. As a tribute to all the riders that responded to that post, I thought I would try to summarize those strategies here so we all might benefit. (Click on Blog Title above (in blue) to read full entry)

"The less we do on cross country, the easier we are on our horses. Learn how to be more still, touch their mouth only when you need too, plan your turns. The lighter we are with them galloping between fences we save their bodies and legs." ~ William fox Pitt

"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 

Teach the lazy horse to think forward coming out of every corner, in both Dressage and Jumping.

Lateral work can be used to steady and improve the regularity of the rhythm of your horse’s gaits. Particularly with horses that want to rush and/or become irregular, asking for a little shoulder in, leg yield, or a few steps of spiral in or out, can help them wait and find more cadence in their stride. 

If you don’t ride and train in such a way that your horse learns to listen to your seat, you will usually find that you have to use a lot more hand to get things done.

Control the length of your reins by keeping your thumb closed tightly on top of the reins. If you attempt to do so by keeping ALL of your fingers closed very tightly, you will risk tightening your forearms as well.

"If I can open the frame a bit more [meaning a longer neck], it is easier for the horses to work in their body, and in their back." ~ Hubertus Schmidt

From Facebook fan Kristen Wiley ~ "Going forward into the outside rein in the corners really does prevent loss of balance! Who knew?!?"

Studying riding theory will make you a better rider or trainer in many ways. Trainers need a knowledge base broad enough to enable them to apply the appropriate system for each horse/rider combination in front of them. Riders need to thoroughly understand what they are trying to do and why.

Riding the horse with its head and neck low is only beneficial to the horse if there is a connection over the back.

"The outside rein keeps the horse straight, it controls the outside shoulder, it helps in the halts, it must always be a connecting feel. If the connection is too strong it blocks the inside hind leg. The contact must be elastic in both reins." ~ Gill Rolton

The hindquarters are the engine, but you turn the horse by directing his shoulders.

"For me to work with a horse, I have to like their movement, and the expression they have – and I don’t like mares. With a mare only one person can ride them, if you change the riders with a mare you will always get problems. I am not home enough for this. I have to leave horses at home when I go to competitions, so no mares." ~ Ulla Salzgeber

A calm yet mobile mouth means that the horse is light in the hand, and relaxed through the jaw and neck, which allows for easy swallowing. 

"For me, I love hot horses. The hotter and the crazier they are, the better. Lazy horses make police horses. Not interested. When you get to top level Grand Prix and you have to ride three days, the last thing you want to be doing is kicking through the first test." ~ Charlotte Dujardin

"Today is the time of the cheap read. Read the old books. In the next generation that knowledge will be extinct." ~ George Morris

One of the things that many people don’t know about me is that I hold Bachelor of Science degree in Physics.  I have always been interested in the scientific knowledge of our natural world and how the insights from advanced scientific study enrich our understanding of ourselves, our horses and our relationship with them. (Click on Blog Title above (in blue) to read full entry)

From Facebook fan Kathy Wilson Rowe ~ "The more relaxed I can be, the more relaxed and responsive my horse is.......duh!"

From member Kate Pacey Saulle ~ "When the horse knows more than you, open all channels to listen."

The first few steps of any lateral exercise are generally the most beneficial. So shorter periods of lateral work interspersed more frequently into your schooling is often the most productive.

From Facebook fan Rachel Mackmin ~ "Shoulder control established with outside rein and thigh allow us timid riders to let go of that inside rein! It's so hard to give that inside rein to a spooky horse!"

When your elbows leave your sides your shoulders are even more prone to tension.

"Contact has to be just that, contact. People think 'oh this horse is very light I have nothing in my hand' – this is wrong because then you have no contact to his hind legs." ~ Jean Bemelmans

In a good connection, the rider's hands should breathe with the horse's mouth.