Recent Articles in ~Lesley's Corner~

A rider's position greatly affects the success of their aids. No matter how well intentioned the aids are, if there are flaws or inconsistencies in the rider's position, the horse is likely to not perform perfectly. So it is unrealistic and even unfair to expect perfection from your horse when your legs are in the wrong place, your hands are moving all around, or you are not sitting correctly.

Here are some common examples: (Click on Article Title above (in blue) to read full article)

Often what separates successful riders from those less successful is their attitude when riding. The riders who get the best out of their horses have full control of their mind, bodies, and emotions. This is because horses tend to mirror their riders, both physically and mentally. It can take many years of practice to develop full body awareness and control, but many riders overlook the mental and emotional aspects - the control of which can be developed much quicker if an effort is made.

There is no place for negative emotions when riding. If you think your horse is going to improve once you have crossed the line into anger, frustration, annoyance, impatience, or irritation - think again. How do you stop those emotions from taking over?  (Click on Article Title above (in blue) to read full article)

Some horses jump too high over their jumps, making it hard for their riders to stay with them. This is often caused from a low level of confidence in the horse. It is fairly common for green and inexperienced horses to feel that they need to jump way up in the air over jumps with any width. And they can get scared and lose confidence in their ability when they realize that no matter how high they go they are still having trouble making the width. These horses need to be taught how to jump more across their jumps.

The key is to....(Click on Article Title above (in blue) to read full article)

Because we Eventers gallop and jump at speed, our horses can sometimes develop the habit of jumping "flat". Which can be a big problem when it comes to trying to keep all of those pesky rails up in the show jumping ring! 

When a horse jumps in a flat style, it keeps its head high and back straight, which keeps the horse's body and legs much closer to the rails like in this picture:





Jumping with a good bascule is more mechanically efficient for clearing high obstacles. And it more reliably produces clean jumping, as the act of the horse rounding in the air moves his body and legs up away from the rails, like this:





There are some things you can do to at home to encourage your horse to get in the habit of using its body more fully over jumps. Here are some ideas:(Click on Article Title above (in blue) to read full article)

Building muscle strength is a very important part of the training process for the equine athlete. Strong muscles allow the horse to perform to its full potential, and with minimal injuries. Strength training is often somewhat overlooked, as it's easy to get caught up in schooling the horse on the flat and over jumps exclusively. But you will find that a commitment to building your horse into a strong athlete will pay off with a horse that performs more happily and with ease.

I'm going to share with you the specific strength training program that I have recently used to help my big, gangly young horse, who came to me with an extremely weak topline, and therefore suffered from chronic back and sacroiliac (SI) soreness. (Click on Article Title above to read full article)

One of my favorite episodes of the TV show "Frasier" was the one where Frasier, who had never before learned how to ride a bicycle, had to learn to do so in a hurry so that he could ride in a fundraiser bike-a-thon. He was so afraid that he was going to hit the big tree that he had to pass, that he could not stop staring at it. And so every time he went by the tree, he crashed his bike into it. He became convinced that that tree had some sort of a gravitational pull on his bike! Then when the bike-a-thon was starting, someone taunted him (as they knew the trouble he was having with large objects), and said "Gee, I sure hope I can steer around that huge mailbox over there." So of course.....(Click on Article Title above (in blue) to read full article)

Imagine that you are standing in front of this door, with your hand on the door knob. This door only opens away from you.....(Click on Article Title above (in blue) to read full article)

Bench jumps are fairly common on cross country courses. And although they are straightforward galloping jumps, riders sometimes worry about them, as they often appear quite wide. Let's discuss how they should be ridden: (Click on Article Title above (in blue) to read full article)

These two terms are often interchanged, but actually have very different meanings. And since they are two distinct problems (although many times the horse will have both at the same time), with two very different causes, they also have different solutions. You need to know which problem you actually have to know how to fix it.  (Click on Article Title above (in blue) to read full article)

Corner jumps show up on nearly every cross country course around the nation from Preliminary to Advanced. And they are increasingly showing up at the Training level as well. So it is very important that every cross country rider competing at Training level and above learns how to successfully tackle this accuracy question. They are a great test of whether the rider has the horse balanced, straight, and between their leg and hand. Course designers put corners and skinny jumps on their courses to more safely test those qualities, as if the horse is not balanced, straight, or on the rider's aids, a runout is likely, but usually no one gets hurt. (Click on Article Title above (in blue) to read full article)

The horse that anticipates his rider's cues is usually smart, sensitive, and eager to please, and often also insecure and anxious. This type of horse must be handled very carefully. As any perceived punishment for anticipating the rider's aids, whether intended or not, will tend to make the problem worse. But it can be frustrating to ride such a horse! Rather like the person who jumps in and finishes your sentences for you, they are just not listening to you! Here's how to get the best out of this type of horse: (Click on Article Title above to read full article)

We riders spend a lot of time working on making our horses more ambidextrous. But what about ourselves? How can we truly ride our horses straight if our own bodies are one sided? Horses are such generous, adaptive creatures that they can learn to adapt to our unevenness, and still respond to our attempts to straighten them. But it will definitely be much easier for them if we make an attempt to be more even and ambidextrous. (Click on Article Title above (in blue) to read full article)

The term "lateral flexion" is often misunderstood. Many riders attempting to achieve it end up bending the horse's neck instead of getting any actual flexion at the horse's poll, which is the joint between the atlas (C1) and the skull. Imagine a small headlight attached to your horse's forehead. Lateral flexion at the poll involves a slight rotation at the poll to turn that headlight slightly to the side. The horse in the picture above is flexed to the.....(Click on Article Title above (in blue) to read full article)

Resistance in the bridle is always related to the state of tension in the back. Sometimes it's hard to say which comes first, kind of like the age old question of the chicken and the egg. Which comes first?? Is the horse's tense, braced back causing him to resist the bit? Or is the act of bracing against the bit causing the horse's back to tighten? (Click on Article Title above (in blue) to read full article)

The warm up for your show jumping round can make or break your performance. And there are some horses that require very specific strategies in the warm up to perform at their best in this phase. Here are some tips to best prepare different types of horses, and for different types of courses. (Click on Article Title above (in blue) to read full article)

Good dressage training is very systematic, with the horse's physical development taking place in a gradual and logical progression. And in that progression, development of pushing power of the horse's hind legs comes before carrying power. As developing pushing power strengthens all of the structures of the horse's hind legs, which will then allow the horse to carry more weight behind for longer periods of time without injury or fatigue.

Look at the lovely picture above of a Spanish Riding School rider doing a Levade - which is the ultimate exercise in regards to the horse carrying it's weight over its hind legs. You can just see how strong the hind legs must be to do that! Let's discuss what exercises help to build pushing power, and which ones encourage the horse to carry more weight behind. (Click on Article Title above (in blue) to read full article)

Horses rush jumps for several possible different reasons, and sometimes it's a combination of issues. It is important to figure out what is causing your horse to rush, as each cause needs to be handled slightly differently. Here is a list of possible causes that can send horses rushing to their fences: (Click on Article Title above (in blue) to read full article)

Jumps at the top of a hill can look very daunting to horse and rider! It takes a bold horse to want to go up to the top and jump something that he can not see over until he gets right up to the top. And it takes a bold rider to really give it the forward ride that is needed! Here is how to tackle this type of jump: (Click on Article Title above to read full article)

Lateral suppleness refers to the horses ability to bend easily from side to side. Few horses are ambidextrous - meaning that they can naturally bend as easily to the right as they do to the left. One of the major goals of dressage is to make the horse more even - so that he bends easily both directions. Because only then can he be truly straight.

Here are some very specific exercises that you can use to improve your horse's lateral suppleness, in the order of most basic to most difficult: (Click on Article Title above (in blue) to read full article)

 


Long before your horse can be expected to understand the aids for extension and collection, the Speed Play exercise should be introduced. It will lay the foundation of understanding for the execution of lengthenings, medium gaits, extended gaits, and collection for the future.

Here's how to do it: (Click on Article Title above (in blue) to read full article)

The key to success at double and triple combinations is for the rider to have a plan! You must know precisely what the distance is between the elements. So either bring a measuring tape, or learn how to walk off distances very accurately. Learn that skill by laying down a measuring stick or tape, and find out what your walking stride feels like when it is exactly three feet long. I know for me, since I'm short, I have to take a big step to make three feet. So when I'm walking a distance, four of my big steps is one twelve foot stride for the horse.

You also have to know what your horse's natural stride length at the canter is. When jumping does he naturally canter along with a perfect twelve foot stride? Or is he a big mover with a natural thirteen foot canter stride? Or a smaller, more catlike type that has a natural eleven foot stride?

Then you have to be able to analyze the combination to make a game plan. Is the first element......(Click on Article Title above (in blue) to read full article)

It is very important that your horse stays straight when jumping. And not just at the fences that very obviously test straightness like skinny jumps, corners, and angled lines. But at each and every jump that your horse takes.

Why is straightness so important? Because only when your horse is truly straight on the approach and the takeoff of the jump can he jump in balance, and therefore show his best form. Veering off of the straight line will also change the distance in any combination or related line of fences, making an awkward takeoff spot at the next element likely.

Let's start by defining straightness in the horse: (Click on Article Title above (in blue) to read full article)

The key to improving canter departs is to make sure the horse is truly straight and connected, with his outside hind leg ready to step well underneath his body. Why the outside hind leg? It's the first footfall of the canter depart and the canter stride itself. The quality of the canter depart, along with the balance and engagement of the canter in general, can be greatly improved by increasing the engagement of the outside hind leg. Here is an exercise that will utilize that concept to improve your canter departs: (Click on Article Title above (in blue) to read full article)

Bounce banks can look pretty daunting to both horse and rider on the approach, but they are great fun if ridden correctly! The key to success at a bounce bank is......(Click on Article Title above (in blue) to read full article)

 



There are two ways to turn to a jump - with a curved turn (think quarter of a circle), or a square turn (more of a 90 degree turn). Each has quite a different effect on the horses' balance, carriage, and stride length coming out of the turn.

Hunter riders use curved turns during their rounds. As one thing that is important in the hunter ring is that the horse maintains....(Click on Article Title above (in blue) to read full article)

If a rider is going to control something 10 times their weight, that has a powerful engine, a strong spirit, and a mind of its own, they must learn an effective technique. No matter how strong a rider you are, your horse is always going to be stronger than you. So you must learn how to use his strength to your advantage. Here's how: (Click on Article Title above (in blue) to read full article)

Self carriage of the horse is one of the most important goals in dressage. When the horse is in self carriage it is balanced independently of its rider, not using the rider's hand or leg for support in any way. How do you know if your horse is in self carriage? You should be testing him often throughout your work. Here's how you check to see if your horse is carrying himself: (Click on Article Title above (in blue) to read full article)

I will never forget my initial reaction when hearing Jimmy Wofford's advice about how to ride downhill jumps on the cross country course. We were walking the Radnor ** cross country course, and the third fence was a huge pile of logs on a rather steep downhill slope. And he said, "At the top of the hill, right before the hill starts its downward descent... (Click on Article Title above (in blue) to read full article)

Horses do much better than humans when running and jumping on the side of a hill. Having four legs lets them adapt to the the varied terrain - much like an ATV (all terrain vehicle).

And that's good news! Since there are many jumps on the side of a hill on cross country. Sometimes the hill is steep, making jumping on the side of the hill the obvious "question" being asked. And sometimes the hill is mild, even to the point of being so subtle that you may not take notice of the slight slant that the jump is on when walking the course. And that is a mistake! You always want to make note of which way the ground is slanted on every jump on course, so you can ride it in the way that allows the horse to be the most balanced....(Click on Article Title above to read full article)

A coffin complex presents many challenges to horse and rider! Lets discuss the different ways it tests the cross country competitor, and learn how to negotiate the complex successfully....(Click on Article Title above (in blue) to read full article)

 


The term "coffin canter" comes from the type of canter required to get a good jump at the common cross country complex of rails - ditch - rails, also known as a coffin jump. Coffin complexes are usually found at the Preliminary to the Advanced levels. Although more and more smaller versions are appearing on Training level courses, so Training level riders need to be educated about the skill required to negotiate them. And there are many other cross country obstacles that require the "coffin canter" on the approach, such as.....(Click on Article Title above (in blue) to read full article)

There is an imaginary area on the approach to every jump that I like to call the "takeoff zone". In the last 20 feet or so on the approach, the horse needs to be able to focus entirely on the jump in front of him. So the rider needs to....(Click on Article Title above (in blue) to read full article)

One might think that being a perfectionist would only be a good trait for a rider to have. After all, doesn't that imply a dedication to the pursuit of excellence and attention to detail of the highest standard? Which are certainly good qualities.  But there can be some rather large negative consequences for riders who are perfectionists. It can cause them to obsess over details to the point of stressing over them. Which can be quite upsetting to your horse, and very detrimental to horse and rider performance in several different ways. (Click on Article Title above (in blue) to read full article)

Does your horse tend to knock down a rail or two in the show jumping? Or even three or four?? Don't worry, there ARE things you can do to encourage your horse to jump more carefully! Here are some things you can work on:(Click on Article Title above to read full article)

Sooner or later every event rider finds themselves at a competition with unfavorable conditions - either pouring rain or slippery, deep mud. If the rider is not at all confident about riding in those conditions, it might make sense to scratch. But riding in muddy conditions is not dangerous if the horse and rider are well prepared. So if you know how to handle those conditions, you can still have a fun and successful event! (Click on Article Title above (in blue) to read full article)

1. Make good use of your time in the few minutes that you get to go around the outside of the arena....(Click on Article Title above (in blue) to read full article)
   

Many people tend to think of lunging as something that they might do when they don't have enough time to ride, or if they want to burn off some of their horse's excess energy. But if done with the same amount of focus you give to your schooling under saddle, it can be a great training tool that can increase your horses...(Click on Article Title above (in blue) to read full article)