A tense horse is always stiff. And that stiffness prevents the horse from taking any real benefits from training. Always try to relax the horse's mind and muscles before advancing to any kind of serious training.
"With the bend on the circles and in the travers, it is important to use as little inside rein as possible. If you need the inside rein, there is something wrong with the earlier work." ~ Christoph Hess
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.
With true impulsion, the horse has lots of forward energy, but the rider remains the driver. When the horse overpowers the rider and takes control, the horse is just running.
If you rely on your knee grip to keep you in the saddle when jumping, you will usually be one stumble, buck, or sideways spook away from becoming unseated. Sinking into your heels and keeping an even leg distribution on the horse will give you the most security over fences.
With very sensitive horses, you sometimes have to consciously "open" your seat, leg, and hand on the side you are trying to leg yield towards, so that they feel more invited to move in that direction.
"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
"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 seat and weight aids are supporting aids. They support either a leg or rein aid, or both. Don’t underestimate their significance though. They are important aids, especially in the fine tuning of advanced horses. The leg and rein aids will fail to achieve their full effectiveness without the support of weight and seat." ~ Christian Thiess
If your breastplate is fairly tight when your horse is standing still, you will be preventing your horse from being able to use his shoulders at all as he moves and jumps. Make sure there is enough room to put a fist between the middle of the breastplate and the horse, or a little less so for breastplates with elastic.
Dressage is natural for horses, but that does not mean it is always easy for them. Since we cannot explain to them why we are asking them to do things that require increased effort, and go against their natural instincts to do things in the easiest way possible - we must handle any inevitable resistances that might show up with patience in a quietly persistent manner.
Always pay attention to how you finish every single exercise that you ride. Letting yourself or your horse fall into a heap as you pull up only creates bad habits for both of you. Always finish with a proper transition into the walk.
With young or untrained horses who conformationally have a high set on neck (which is a good trait to have for a jumping or Dressage horse), you have to beparticularlycareful that you don’t work them in a frame that is too advanced for their strength level. It takes enormous strength in the horse’s lumbar back to carry a rider in a higher frame for any length of time. Ride for too long in a higher frame, and they will get sore in their lumbar back, and often resentful.
"Just as the sculptor at first chisels the future outlines of his work of art with powerful blows out of the crude block of stone, and then lets it develop in increasingly finer detail in all its beauty, the aids of the rider must also become more and more delicate in the course of the horse's education. Every rider should always keep this strictly in mind and especially avoid destroying with crude aids, out of impatience or other reasons, what he has built in his previous work." ~ Alois Podhajsky
A real collected gait should feel like a contained medium gait. Not just slower, with shorter strides - but with enough stored energy and contained power that you feel that all you have to do to get medium trot or canter is to release it.
"Riders are very often but mistakenly glad to see their horse arch his neck, regardless of how it is arched (whether too high or too low or behind the bit or stiff). Have you ever seen a horse with an arched but stiff neck, looking as though he were nailed to the bit? That kind of arch does not imply a horse on the bit." ~ Charles de Kunffy
"Sit on your pockets like you got a million bucks in there." ~ Unknown
Technically it isn't correct to be sitting all the way on your back pockets. This can, however, be a good thing for a rider who has a tendency to lean too far forward to think about doing!
"No complicated riding before the horses are going truly forward. In dressage, the difficulties are often created by a lack of good basic work (which is the foundation of the house.)" ~ Nuno Oliveira
"Stay dedicated to the quality of the basic gaits—the suppleness and balance of the walk, trot and canter. Then as you cultivate the movements, those gaits improve." ~ Volker Brommann
Always keep in mind that you do notnecessarilyneed to slow down to rebalance your horse between fences when jumping. A horse can be balanced at just about any speed.You can also change theshapeof the canter stride without changing the speed. And most importantly, the rhythm.
It is very important to treat each horse... and each situation, individually. When problems arise, sometimes the best answer is time, patience, and encouragement. While at other times, strong corrections might be in order. A big part of success in interacting with horses is being able to read each situation accurately. And that comes with experience.
Riders are often incorrectly told to lean back and against the reins when their horses get strong. Not only will this not work, but it will usually make the horse even heavier in their hands.
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.
To help keep your horse feeling 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.
"Horses have taught us that progress in learning takes place in an environment of contentment. Fear and tension block success. Boundaries must exist, be clear, and be consistent. Within those boundaries our horses are encouraged to express themselves." ~ Steuart Pittman
"Most riders know the required movements, but not the directives, and that is what we judges pay attention to. We look to see how the horse is ridden in these required exercises. Is the horse ridden to the contact? Does he maintain rhythm and regularity in all gaits? Does he show a degree of suppleness appropriate for his level? Does the rider keep a tempo that facilitates balance? Even for a simple circle the directives are explicit: 'consistent bend around the rider’s inside leg, placement and control over the size of circle, reach to the bit and the quality of the gait.'" ~ Lilo Fore
Balanced riding makes for a sound horse. If a horse is unbalanced or crooked, and is loading some joints more than others, the joints with increased loading will feel increased stress. As an example, the horse that is lazy behind about engaging the joints of the hind legs, will be overly stressing the joints of the front feet and ankles by being heavy on the forehand.
Frustration can often be a part of the process of learning and improving as a rider. Look at it from the perspective that you have been strong enough to move out of your comfort zone, and into an area that is difficult for you. And if you persist with determination, you will get there!
"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
Imagine the rider's body as a tree… The rider's seat and core need to be engaged and strong like the tree trunk, their long draped legs are the roots, and their arms are supple movable branches.
A good lunging program will allow your horse learn how to balance himself on a proper circle in self carriage, without the added challenge of a rider on board.
Try to avoid doing too much repetition of any one movement or exercise, or riding for too long in one direction. Do something different, so you let the muscles that are currently working relax, while you work some new ones.
Any excessive closing of knees or thighs takes the rider's lower leg off of the horse. It is more correct to wrap the entire leg around the horse for half halts and downward transitions - as if giving the horse ahugwith your legs. This encourages the horse to keep the hind legs stepping under in the downward transition, and invites the horse to keep their back up as well. A tight upper leg will stop the horse, but it will tend to make them stiffen their back and stop their hind legs. Almost as much as pulling on the reins.
