Recent Articles

Our horses have to put up with more than unclear aids, unbalanced riders, mosquitoes, and our whimsical travel plans for them. At times what they are able to endure shocks even us... (Click on Blog Title above (in blue) to read full entry)

With green horses that don’t yet fully understand the bending aids, or for those who struggle with bending one direction, it can be helpful to bring your outside rein a little away from their neck (to the outside) as you bend them. This makes the outside rein a little more inviting for them to move into. 

"Where it tips over, that positive tension, is if you let the horse get strong in the bridle. Once you let the horse become heavy on the hand and strong in the bridle, it’s not positive any more, because then there is a block. If you can create what we try to create, without heavy hands, without hanging onto the rein, if you can do it with self-carriage, then it looks beautiful. It’s this word, expression, which is a dangerous word because once you put expression into it, like heightened suspension and things like that, then if you have got the wrong rider, or a rider who doesn’t ride with an independent seat, then they use their hands and that’s when you get that horrible looking, jerky dressage. It is something we really work on, to be able to create it, without going over-board." ~ Carl Hester

Every horse you ride can tell pretty quickly if you genuinely like them or not. And it makes a difference.

Horses that tend to hurry need to be ridden at a slower than ideal pace until they are rhythmical and relaxed, and are no longer trying to hurry. 

"'I have time' should be the guiding word especially of dressage riders during the entire course of training and remind him of the fact that the goal of the classical art of riding is to be attained only by the gradual increase of demands." ~ Alois Podhajsky

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

How many times have you entered the arena to compete and found yourself obsessing about what someone else was thinking about you?  Sure we worry about what the judges think, but we also worry about what almost everyone else thinks.  We worry about the judgments of our trainers, other people’s trainers, family, friends, peers, as well as other competitors.  Yet, at the end of the day, we have to wonder how many of those people, whose judgments we worry so much about, gave our performance more than a passing thought.  The reality is that we are most often the only ones that are judging ourselves so harshly and ruthlessly. (Click on Blog Title above (in blue) to read full entry)

If your horse tends to look around a lot when you are riding, keep his attention on your inside leg by asking for an exaggerated bend to the inside. You will know you have achieved putting your horse’s attention on your inside leg when his inside ear looks back at you. 

If you want your horse to truly enjoy his work, it helps to be having fun yourself when you ride. Sometimes when things are difficult, it can be hard to find the fun in that moment. You have to go out of your way to look for it! Your horse will feel the difference if you do. 

"Push him to contact, release and then push to contact again." ~ Carl Hester

"When thinking about collecting a horse--closing a horse from behind to shift his center of gravity further back--many riders only think of closing the horse longitudinally from hocks to bridle. However, one also closes the horse laterally, i.e., from outside leg to inside rein, and from inside leg to outside rein, like an X." ~ Charles de Kunffy

"If you practice being fluid, you eventually will be fluid. If you're casual about it, it will never happen." ~ Joe Fargis

"My coaches insisted that the reins may be used for a thousand things except for two: to inhibit the haunches or to set the shape of his neck." ~ Charles de Kunffy

"A horse's energies are gathered up from behind and by yielding on the reins and giving him the room to step through to the center of gravity, the neck will shape to reflect the activities in the haunches. Trying to achieve collection by working on the horse's neck cuts the horse off in the front, confining him and preventing the hind legs from lifting, suspending and powerfully supporting the rider's balance." ~ Charles de Kunffy

Courage

While I understand the importance of "mental toughness," I have never liked the phrase.  One problem I have encountered is that it often evokes images of pushing through no matter what, without any consideration of context.  In my career as a sport psychologist, I can honestly say that there has been more real damage done when clients have been pushed (or pushed themselves) to "cowboy up" and exhibit their toughness in situations that were objectively unsafe either physically, psychologically or emotionally. On reflection, I think we are much better served by exploring the many foundational qualities and characteristics of mental toughness such as courage, resilience, and persistence rather than the dogged pursuit of mental toughness itself. (Click on Blog Title above (in blue) to read full entry.)

From Facebook fan Firn Hyde ~ "Reschooling a horse with vices and sending it back to its owner is not enough. The vices will return with unguided riding. Only by retraining both horse and rider can the problem be solved."

"Whenever a horse has learned a new movement or a new aid in its basic form, the rider should give him a break and deliberately ride something else for a few days or weeks. When he returns to the movement, he will notice how much more easily the training will proceed." ~ Reiner Klimke

No moment of riding without stirrups is ever a waste of time!