Recent Articles

This rider is jumping a Training level cross country combination, with this jump just one stride away from the water. And she is attempting to be in a defensive position - yet is making a very common mistake in doing so. What is it? How would her defensive position be more solid?  (Click on Discussion Title above (in blue) to read this educational discussion)

Jumping from water back into water is great fun! But it presents a challenge to both horse and rider. The drag effect of the water can make it harder to keep the impulsion in the stride, which can cause the horse to become somewhat long, weak, and strung out. And this can mean a less than ideal jumping effort - or even a fall! Here's how to increase your chances of successful jumps from water to water! (Click on Article Title above (in blue) to read full article)

How would you ride this angled complex? Would you square yourself up for the A element or the B element? Or would you square yourself up for neither element, and jump them both on a slight angle? Or would you square up for the first one, and then turn to square up for the second? (Click on Discussion Title above (in blue) to read this educational discussion)

As an instructor, one of the most common things I find myself saying to students is, "raise your inside hand." So many riders turn their horses like they are riding a motorcycle, and this causes all sorts of problems! If you see yourself in the above picture, read on to find out why you need to correct this bad habit! (Click on Article Title above (in blue) to read full article)

The natural progression from the walk two steps and trot again exercise is the almost walk exercise. So once you are good at keeping the activity in your horse's hind legs in your transition into walk, and in the immediate transition back into trot - you can begin to use the 'almost walk' exercise to improve all of your work. (Click on Article Title above (in blue) to read full article)

 


So many riders are wrongly taught to look up past the jump when approaching it, presumably to keep them from anticipating the jump and jumping ahead. But this method turns you into a mere passenger on your horse over the jumps. How many other sports do you know of where your coach would tell you not to look at what you are doing?? (Click on Article Title above (in blue) to read full article)

Let's say that after this fence, the next fence on your course is the tiger trap off the the right. How would you ride this fence, with the thought of setting yourself up for a good approach to the next? (Click on Discussion Title above (in blue) to read this educational discussion)

With a little planning and forethought, you CAN make related distances work for you. You just have to focus on these key points: (Click on Article Title above (in blue) to read full article)

To be a beneficial gymnastic exercise, every downward transition that you make with your horse must involve engagement of his hind legs and lowering of his hindquarters to some degree. And with some horses, that is not always easy to achieve! I find that thinking about this analogy can really help riders improve their downward transitions. (Click on Article Title above (in blue) to read full article)

If you have the opportunity to approach on either canter lead, on which lead would you approach a left handed corner jump, so as to least invite a runout? (Click on Discussion Title above to read this educational discussion)

I first heard the phrase "keep your hips moving to the jump" from Eventing great Ralph Hill. And there is no doubt that thinking about it made a big difference in the success of my jumping with the somewhat timid horse that I had at the time. What does it mean exactly? (Click on Article Title above (in blue) to read full article)

Take enough lessons and you will inevitably come across some conflicting advice. How do you know which advice to take? Hands up or hands down? Quiet and still hands or vibrate the reins? Weigh the inside or outside seat bone? Or neither?? Sit to the jumps or stay off your horse's back? Contact or loose reins? When you are an amateur rider who is still learning the ropes, it can be very confusing (and even upsetting) to get such conflicting advice! Keep reading to learn how to best handle these situations, and how to figure out which methods you should use for your horse. (Click on Article Title above to read full article)

This is one of my all time favorite exercises - it is SO useful for horses at all levels. The young or green horse learns how to keep their hind legs active to properly "sit" in their downward transitions, and how to stay balanced and connected in their upward transitions. It helps the more advanced horse with increased engagement of the hind legs, opening the door to improved collection. And of course, to complete the exercise successfully, the rider really learns how to ride their transitions correctly. If the transitions are not ridden properly, the exercise will be telling. The "walk for two steps and trot again" exercise is simply a good test of the foundation for half halts and good transitions for both horse and rider. Here's how to do it! (Click on Article Title above (in blue) to read full article)

I have recently been working with a rider who has had years of dressage training with some top trainers, and yet has been unable to get her draft cross mare truly in front of her leg. This rider was in the habit of pushing, driving, and digging her sharp spurs into her horse every stride to keep her moving. If she took her legs off for one stride, the horse would stop. This rider was definitely working harder than her horse.

Sound familiar? If you have a horse that tries to teach you to do all the work, read on to find out how to fix this problem for good! (Click on Article Title above (in blue) to read full article)

How would you ride this downhill slope to the chevron jump? At what speed should you approach this complex? And what exactly would you do to help your horse to focus on the chevron as you are negotiating the mound? (Click on Discussion Title above (in blue) to read this educational discussion)

Hi Briana!

There are pros and cons for each, but I actually prefer doing the canter lengthening on the circle. It is easier to get more lengthening when you perform it on the straight line down the long side, but it can be harder to keep the horse balanced.

What effect is this rider's exaggerated release having on her balance and position? And how might it effect her horse? How could her release be more effective? (Click on Discussion Title above (in blue) to read this educational discussion)

If you are like most riders, you may have a tendency to creep forward somewhat with your upper body in the final strides of the approach to a jump. This often stems from feeling a need to do something to help your horse jump the fence. When in reality, what helps your horse the most is if you stay still as he is preparing to jump. Here is an exercise to help you stay more still and poised in front of your fences: (Click on Article Title above (in blue) to read full article)

Hi Briana!

Everyone knows that we want our horses to be straight. But do you really know what "straightness" means? It is not simply the ability to go in a straight line. And although a big part of straightness is having the horse's body aligned so that the hind feet follow the same track as the front feet (whether on a straight or a curved line), a very important and often overlooked element of the definition of straightness is....(Click on Article Title above (in blue) to read full article)

How should you ride this Prelim water complex? (Click on Discussion Title above (in blue) to read this educational discussion)

Jumping from bright sunlight into dark shadows presents a significant challenge for the horse. And many times riders overlook the fact that a jump is into the darkness, especially if it is cloudy when walking the course. So if they are unaware, they may find that an otherwise innocuous looking jump will ride much harder than it looks! (Click on Article Title above (in blue) to read full article)