Tip/Quote of the Day # 730When working with a horse that does not have a great natural 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.Tip/Quote of the Day # 729When your horse is harder to the left because he wants to carry his body too "curled" to the left, this is often best addressed by going to the right, rather than the left. If you can do some good work with your horse's body fully bending around your right leg, you are stretching the tight left side of his body, which will help him to go straighter when going to the left. Tip/Quote of the Day # 728If you want your horse to like his job, you need to make an effort to keep his job likeable.Tip/Quote of the Day # 727"Working-in is one of the most important aspects of dressage. You want your horse to be long, round and stretching before you start more taxing work, to get the muscles in front of and behind the saddle soft and working – gymnasts don’t hop straight onto the top bar! Ideally, walk for 10 minutes to start with, but if your horse is fresh, it is best to trot on to settle him down." ~ Carl HesterFirn's Blog post # 15For Better or Worse?
Nobody likes that person that’s constantly selling their horse and buying a new one, only to repeat the whole experience a few months later. But nobody likes the newbie on the psychotic young horse who is constantly endangering both herself and everyone around her, either. Whispered conversations in the tack room – or, more realistically, loud conversations in nasal accents at the side of the arena – are as fickle as April: “What does she think she’s doing? She’s way overhorsed. She should sell him and get herself a nice schoolmaster instead.” “She’s going to sell it – again. Seriously. The poor baby. Someone needs to tell her that horses aren’t a commodity, they’re people too. How would she feel being sold on every few months?” (Click on Blog Title above (in blue) to read full entry)Tip/Quote of the Day # 726When you have a good contact, your horse can feel your thoughts transmitted through the reins.Tip/Quote of the Day # 725Your leg creates the energy, and your seat controls the length of the horse's stride. Keeping the Older Horse Going Strong
The benefits of riding the older horse can be enormous... especially for the more timid, inexperienced, or younger rider. With age, often comes experience... and an experienced horse is really the best teacher that a rider can have! Nothing instills more confidence in a rider than knowing that their horse has "been there and done that"! And this can be especially so for the Event rider, since we have 3 different phases to master.
The older, more experienced horse often knows all about the various challenges that our sport presents. And is usually happy to take care of and educate his rider. Here's how to best take care of your older and wiser equine athlete, and keep him in top form for as long as possible! (Click on Article Title above (in blue) to read full article)
Tip/Quote of the Day # 724Horses speak through actions. Try to listen to what they are telling you.Discussion # 126: Where would you jump this cross country fence?Let's pretend for discussion sake that this fence is not curved so that it is invitingly lower in the middle of the log. Let's say that you are faced with a log on top of a hill heading down into the water, where you have a choice to jump on one side where the log is solid enough to prevent the water from showing underneath it, and the other clearly showing the water underneath the log. Which side would you aim at? And why? (Click on Discussion Title above (in blue) to read this educational discussion)
Heels down, head up, thumbs up, quiet leg, look where you're going, elbows in, shoulders back, toes in, head, hip, heel!!! Sound familiar? It's the way of the equestrian world. Any instructor who dares to call themselves such, knows these tried and true tips of the trade. (Click on Blog Title above (in blue) to read full entry)
Tip/Quote of the Day # 719The horse shouldn't feel punished for trying to escape the connection, they should just feel unsuccessful. Tip/Quote of the Day # 718When you have a good contact, your horse can feel your thoughts transmitted through the reins.Tip/Quote of the Day # 717It should be a big red flag to you if your instructor is the type to say that all jumps should be treated the same. It can be a sign of lack of knowledge or teaching experience in a trainer. Riders should be aware of every question posed by each individual jump, and should not treat all jumps the same. Things that need to be taken into consideration are the shape of the jump, the footing, the terrain involved before and after the jump, the lighting, the kind of approach you are given, and what is on the landing side of the jump.Some Ways to Challenge Your Horse's Ability to Think Quickly (Current freebie!)
To be truly safe on cross country, we need our Event horses to be completely focused on their jobs, and to think and process information quickly. Only then will they be able to accurately read each question on course as it arises, and make smart decisions with their footwork at the jumps. With some horses, this seems to come pretty easy. But not so much with others! The good news is that most horses can learn to be more quick and accurate with their thinking, with judicious schooling and exercises. Here are some ideas to improve your horse's ability to think more quickly on his feet: (Click on Article Title above (in blue) to read full article)
Tip/Quote of the Day # 716With fresh horses that want to look around and be unfocused, do yourself and your horse a favor, and let them have some free time to relax at the beginning of a workout. Either a short time lunging or free schooling, or simply a 10 to 20 minute walk on the buckle to let them gawk and take everything in. Then, when you pick up the reins and go to work, you will usually find that there is less resistance.Discussion # 125: Let's discuss this great quote from Christopher Bartle! Let's discuss this great quote from Christopher Bartle!
"Check on the acceptance of the outside rein before every corner." ~ Christopher Bartle
What do you think this means? How do you check on the acceptance of the outside rein connection? And why is it so important? (Click on Discussion Title above (in blue) to read this educational discussion) Tip/Quote of the Day # 715A calm, attentive horse begins with a calm, attentive handler.Tip/Quote of the Day # 714The more thoroughly you have prepared for a movement or transition, the more you can just allow it to happen, rather than making it happen.Tip/Quote of the Day # 713The most energy efficient way for a horse to gallop cross country is to gallop in balance, so that very little adjustments are necessary in front of the fences. If you could gallop in such a way that a fence could drop from the sky and land in front of you when you are just 3 or 4 strides away, and you could jump it well - then you will be giving your horse the best chance to finish the course with plenty of gas in the tank.Guest Blog post # 56: "Negative, Ghost Rider, the pattern is full!" by Bill Woods
"Pick the right patterns, execute them correctly and they will school the horse." That was Major Lindgren's message to us back in the day, and a dictum we followed faithfully as we wrote out lesson plans to practice-teach demo riders at the Instructors Seminars... (Click on Blog Title above (in blue) to read full entry)
Tip/Quote of the Day # 712 To build anything successfully, you need the right tools. Riding is about building a successful partnership between you and your horse. The tools you need to do that are patience, knowledge, understanding, and feel.The S-Turn Jumping Exercise
More demanding than a simple bending line of jumps, the S turn exercise presents an extra challenge to horse and rider. It tests their ability to maintain balance and rideability while changing direction between jumps. Which is obviously a skill that needs to be perfected to jump a course well! Here's how to do it: (Click on Article Title above (in blue) to read full entry)
Tip/Quote of the Day # 711“Riders use the spur instead of the calf of the leg. This is wrong. As trainers and judges, we need to encourage putting the rider in front of the leg, NOT the spur.” ~ Christoph HessVideo Discussion # 86: The important points of free jumping your horse, and how to best introduce jumping to the young horse! Check out this video, which discusses the benefits and important points of free jumping your horse, and how to introduce your young horse to the concept of free jumping. Your thoughts?? Who here has free jumped their horses? What did you learn about them from watching them jump on their own? (Click on Discussion Title above (in blue) to watch video and read this educational discussion)Tip/Quote of the Day # 710A rider's rigid elbows will cause the horse's back to become correspondingly rigid.Discussion # 124: How do you feel about having corner jumps at the Novice level?At an Event that I attended a few weeks ago, there was a real (vs the traditional more introductory style) corner on the Training level course. And I was thinking about starting a discussion about corner jumps at the Training level.
Then this past weekend at a different competition (both in CA), they had a corner jump on the Novice course... and this one was at the bottom of a significant hill! What are your thoughts on corner jumps at these levels? And if you are competing at the Novice or Training levels, what do you need to do at home to prepare for meeting one of these on a cross country course? (Click on Discussion Title above (in blue) to read this educational discussion)
You don't say how old your young horse is, but I would wait to do any real jumping until he is... (Click on Question Title above (in blue) to read full answer)
Tip/Quote of the Day # 704On the idea of taking risks in the Dressage ring: "Aim for a score of a 7 on most movements, and decide what movements your horse excels at, and push for a bit more on those. Going for 8's across the board can backfire, leaving you with some 4's." ~ William Fox PittVideo # 82: This is Vita doing a Dressage test! (Click on Video Title above (in blue) to read the critique of this video)
Tip/Quote of the Day # 703"Speaking as a veterinarian/animal chiropractor, a significant amount of damage can be done, especially to the young or remedial horse, by the use of draw reins. Draw reins multiply the force the bit has on the bars, and therefore act to pull the head and neck in a backward direction resulting in a broken neckline and often hyperflexion which puts enormous tension on the upper neck muscles/nuchal ligament system, and the back via the supraspinous ligament. When hyperflexed the horse is overextended at the lumbosacral joint and is not able to properly bring the hindquarters underneath to allow lift of the back without tension. What you are often left with is a horse moving with a tense back that is unable to properly support the weight of the rider." ~ Kelli TaylorTip/Quote of the Day # 702
Remember that to balance your horse in front of a fence you do not necessarily have to slow down. Many times you simply need to change the shape of the canter stride - i.e. bring the horse into a more uphill frame.
Discussion # 123: The correct position vs the chair seat!The correct riding position is really more like standing in a squatting position than like sitting. Yet, since we do sit on our seat bones when seated in the saddle, it can be hard for some riders to get close to this ideal alignment of shoulders, hips, and heels as shown in the top photo. It is common for riders to instead sit in somewhat of a chair seat, with their feet out in front of them, as in the bottom photo. If you tend to have this very common problem, what can you work on to fix it? (Click on Discussion Title above (in blue) to read this educational discussion)
Tip/Quote of the Day # 701Unless you are intentionally working on a specific weakness in a horse that has trouble making longer distances, it is best to school most gymnastic and gridwork with distances that are at least slightly snug for your horse. As the shorter distances will make your horse rock back more on his haunches on the takeoffs, and will teach him to use his body more fully when jumping.Tip/Quote of the Day # 700Turning your toes out beyond your natural conformation will cause you to pinch the horse with the back of your thighs and the muscles of your seat.Tip/Quote of the Day # 699Thinking of steering your horse from the middle of his body rather than his nose will help you to keep all of his body parts under control.Photo # 66: This is Amy! (Click on Photo Title above (in blue) to read the critique of this photo)
