"For me it is important that the horse is happy and you see it in the face, you see it in the tail, you see it in the swinging, you can listen, how the horse is breathing, these are the things that are important for a quality test." ~ Christoph Hess
"Lightness sounds very good, if it is light, but it is better if it is not too light because a horse that is too light in the hand is more difficult to ride than a horse that is a little bit heavy on the hand. Okay we always have to talk about finding the right balance, but in the end, contact is nothing more than the contact to the hind leg, the contact that the rider makes between the mouth and the hind leg. This is the duty of the rider, to put these two together. The moment the horse starts to move, and he moves behind, you have to feel it in your hand, then you have to let it out." ~ Jean Bemelmans
The horse is not capable of true collection when their muscles are tense. No matter how hard you try to achieve collection, it will elude you until you can first achieve loose, relaxed, and swinging muscles.
Always use both reins together when steering, especially when turning between jumps. Using one rein only turns the horse's nose - but using both reins turn the horse at the shoulders, which means his body will more accurately follow your chosen line.
"Through the energy of impulsion mobilized from within himself, the horse is now prepared, in his physique and emotional attentiveness, to respond instantly to the slightest indications to change his tempo, posture, direction or gait." ~ Waldemar Seunig
"The purpose of dressage is to enhance our ability to control our horses; hopefully, after a long period of consistent training, our horses will calmly and generously place their forces at our disposal." ~ Jimmy Wofford
"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 techniques you use for relaxation, stretching, walk breaks, things like that, a more competitive or nervous rider doesn’t pay enough attention to that. They think, 'I’ve got a test to do so I won’t keep stretching him until he’s relaxed, I’ll just get on with it.' That’s pressure." ~ Carl Hester
"There are many horses that can only be taught through lateral bending, especially second degree bending, to let the rein aids go through to the hind legs." ~ Sigismund v. Josipovich
If you get to riding with your reins a bit too long, you will be tempted to use your hands in a backwards way. It is easier to make a connection with truly forward feeling hands when your reins are sufficiently shortened.
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 only with experience.
Shoulder in to the right engages and strengthens the horse's right hind leg, which will help to improve their ability to do haunches in and half pass to the left. And vice versa.
In hand work can be a great tool to work on teaching the horse the concept of moving away from pressure. When the horse knows how to yield to pressure anywhere on his body on the ground, you will be able to apply it to under saddle work.
When you realize that you are meeting a jump on an awkward distance or a half stride, it can be challenging to keep a calm, clear head! Give yourself something constructive to think about, and tell yourself to just stay still and keep riding your horse's hind legs all the way till the takeoff.
"Cross-country saddles should have room for five fingers breadth behind your seat. This allows room for you to slide your seat backwards. This will give you a 'safe seat'. The ability to do that depends on the length of your stirrup--they must be SHORT." ~ Chris Bartle
When riding Dressage, we want our horses to reach and push forward through the neck into the rein connection. This happens as a result of the horse's back engaging and lifting... similar to a nice round bascule over a jump.
It is impossible to create a correct rein connection when the horse is not truly thinking forward. You must create a situation where the horse wants to move forward into the connection.
When riding, always betrue and present in the moment. You need to react to what is actually happening underneath you, rather than you what you areexpectingto happen.
Take your time when riding transitions. Many riders seem to rush through them just to get them done. Be conscious of preparing for each one, and feeling all of the details while you are making the transition - being ready to abort the transition if things start to go wrong.
"Connection is the mirror of the entire horse, it’s the mirror of his balance, and it is a mirror of the degree of collection the horse is able to offer at this point in time." ~ Susanne Miesner
When jumping into water, always think about the depth of the water to decide the speed of your approach. The deeper the water you are landing in at your water jump, the more slowly you must approach the fence into the water.
On the horse being ridden with conflicting aids - "Some horses can cope while others develop serious behaviour problems. As riders and trainers, we don’t always notice because horses don’t yelp and scream, they just show conflict behaviour. As humans, we often interpret that as ‘naughty’ behaviour. Perhaps one day it will be part of every horseman’s tool box to identify conflict behaviour in all its forms and see the horse as an entirely blameless participant in the training process." ~ Dr Andrew McLean
"This afternoon I decided to work on turn on the forehand after watching Anne Kursinski's demonstration during the George Morris clinic. My aha! moment is when I realized that I was allowing 'good enough' instead of 'right'! Once I persisted until right he got it in half the time!" ~ Shannon Trae Proul
When turning in the air over jumps, do not start your turn until the horse is at the top of the jumping arc. In other words, once the horse has lifted both shoulders fully, and the knees are up, it is safe to turn. Turning before that moment can cause a loss of balance, and make the horse jump less cleanly.
"When you’re riding across country, any problems that you have in the showjumping will become magnified because the difference between cross country and show jumping is the speed that we travel at, the surface that we run on, and the fact the fences don’t come down. So we definitely need control." ~ Andrew Hoy
It can be a clever time to think about working on the beginning of a piaffe, or "half steps", when you are out hacking and your horse gets a bit excited and "prancy." Take advantage of the moment, to ask them (and allow them) to do what they are offering you in their excitement. And don't forget the reward.
