Everyone knows that we want to keep a straight line from our elbow to the horse's mouth. But did you know that it means when viewed from above as well as from the side? And that it also includes your wrists and fingers??
When your horse is spooking, don't stare at whatever it is that they are looking at. Look where you want to go, and don't let any of your horse's antics change your focus.
In the Dressage ring, you must look at the corners as your friend and a useful tool! Each corner is an opportunity to improve your horse's carriage and connection.
The very best riders are often not the best teachers... It all comes too naturally to them, so they often don't know how to help those who don't have their gift.
"When you relax your arms and feel the reins softly you need to feel that your horse wants to step into the contact. If you do not then he is behind your leg and seat." ~ Yvonne Barteau
* I will add: Or, he has been taught to drop behind the contact by a rider using busy hands or draw reins.
When a horse has trueimpulsion, they become easier to steer and keepstraight. And being able to perform perfect geometrical figures (the ability to be straight on curved lines) proves your ability to maintain a consistent level of impulsion.
Put your leg on justbeforeyou start to shorten your reins after the free walk or the stretching trot circle. This way you can ride forward into that shorter rein (as well as asking for bending) even as you are shortening them.
The increased activity of the hind legs will elevate the horse's head and neck naturally from your stretching position, and that allows you to shorten the reins with minimal fuss. If you start to shorten your reins with your leg off, and your horse will be more likely to hollow his back and resist.
"Suppleness in the back is the most important basic you can give your horse. When a horse is not supple in his back, it’s a big deal for him. Horses store a lot of emotion in their backs. If you have ever hurt your back, you know how painful it can be. It occupies your every thought." ~ Scott Hassler
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.
Riders will usually progress the the fastest by sticking with a system of training, instead of hopping around taking individual bits of information from lots of different systems.
"Give the horse the feeling of freedom when you sit on it, always the feeling that it can move forward. Most riders all over the world use their hands to try and control their horse, the neck starts to shorten and then it all starts to go wrong." ~ Christoph Hess
Sometimes you can improve your circles by not working on circles!
Work onsquares, 90 degree turns, and diagonal lines for a while, and maybe somenose to the wall leg yield. Then come back to your circles, after you have worked on better use of and response to your outside turning aids.
"I think we judges have to look more carefully into the body language of the horse. The body language for me, is more important than the technical part of a movement. Three strides in the half pirouette that's okay, but if everything is good and we have four strides, that for me is no problem, 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
You have to look for the particular rhythm that works best for each horse in each gait, allowing them to swing through their bodies with activity. Slower than the horse's optimal rhythm, and the horse will probably be inactive behind. And faster will be rushing, inhibiting the swing.
Never underestimate how much any turn on course can take away from the power in your canter. With the lazier type of horse you need to be proactive in maintaining your impulsion through the turns. And even with the hotter type of horse, you need to be conscious of being soft with your hand, so you don't take too much away from them.
"Lots of riders find it hard to let the reins go. They have their horses pulled into a short neck. What is important today is that I can give you the feeling of how you can let your horses be freer in the neck. The horse needs his head and neck to balance, interfere with his head and you interfere with his balance, and then the horse’s confidence goes out the window." ~ Clayton Fredericks
"I always make sure I do a proper warm up. I make sure my horses are really properly stretching and giving their back, and coming from behind." ~ Ingrid Klimke
"Body awareness is essential. You must be trained to feel each body part as you’re riding, such as your big toe, your little finger." ~ Conrad Schumacher
Riders who do not stretch their horses are missing out on the full body suppling and gymnasticizing effects that a real stretch over the back will provide.
"What we need to be aiming for in our breeding program is a horse with a good hind end, a horse that is strong and capable of bending behind. It all comes from the power and activity behind, the front doesn’t matter, steady on the bit, doesn’t matter – when the horse is in balance, the front and the contact, will come." ~ Johan Hamminga
Being a good student - being teachable... This is a talent that will often get you a whole lot farther than physical talent alone. Both in riding and in life.
You have to be able to ride in "neutral", with no aids whatsoever, for your horse to be able to feel, recognize, and respond to the lightest of your aids.
"So many riders are horse-obsessed, but for some reason they don’t see themselves as part of the beauty of the picture that is, after all, a partnership. They spend their time disciplining and training the horse and manage to excuse themselves from the same rigours." ~ Richard Weis
"At its finest, rider and horse are joined not by tack, but by trust. Each is totally reliant upon the other. Each is the selfless guardian of the other's very well being." ~ Michael Plumb
Courses of ground poles are a smart way to practice just about every single skill you need to jump well, while minimizing the stress on your horse's legs.
Think of your leg, seat, and rein aids as ways to communicate with your horse. You don't physically push or pull him anywhere, you give him subtle signals. And if he doesn't initially respond to your subtle signals, you need to teach him to - EVERY horse can learn to respond to light cues, if taught properly.
Riders should carry their hands just above the horse's withers, so as to create a straight line from the rider's elbow to the horse's mouth. When a rider’s hands are rising above that line, many times this is because of tense, drawn up shoulders.
"Classical riding starts with correct movement, we want to build up the strength of the horse and build up the movements – make them more brilliant more expressive, more light, more supple, and if you do not understand this, then you do not follow the rules." ~ Reiner Klimke
Carrying your hands with your thumbs on top when riding keeps your hands, wrists, elbows, shoulders in a "neutral" position, which allows your joints to move most freely to enable an elastic rein connection.
If you attempt to teach a horse something while tension is present, his learning will be compromised. And you will be more likely to run into problems associated with the flight response.
The horse that is the fastest on cross country is often not the one that is allowed to gallop at a greater rate of speed, but rather one that is highly adjustable, and is ridden on economical lines.
"Connection is often misunderstood. The horse must be taught to go from the seat and leg to the hand for it to be correct. But some riders will try to force it by working their hands and arms to 'work the horse’s neck back and forth to achieve that lightness,' which is incorrect." ~ Lilo Fore
Always keep in mind that you need to engage your horse's brain to get him to truly think forward. Your goal should not be to merely get his feet moving, but to ignite the area of his brain that makes him decide to want to move forward. Only when your horse really wants to go forward do you truly have a forward horse... no matter how fast you are actually traveling.
"It's the rider's job to make his horse sensitive enough to anticipate half halts, for it is the anticipation factor that makes horse and rider harmonious. The use of the horse's anticipation should work greatly to your advantage in daily training and in riding a dressage test. For example, most dressage movements follow the riding of a corner in the arena. When you ride a half halt before every corner throughout the course of a horse's life, he anticipates that he is going to be more balanced and uphill before, during and after every corner, and then the corner becomes the half halt. Because the horse's brain and body are already in harmony with the rider in the corner, all you have to do is concentrate on the movement that follows." ~ Oded Shimoni
