Recent Articles in Tip/Quote of the Day!

If you don't train for self carriage at the gallop, and instead attempt to hold your horse with a strong contact the whole time while on course, you will probably get really tired by the end of a long course, and your horse's mouth will become more and more "dead", and less and less responsive.

"For a horse to be in balance, it has to be relaxed which is why it must not be compressed. To cease the aids does not mean to leave the horse on its own but to keep the contact while doing as little as possible." - Nuno Oliveira

Mental toughness is a very important quality in an upper level Event horse. The "street fighter" type is often a cross country machine!

Remember that what you do habitually will feel normal to you, whether it is right or wrong. This is why riders at all levels need good eyes on the ground.

"A rider breaks up resistance in the horse by encouraging his hind legs to come forward and under his body." ~ George Morris

Think of pushing your horse though turns with your outside aids, rather than pulling him around the turn with your inside rein.

Trainers, and farriers… these are two very important people that will make or break your experience in the horse world. The right trainer is the key to your success with riding, and the right farrier is key to your horse's soundness.

"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 horse has to learn to look after himself, otherwise I might as well get off and just chuck him over. And I’m not that strong. I don’t go to the gym." ~ elite show jumper Ben Maher 

For the horse, the learning happens on the release of the aid. That means if you don't release the aid, the horse will not learn.

"Riders tend to lean back and pull on horses who are rushing, which makes a bad situation worse. When you pull back against your horse, he will usually invert, drop his back and lean against your hand. Once he is in this shape, no bit in the world will solve your problem." ~ Jimmy Wofford

"The much more important things to me are the walk and the canter. They’re the two things you can’t change. With the trot, by teaching the horse to have more suspension, you can change the trot. I never worry about how bad the horse trots. I know with my training, I can make it look spectacular. Even a really ugly horse, you can make it look really special. Don’t worry if you have an ugly horse." ~ Charlotte Dujardin

No matter how balanced a horse is moving, he will never be in self carriage if he has a rider that is hanging on his mouth.

Only if the shock absorbers in your hips are working properly, will you be able to keep your hands and upper body quiet as you sit the trot or canter.

"The most important point is the character. If they are not willing to work with you, then they can have the best quality in the world, but it won’t work. If you go to the Olympic Games, you can see fifty horses that are qualified, all these fifty horses can do the Grand Prix, but the winner is the one who does it at the moment he is asked to do it. He wins with his talent, but he also wins with his brain – this is so very important, the way you live with your horses every day, that you have the horses on your side. Horses must be happy horses, they have to be willing to work for you, you cannot make them work. That’s why in your daily work you must think hard about your horse – how is he feeling? Is he happy? He has to be obedient, but he cannot be squashed, you have to leave him with his personality. Sometimes horses with not such good qualities, they can win if they want to do the job." ~ Jean Bemelmans

Transitions act as a test of your connection. If the quality of your connection is lacking as you begin a transition, it will be particularly evident as you execute it.

You should always strive to feel the horse's hind legs in your hands as they step up into the rein connection.

You will get the highest level of brilliance from your horse by letting them have as much freedom as possible. Show them what is required, and then leave them to perform as much as possible on their own.

Submission to the outside aids is necessary for a smooth, resistance free downward transition.

With young or untrained horses who conformationally have a high set on neck (which is a good trait to have for a jumping or Dressage horse), you have to be particularly careful that you don’t work them in a frame that is too advanced for their strength level. It takes enormous strength in the horse’s lumbar back to carry a rider in a higher frame for any length of time. Ride for too long in a higher frame, and they will get sore in their lumbar back, and often resentful.

"Just as the sculptor at first chisels the future outlines of his work of art with powerful blows out of the crude block of stone, and then lets it develop in increasingly finer detail in all its beauty, the aids of the rider must also become more and more delicate in the course of the horse's education. Every rider should always keep this strictly in mind and especially avoid destroying with crude aids, out of impatience or other reasons, what he has built in his previous work." ~ Alois Podhajsky

A real collected trot should feel like a contained medium trot. Not just slower, with shorter strides - but with enough stored energy and contained power that you feel that all you have to do to get medium trot is release it. And the same for collected canter.

"Riders are very often but mistakenly glad to see their horse arch his neck, regardless of how it is arched (whether too high or too low or behind the bit or stiff). Have you ever seen a horse with an arched but stiff neck, looking as though he were nailed to the bit ? That kind or arch does not imply a horse on the bit." ~ Charles de Kunffy

Many horses are more brave and confident when truly on the aids, as they feel more truly connected with their riders.

For those of you with horses that want to "run" into the canter when working on walk to canter transitions (accelerating and taking a trot step or two before picking up the canter), think "halt" as you are applying your aid to canter from the walk.

When the rider attempts to give the horse "support", it doesn't help a horse learn to balance. Instead it gives them something to lean on, and actually USE for balance. Correct and soften, and your horse will learn to balance itself without relying on you to hold them up.

Always keep in mind that you do not necessarily need to slow down to rebalance your horse between fences when jumping. A horse can be balanced at just about any speed. You can also change the shape of the canter stride without changing the speed. And most importantly, the rhythm. 

To succeed in Eventing, you need to be as motivated by your failures as much as you are by your successes.

A big key to success lies in the rider's ability to differentiate between resisting and pulling on the reins.

"One can never, I believe, strive for a lack of criticism in riding – because I don’t think that there is such a thing as perfect riding. I don’t think anybody’s performance is beyond some sort of criticism." ~ Tad Coffin

"Riding is a dance, but horse and rider have to listen to the same music." ~ Pedro Torres

"One of my favorite exercises is three strides of shoulder-in, three strides of half-pass and back again using very small aids. Also helps to do transitions within this exercise." ~ Mistie Cantie

"You cannot get a quality jump with a bad approach – and the quality of your approach comes back to the way you work your horse on the flat. If you get a quality jump from a bad approach then you are a very lucky rider." ~ Andrew Hoy

Many riders ride with tight elbows, and busy hands. Instead strive for relaxed and mobile elbows, and quiet and still (yet supple) hands!

"Use the shoulder fore to close the horse up." ~ Carl Hester

Riding is like a marriage between the horse and rider. Don’t let the familiarity trick you into doing the same thing over and over.

"Since the criteria of a correct seat are the same as the criteria of good posture in general, being constantly attentive to one’s bearing when standing or walking is excellent training. A correct vertical posture of the head and the trunk on horseback is not a special posture applicable only to riding." ~ Kurt Albrecht

"You should recognize that your equine partner has an eye of its own when jumping and allow a good horse to have some role in the decision making process." ~ Frank Chapot

"Contact doesn't only refer to the hands, reins, and bit, but to the whole rider. A rider must give the horse contact through his entire seat. This means that his legs must lay gently against the horse's body, his seat must be balanced and supple, and his arms and hands must follow the horse's movement quietly and evenly. This create a smooth cycle of movement as the horse takes the rider with him. Only this then creates contact." ~ Klaus Balkenhol

"It’s important that the rider doesn’t disturb the horse – leaning this way or that – and that is the same with this pulling and pushing. You give a half halt, but half halt is not just pull back and then let go. First of all you have to push the horse into your contact, and while you do a half halt, the horse should not get tighter in the neck and not get slower in the hind legs. Actually we want to engage the hind legs. It’s something you have to work on all the time, and get to feel it. When you tell the rider, now this, now that, you are already too late. You have to practice this, so that the riders get to feel it themselves." ~ Monica Theodorescu

"It takes ten years learning how to sit on a horse without getting in his way. It takes another ten years learning how to influence the horse, and then a further ten years learning how to influence him without getting in his way!" ~ Unknown

— No wonder it takes so long to learn to ride!

We have to teach the horse to love to learn.

Think of letting your knees fall down and back to lengthen your leg in Dressage. This can help to prevent the dreaded "chair seat."

When doing a turn on the haunches or a pirouette, the rider must keep their weight centered over the horse, with an engaged inside seat bone. I see far too many riders (at all levels) letting their weight fall to the outside, which is a hindrance to their horse in those movements. Every step or two within the movement, think of sitting over and engaging your inside seat bone.

For a horse to be really good at jumping out of a deep distance, they need to have an understanding of how to shorten their stride without losing any hind leg engagement. This is why it is SO important that you do NOT pull on the reins when you feel you are meeting the fence on a tight distance. Encourage them to wait with your body, but keep your leg on rather than pulling, which only stops or stiffens the horse’s hind legs.

Think of your brain as a densely wooded area with paths running through it. Whenever you are trying to learn how to do something new, you have to blaze new pathways in your brain.

Very often the "silly" spooker has a physical reason for acting that way - either pain or unresolved tension somewhere in their body.

Any excessive closing of knees or thighs takes the rider's lower leg off of the horse. I feel it is more correct to wrap the entire leg around the horse for half halts and downward transitions - as if giving the horse a hug with your legs. This encourages the horse to keep the hind legs stepping under in the downward transition, and invites the horse to keep their back up as well. A tight upper leg will stop the horse, but it will tend to make them stiffen their back and stop their hind legs - almost as much as pulling on the reins.

Bend is NOT created with the inside rein. All that does is turn the horse's head and neck to the inside. The rider's inside leg should send the horse up into the outside rein - filling it up. That will create bend in the middle of the horse's body... putting a tiny bit of slack in the inside rein.

I am a big believer in a system of continuity when training horses and riders. I think that the correct foundation should be laid out even at the most basic level. So that the rider does not need to go back and re-learn things as they progress. So much easier and less frustrating for riders to learn the right way to begin with.

"That they stay loose is the most important, the most mistakes are made when the riders start to collect them. Collection is not slower or shorter, collection is more cadence, more energy behind, and that only works with a really loose back, with suppleness – and that is what they lose. We have so many super super good three and four year old horses, you see them moving at the Bundeschampionate, and it is unbelievable how many super super good horses – but how many go on to the sport later? Because most riders when they go to collect them, make them too stiff, too tense, too often it is only with the hand, that they only make the neck up, short, instead of making them lower behind. To collect them, you have to start behind, and not in front." ~ Hubertus Schmidt

Notice that the stiffest tree is the most easily cracked, while the bamboo or willow survives by bending in the wind. Think about how this concept might apply to both horse and rider...

The lazier type of horse will often do best with a little gallop around before any Dressage work.

With any game that involves strategy, there is usually a "best move", a "second best move", and so on, that you could make at that possible moment. The same is true for training a horse. The trick is knowing what the "best move" is, right at the moment that your horse does something wrong.

If either horse or rider has a hole anywhere in their foundation, that hole will haunt them for life unless they go back and fill in at some point.

When your horse gets too low with his head, it is NOT an effective correction to attempt to lift his head with your hands. Even if that does succeed in raising your horse's head, it creates a hollow back. Only lowering the quarters raises the front end correctly.

"Lateral work to achieve straightness: My horse was backing off instead of accepting the left rein so we rode renvers to the left and shoulder in to the right. As soon as he was accepting the left rein we could go straight - and actually succeed at being straight." ~ Annette Gaynes

Ride your horse like you just know he is going to do everything right. He will feel your positive vibes.

"Beware of the modern day notion that a person can 'invent' a new horse training method. There are no quick and easy ways. Truth is that the training of a horse is a study, a craft, an art. Training takes patience and the knowledge develops over many years. Many of the principals by the horse-masters are principals that are not ready to be understood until they have been experienced. The experience takes many years to acquire and many different horses to acquire it from. The principals can be built upon and expanded and explained with different nuances of the language, but it cannot be reinvented." ~ Xenophon

It is SO easy to let bad habits creep into your riding. This is why you must have eyes on the ground - no matter what level you ride at!

Be wary of trainers who encourage you to do things to artificially "lift" the horse in front. True elevation comes only from lowering the quarters.

With horses that like to curl their neck and become over bent, the rider needs to be careful not to get their reins too short. This will cause the horse to stay too short in the neck. Think of having longer arms that are always reaching towards the horse’s mouth.

"You can learn to take the best from different trainers, but first you have to have a 'skeleton,' a theoretical framework to hang it all on, and that takes time and some consistency of training, I think. Once you have a system you can add to it/alter it, but with no system it's just a jumble of random techniques." ~ Andrea Monsarrat Waldo

"I never really work a horse for longer than four or five minutes [at a time.] I want to take a quick break, and then we go again. Any of you who’ve worked out know how much a break of 30 seconds can help. It gets some oxygen back into the muscles." ~ Steffen Peters

A double bridle is meant for refinement of the aids, it is NOT meant to be a tool to hold your horse together when you can't do it in a snaffle.

"Some riders change their horse, they change their saddle, they change their teacher; they never change themselves." ~ Unknown

Train amongst distractions if you want to be able to perform with them.

We all know that horses can't learn when they are scared... but horses don't learn very much when they are bored either. They have to be mentally engaged to learn. So to make sure your horse can learn, you have to find the right balance between keeping calm and relaxed yet alert and interested.

Whenever you are facing any type of jump with a ditch in front of it, think of it as a "free" front rail. Watch the top of the back rail, and ride forward!

"The blood runs hot in the Thoroughbred and the courage runs deep.In the best of them, pride is limitless. This is their heritage and they carry it like a banner. What they have, they use." ~ C.W. Anderson 

Just putting in the time does not guarantee success. You have to be practicing correctly to actually improve. Make sure you have eyes on the ground often enough to ensure that you are on the right track, and are not ingraining bad habits in you or your horse. Eyes on the ground can be in the form of lessons, an experienced & educated friend that is watching you, or having someone video you, so you can send it in to My Virtual Eventing Coach! 

We want a flexible, supple, and adjustable horse. And how do you achieve that? Transitions, transitions, transitions!

"Have you reminded yourself lately that horses are wonderful? No matter how haphazard or awkward our efforts, horses seem to figure out what we want them to do and happily do it." ~ Jimmy Wofford

"The nature of the sport across the hunters, jumpers, eventers and equitation today is precision. If you don’t practice precision, you’re out." ~ George Morris

"When I finally quit all the fidgeting with my hands and concentrate on my core & legs .... Magic Happens." ~ Joan Dunlap

I hate to hear instructors who just yell, "Push, push, push!" to the riders on lazy horses who need more energy in their gait. To me, this shows a huge lack of experience on the trainer’s part - as this is NOT a productive way to produce forward in a horse, and only makes them more and more dead to the rider’s aids.

Don't assume that just because a Dressage trainer has ridden through the upper levels, that they are riding and teaching correctly. There is a lot of incorrect, "front to back" riding going on out there, even at the top levels. Look for an instructor who rides and teaches in a true "back to front" manner - with quiet hands that receive the energy, instead of being used in a "busy" way to keep the horse's head down and nose in.

"Horses have taught us that progress in learning takes place in an environment of contentment. Fear and tension block success. Boundaries must exist, be clear, and be consistent. Within those boundaries our horses are encouraged to express themselves." ~ Steuart Pittman

Forward and speed are two different things. And balanced speed is not inherently dangerous. But if there is a fundamental problem, speed will make it more apparent.

"If one induces the horse to assume that carriage which it would adopt of its own accord when displaying its beauty, then, one directs the horse to appear joyous and magnificent, proud and remarkable for having been ridden." ~ Xenophon

Since most horses are more narrow in their shoulders than in their hips, you need to be thinking about a slight shoulder fore positioning whenever along the rail or wall. If you allow their left shoulder and their left hip to be the same distance away from the wall on your left, for example, the horse would be traveling with his right hind leg further towards the center of the ring than his right front.

"You cant do anything else until you can get your horse straight and forward." ~ Wendy Evans Harrison 

"It’s normal to lose momentum when pursuing goals. Sometimes this happens because we’re not truly committed to our goals. Other times, it’s because we struggle to hold ourselves accountable for doing the necessary work… but it’s time to re-focus, re-energize, and re-align with your goals and dreams so you can achieve greater success and finish off the year strong!" ~ Jack Canfield

Focus on the horse's hind legs in upward transitions. Look for the feeling that your horse begins to step into the new gait with the hind feet first.

If you want your horse to stay awake, alert, on the aids, and thinking forward in the halt, you have to train him to think that way. And if you have not yet achieved this, don't be surprised if you lose some of these qualities, and the quality of your connection, after every halt.

Think of your leg, seat, and rein aids as communication 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.

"If we ask novice riders how much of their focus is on the horse’s head, most of them, if they are honest, might say 80 percent. But the head is perhaps 10 percent of the horse’s body, so be sure you are not using 80 percent of your focus on 10 percent of the horse. Ride his body and influence it." ~ Kyra Kyrklund

It is possible to have contact without a real connection (in fact, it is quite common unfortunately), but a true connection always involves good contact. The connection involves the horse's entire body… with energy created in the horse's hind legs traveling through the horse's supple body, and into the rider's hands. 

A correct inside bend in the horse's body is evident only when there is a soft, almost loose inside rein.

"You're never going to be perfect, let go." ~ Chris Bartle

"I would rather have heart and desire than ability any day of the week." ~ Tamie Smith

Longitudinal suppleness (which is what gives them the ability to collect easily) is only possible when the horse is laterally supple. Don’t take a horse that is laterally stiff and ask him to collect! You have to improve his lateral suppleness with judicious use of lateral exercises before he will be able to give you true collection.

Always strive to keep the feeling that two thirds of the horse is in front of you. This means staying behind your horse's shoulders, and allowing the horse to have as long of a neck as possible. This allows the rider to have a greater amount of security, and gives the horse the best chance to stay in good balance. 

"The greatest hindrance to driving the horse properly comes from riders stiffening their legs…. The horse cannot monitor tight legs as aids and will sour to the pressure, which he will interpret as a meaningless second girth." ~ Charles De Kunffy

"The forehand is not to be raised by the rider's hands ! This mania of trying to ride a horse with a 'Grand-prix neck', a horse who moves with Training level hindquarters, is abominable." ~ Charles de Kunffy

When you look down, your shoulders follow your eyes and begin to drop downward and forward. This makes it much more difficult for you to communicate correctly with your horse through your seat - often causing you to need to use your reins more than you should. 

"When you think you need a half halt, try releasing first....then aha, there's your real half halt. Don't let the status quo be a heavy hand!" ~ Devan Cottrell

"When my horse tells me he is tired, it’s important to stop and listen to him and not keep pushing so I make him a sour horse." ~ Charlotte Dujardin

When doing movements like turn on the haunches, pirouettes, haunches in, and half pass, even the most experienced riders have to remind themselves to sit over their inside seat bone throughout the entire movement. Consciously thinking about stepping into the inside stirrup every couple of strides during these movements is necessary to avoid any tendency of the rider's weight slipping to the outside.

A horse will respond best to an aid when the rider has the ability to give it smoothly and within the rhythm of the horse's stride.

You drive your horse heavily into your hands every time you lean back even slightly behind the vertical.

The old masters learned early on that riding accurate arena patterns is the key for improving a horse's balance and straightness. Always keep this in mind in your training.

"The rein connection should be like a solid handshake. Don’t have a wimpy handshake. You know what a bad feeling you get when someone gives you a creepy handshake, so don’t give that icky feeling to your horse." ~ William Fox Pitt

A strong back is necessary for the horse to be able to achieve and maintain self carriage and collection for any length of time under a rider. Make sure you don't ask for too much too soon. And be diligent and proactive about strength training and conditioning. 

"Don't delude yourself into thinking that you have light, soft hands, if you ride with loose, almost dangling reins on a strung out horse. That can be done with insensitive hands as well. A soft hand requires the rider to feel whether the horse is softly on the bit, chewing, and whether it responds to a light pressure, in other words, whether it has an active mouth. If he rides with loose reins, the horse can have a dead mouth, which will only show up when you use the reins to stop or to shorten the strides, as it will either let you pull its nose onto its chest, or it will invert, and in both cases it will open its mouth." ~ Oskar M. Stensbeck

If you have a refusal at a cross country jump that offers an easier option, it can be a good idea to take the easier option on your next attempt. You are likely already out of contention with the 20 penalties, so don't try to be a hero, and instead make sure that your horse has a good, positive experience on the rest of the course by taking your time, and choosing the easier options if there are any. Adding more refusals can easily demoralize both horse and rider, causing a setback to their confidence for future events.

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.

Remind yourself to breathe before and after every difficult exercise. Of course you need to breathe while riding each exercise as well! But thinking about checking your breathing before and after is a good first step.

Riders can benefit SO much from discussions about their riding. Riding is as much cognitive as it is physical - both aspects need to be exercised to truly improve!

"When xc is ridden properly it doesn't look like show jumping. They need to stop teaching kids to count strides and start teaching them to use their eyes and their leg." ~ Jules Stiller

"Have you reminded yourself lately that horses are wonderful? No matter how haphazard or awkward our efforts, horses seem to figure out what we want them to do and happily do it." ~ Jimmy Wofford

"I've always believed that if you put in the work, the results will come. I don't do things half heartedly. Because I know if I do, then I can expect half hearted results." ~ Michael Jordan

"Good riders land over an obstacle, go the the next jump and make a good arrangement. Great riders land with their horses already arranged for the next obstacle." ~ Bill Steinkraus

"You see a lot of horses drifting over their fences. There is no such thing as the ideal horse – they all need help somewhere. That’s why the rider is there – to help the horse. You must use your aids to keep the horse from drifting. You must keep operating in the air. Don’t be a passenger, be a pilot. Don’t put your safety belt on as you take off and say – 'See you on the other side!'" ~ Jack Le Goff

The hindquarters are the engine, but you turn the horse by directing his shoulders.

Never forget that the way the distance rides between two jumps changes as the fence height changes. The horse will land further into a line or combination when the jumps are larger, which makes the distance effectively shorter. 

When you ride powerfully forward to the base of your jumps you allow your horse to jump in such a way that is actually the easiest and most natural for him. Building the horse's power right to the base of the jump means that he stresses his hocks less on the takeoff. The horse that is underpowered has to push that much harder to get over that jump. And being balanced with his hind legs well under him means less stress on his front legs on the landing side.

Balance and rhythm go hand in hand. Focus on maintaining an even rhythm, as every time the rhythm changes, the balance changes.

"Your horses are all capable of jumping more than they are asked to do at events and they should be. He has to jump a five foot, nice, well-made fence, if he cannot, he flies too low as far as I am concerned. I am not going to ride a low flier! It is one thing to jump a four foot fence fresh, it is quite another to jump the same fence at the end of a cross country and you come to a big fence at the end. If you don’t have a horse with enough scope, you are in deep trouble."  ~ Jack LeGoff

Always think of pushing your stomach towards your hands, rather than bringing your hands backwards towards your stomach to connect. And if you feel like you must bring your hands back to connect, your reins are too long. 

From Facebook fan Sarah Feathers ~ "When your horse likes to run and/or buck before and after jumps, it is much better to 'hold' with your core than snatch your reins."

A running martingale that fits correctly does not come into play unless the horse tosses its head. It should not be used to keep the horse's head down.

The halt must come from the body of the rider, not the reins.

Doing the same thing day after day can hinder growth. Think about how that might apply to your riding.

You will spend much more time galloping than you will actually jumping when out on cross country. Learning how to gallop well on uneven terrain will help to keep your horse sound, as well as make for successful jumping.

When working with horses, always be mindful of the feedback you are giving your horse at any given time... whether intentional or accidental. When your horse misbehaves, make sure you don't give him an accidental reward by stopping to regroup (which to him is a rest and a reward.) Keep moving, get the horse to do something (anything) well, and THEN stop to regroup if you must.

A horse can become lazy or unresponsive to the aids within a single ride. It's up to YOU to make sure he remains responsive to light aids at all times.

Gridwork and gymnastic lines are meant to teach the horse to better solve problems when jumping. They develop the horse's "eye" for jumping, as well as his mental focusing skills, timing, and judgement. And of course to be more clever with his footwork. Make sure you leave your horse alone through the gymnastic lines as much as possible, to let him learn from the specific exercises you have set up. Your job is to get into the grid correctly - straight and balanced, with the right amount of impulsion for the specific question. And then leave him alone to let him do his job!

"Use a repetitive process to help young horses learn. You may have to repeat an exercise many times but it will be worth it." ~ Eric Smiley

Try to get away from prioritizing how your horse is carrying his head, and instead focus on how he is using his back.

Did you know that horses push upward with their front feet to begin a jumping effort? That is why it is so important that you don't lean forward as the horse is trying to take off. Your weight leaning up the neck at this crucial moment hinders the horse's ability to raise the front end.

Just because you can't see your grass growing doesn't mean it's not. And the same can be said of your progress as a rider. Much of the time it is not noticeable until you stop and look back at where you came from.

"Is the rider able to ride all the movements with a long rein, long with contact, then as long as possible? It is possible to ride piaffe on a long rein when the rider rides 100% with a balanced body, and the horse is on his aids." ~ Christoph Hess

"You can’t ride rhythm into a horse – they have it – you can only ruin rhythm by bad riding. When you let them loose in the paddock, you see that they move well. When you ride, because there is an argument here or there to get the frame or whatever, you can get bridle resistance and that can create unevennesses, and the loss in the rhythm and the tempo. Only a totally submissive, loose horse can really show perfect rhythm." ~ Clemens Dierks

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.

I find that many riders are using bits that are too big for their horse’s mouths. While certainly better than a bit that is too small, when a bit is too big there is too much movement of the bit sliding back and forth in the horse’s mouth. Horses want the bit to be still in their mouths, they don’t want it sliding left and right all the time.

"Limited understanding induces many novice riders to commit the worst possible fault, which is to interfere with the hands to produce a set head position. They manage to get the horse to flex at the poll, either by sliding the bit to and fro in the mouth (sawing), or by constantly closing and opening the fingers. Because of their preoccupation with the position of the head, their hands are never still. Constant fiddling with the reins achieves nothing more than an artificial arching of the neck. The parts behind the saddle, loins and hindquarters, escape the action of the reins and besides this, the continually busy hands interfere with the regularity of the motion of the limbs." ~ Udo Burger

"Dressage is controlled excitement." ~ Erin Sweeney

"I want to make the horse shorter because he is rounder, not because he is shorter, squeezed, jammed." ~ Miguel Tavora

Both horse and rider should learn to love that deep takeoff spot. Otherwise they are an accident waiting to happen. 

"We work a lot on the canter transition: canter walk canter because it is very good exercise to collect and to improve the canter." ~ Miguel Tavora

Some horses like a contact with the reins all the way up until the point of takeoff at a jump, while others prefer to have soft or even loose reins in the last stride or so. Make sure you know which type of horse you have.

Any issues you have at the canter are usually there at the walk too, but just don't bother you as much because you're not going very fast. But it is easier to fix things at the walk! So don’t miss that opportunity.

"The outside rein is like any relationship....if you aren't 'there' when you're supposed to be, you allow people who counted on you to fall.” ~ Becky Rickly

You don't really do yourself any favors when you cater to your weaknesses. For example, if you only like to ride with your whip in your right hand, and it feels odd and uncomfortable in your left - you need to make yourself ride with it in your left hand. And if you are uncomfortable riding amongst distractions or with people watching, you only better yourself by seeking out those conditions.

Problems can only truly be fixed by finding their root cause, and addressing that rather than merely addressing the symptoms. Address the symptoms alone, and they will keep coming back. Or new symptoms will develop.

You should always be a nickel behind the horse's motion when jumping at a high rate of speed.

In your Dressage seat, let your legs hang quietly down - close to your horse's sides for easy and intimate communication, but not tight, which would lessen your ability to communicate in a subtle manner.

When you give an aid, whether it is a half halt or an aid to canter - ask very lightly, and then wait a bit to give the horse time to process and respond. This takes the pressure off of the horse, which lets him think more clearly about what you are asking. This will allow him to respond in a more focused way.

Mental limitations are often much more career limiting than physical limitations when it comes to riding. If things are difficult for you physically, don't give up!

With any related distance, make any needed adjustment early on in the line, and then focus on riding the rhythm and quality of the canter, while patiently waiting for the jump to "come to you."

Keep your horse's back up into the halt by riding each step from behind into your receiving hand.

We must sit in the middle and be centered when riding, even if our horse's one sidedness is trying to make us sit differently.

Frequent quality transitions are the best way to confirm that your horse is listening equally to both the driving aids and the restraining aids.

You have to think about how you can get into your horse's head, to win him over to your side, rather than trying to muscle him around. Horses usually seek where they are most comfortable. Always keep that in mind. 

"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

If you are too much "on guard" and ready for any possible shenanigans from your horse when riding, you might actually cause them. Your horse will feel your state of tension, and feed off of you.

"Counter canter teaches the balance, and confirms the aids, and that balance means collection and self carriage." ~ Waldemar Seunig

"If you want a soft and responsive horse, you must be a soft and responsive human." 

"Today's [Dressage] horses have much more capacity, much more from the conformation, much more basic rideability. So for training it's much easier than those old masters." ~ Rudolf Zeilinger

"You are going to meet a fence one of three ways - short, right or long. Therefore you want to meet it on a stride that the horse can work from - a bouncy energetic canter - then he can add if he needs to and pat the ground, or say thanks for getting me here right." ~  Jimmy Wofford

"The ability to learn faster than your competitors may be the only sustainable competitive advantage." ~ Arie de Geus

The horse's lightness (or lack thereof) will be particularly evident in the downward transitions.

A strong back is necessary for the horse to be able to achieve and maintain self carriage and collection for any length of time under a rider. Make sure you are not asking for too much too soon.

"The quality of a good canter: round, energetic, straight, cadenced, light. You have to feel in the strike off that the horse lifts his forehand without throwing himself forward." ~ Nuno Oliveira

Tightly clamped thighs make you lose your nice deep seat, and can drive the horse's back down into a hollow position.

"As a rider you always want to go on the good side. But you have to do a bit more on the bad side to make it as good as the good side. How many riders want to work the bad side? When I’m teaching, I see everyone wants to go on the easy side. But you don’t want to do so much on the bad side that you then upset your horse." ~ Charlotte Dujardin

"Great horses bring an unquenchable love for the game, and a fierce competitive desire to every competition." ~ Jimmy Wofford

Let the turn into the obstacle be your half halt.

Riders who get the best out of the sensitive type of horse are usually especially good at being tactful. 

"Don't set the horse up when cantering over a pole - allow the horse to make mistakes and learn to adjust its own stride to negotiate the pole." ~ Eric Smiley

You need a short bouncy energetic canter in water. Not just to the jump in, but to any jump out or otherwise related to the water. Getting long and flat in the stride can be especially disastrous at a water jump.

What you are used to doing will often feel right to you. That's why you should make sure that what you are doing is really correct, before you practice that way so many times that it becomes an ingrained habit - one that might be difficult to change.

"Rhythm is more about balance than footfalls. Don't get obsessed with managing the footsteps, rather try to keep the horse bearing weight evenly in the hind end and the feet will fall into a steady rhythm." ~ Suzy Hettich

The evenness of the contact reveals the straightness of the horse.

The hindquarters are the engine, but you steer the horse by directing his shoulders.

A rider's hands can only be as good as the arms they belong to.

"Don’t let him trick you into too much contact. He is allowed to go into your hand, but not an ounce more. Never cover up in training, never one stride with too much in your hand. One ounce too much will build up too much tension; shorten the frame creating the reason to let go of the rein. Don’t accept that when you engage him, he becomes more rigid – bend him in, bend him out, test if the suppleness can match the engagement. Make him looser when you collect him. When I collect, can I keep him supple? If you don’t test him, he’ll test you. Expose him to a touch more suppleness in extension and collection – a little more throughness. If you don’t ask for throughness you won’t get it." ~ Steffen Peters

I love to look for an area in a field where I can do a big circle on the side of a hill, where on that circle the horse has to go down into a little dip in the ground and back up again. This can really help the horse to "let go" in their backs. The canter in particular usually feels loose and free when they come out of it.

"When you do something too much, too long, it’s called drilling. That’s not a good word with horses. If it’s not perfect it's ok. We have tomorrow, we have next week. Don’t be excessive with the horse." ~ George Morris

Always finish an exercise with a proper transition to walk, don't just fall into a heap.

"The more avenues of learning, the more rounded the trainer will be. The more variety of exercises, the more rounded the horse will be." ~ Andrea Benson

A tip for instructors...  When a student has a lightbulb riding moment during a lesson, ask them to explain it you in their own words. This way it becomes even more cemented in their own mind, and you can more easily help them find it again if they lose it.

"Competitive toughness is an acquired skill and not an inherited gift." ~ Chris Evert

Always finish each ride on a good note. Do something your horse does well so he can feel good about himself.

It is possible to have contact without a real connection (in fact, it is quite common unfortunately), but a true connection always involves good contact. The connection involves the horse's entire body… with energy created in the horse's hind legs traveling through the horse's supple body, and into the rider's hands. 

It can be a skill in itself to be able to pick up a quality canter or gallop in a straight line and jump a fence that is a short distance away (as you would coming out of the start box on cross country.) Like any skill, this one will only get better with practice. So this is something to practice at home.

Counter bend is a great tool when your horse tries to bulge against your outside aids. And following that up with a change of direction then further reinforces that aid, teaching your horse to have more respect for it.

"I think the rider's attitude in the ring is transposed to the horse's attitude... I think the difference between the good riders and good trips versus the outstanding trips are in large measure the positive attitude and inspiration that one shows to the judge and the way one  tackles the problems of the course in riding the horse." ~ Michael Page

You have to push YOURSELF to get better, because no one is going to do it for you.

As you complete a halt, lighten your seat slightly to invite your horse to keep his back up underneath you. This will allow you to move off after the halt without the horse hollowing and dropping his back.

A horse can only be straight when they are equally laterally supple on both sides. 

"The idea of Dressage is to be able to slow your horse down while using your legs, rather than by using your reins." ~ Christoph Hess

"No complicated riding before the horses are going truly forward. In dressage, the difficulties are often created by a lack of good basic work (which is the foundation of the house)." ~ Nuno Oliveira

"Riding: The dialogue between two bodies and two souls aimed at establishing perfect harmony between them." ~ Waldemar Seunig

From Facebook fan Judi Martin ~ "Distal dexterity [precise control of your limbs] is dependent upon core stability."

If your horse is not "hot" to your leg, and you therefore need lots of leg to keep him going, how will he ever hear the leg aid that asks for something more, like lateral work or a flying change?

Even the hot horse needs to be ridden forward.

The difference between good riding and bad riding is that good riding is difficult to see. 

A horse's energy flowing through a turn is similar to water flowing through a tunnel. Just as the outside wall of the tunnel is paramount, a good connection on the outside rein is crucial to a successful turn. 

Do not miss the possible opportunity to shorten your reins when your horse changes his balance in the direction of increased collection. If you do miss it, and are riding with a length of rein that was more appropriate to the longer, lower frame that you had previously... you risk losing the amount of increased collection that you had just attained.

"Remember, the conversation between you and your horse must never be dull or inert. It should be, 'Ask, receive, give. Ask, receive, give.' Ask with your body and legs; receive through your body into your hands; give primarily with the hands, but also with your body and legs, so that you can ask all over again, receive again and give again. The give is your thanks. If you don't give, you must ask harder the next time, and even harder after that, until you end up with a dead or resistant horse." - Sally Swift

It is possible to have contact without a real connection (in fact it is quite common unfortunately), but a true connection always involves good contact. The connection involves the horse's entire body… with energy created in the horse's hind legs traveling through the horse's supple body, and into the rider's hands. 

When asking for a canter lengthening or medium canter on a hot horse or one that is prone to tension, it can be helpful to initiate the upward transition with a bigger scoop of your seat rather than your leg. This helps the horse to understand that you want a bigger stride, rather than simply more speed.

With many horses it takes at least 10 to 20 transitions in a row in the warm up to get to the point where they are really balanced, rideable, and listening equally to all of the rider’s aids. Do you do enough in your warm up?

Happy, fresh, relaxed, and supple horses always perform better than horses that are drilled and drilled!

Always use both reins together to steer, especially when jumping. 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.

When a horse is crooked his energy gets stopped up like water in a hose with a kink in it. 

From Facebook fan Kelly Turman-Meyers ~ "The longest paths [in learning how to ride and compete] are usually those people without good trainers. The shortest path is to find the best classical trainer you can and ride as many horses as you can."

"Regularity and rhythm have to go through all the collected work as well. If the horse gets heavy, use the energy more. If you remember this rule, it will stop you making mistakes even if you are not as experienced as a rider. Keep going back to the basics." ~ Jonny Hilberath

In any lateral movement, keep your eyes pointed to the spot that you want your horse to go to. 

"Beginners are not bad riders, they merely lack experience. The only truly bad riders are usually 'experienced' in the poorest sense of that word; those who blatantly and ignorantly bully their horses." ~ Egon von Neindorff

Having sufficient energy in your canter allows the horse to jump more smoothly and easily. Make sure you are truly riding forward!

Whether flatwork or jumping, you never want to look at any time like you would flip off the back end of the horse if someone were to cut your reins.

You must train your horse to understand that he should stay at whatever speed you put him in until told otherwise. Remember that every time you allow your horse to make a decision about his speed or energy level (or don't realize that he has done so), you are training him to make these decisions on his own.

"If the horse has a high opinion of the rider, he will let himself be guided, if not, he will resist." ~ Nuno Oliveira

"If you put a muscle where it doesn’t want to be, it is broken down – not build up." 

So don't go thinking that you are building the right muscles when you force a horse's head into a position. The horse has to be using those muscles correctly to actually develop properly.

Always remember that the hot horse must learn to control his energy, not do without it.

Correct Dressage training will improve the balance, carriage, responsiveness, strength, and confidence of the horse of ANY discipline.

"Working over a single pole on the ground, notice if the young horse prefers to chip in a short stride or stretch for a long stride. Then remember this is the default that they will return to when things go wrong." ~ Eric Smiley 

If you follow your horse's mouth with a consistently elastic feel, he will learn to trust your hand so fully, that he will lose the desire to escape it. 

Too often I see riders asking their horses to be forward and in front of their leg, and they don't get the response they are looking for... yet they move on to the next thing they had planned anyway. Whether the next thing you plan to do is a jump or a dressage movement, your best bet would be to put that on hold for a moment, and really insist that your horse responds 100% to your leg. You won't get much else done without that quality.

Your weight or seat aid trumps your leg and hand aids at all times. So if you are unconsciously giving conflicting aids with your weight/seat and your legs or hands, your horse will usually not do exactly what you expect him to do.

"Concentrate on the transitions, forward and back, build the activity from behind. When you bring the horse slightly back, you still have to push her forward to the hand, you can keep riding as long as you can feel the hindlegs in your hand." ~ Susanne Miesner

"The reaction to the leg is everything. The ability to collect a horse from the seat and leg, not the hand, is quite an art." ~ Debbie McDonald

Many horses are quite responsive to their rider’s gentle voice. Don’t forget to take advantage of this when your horse is tense or distracted.

"There are many different schools of training – the one thing that is most important is the welfare of the horse, the one thing we must concentrate on is producing healthy and strong horses." ~ Emile Faurie

Good shoulder in work will improve the range of motion and sideways reach in your horse’s half pass work.

Make sure you understand the difference between energy and stored energy - it is the difference between speed and impulsion.

"When training a riding horse, the aim is to introduce natural gymnastic work. This is the way to ensure that his joints become more supple and his stamina and muscle tone improve. The horse’s way of going is totally dependent on his muscles and the contraction and relaxation of the different muscle groups are essential for strengthening them. Cavalletti work is very useful for this because it develops strength in particular muscles by asking the horse to move in a specific and controlled way." ~ Ingrid Klimke

It is quite easy to let a poor transition slide by when you are working on something other than the quality of your transitions at that moment. But that will lead to bad habits, and the loss of the gymnastic value of the transition. No matter what you are specifically working on, make every transition count!

"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

"The back is the bridge in the horse, and it can only be there if the hind leg is really working. The rider has to influence the hind legs to build that bridge, otherwise it is a horse in three pieces, back, front and you somewhere in the middle." ~ Francis Verbeek

One of the biggest keys to success is the rider's ability to differentiate between resisting and pulling on the reins.

A good horse will forgive you when you make a mistake - and expects you to do the same.

From member Sharon Fitzgerald ~ "Stopping on the third perfect response (if we are at least 20 minutes in) and getting off is a very effective training technique for solidifying work. Horses have near perfect memory. What I end on is often what I start with the next session. That sets the stage for progressive training. At this point, my horse knows I will vault off if he tries and succeeds at doing what is asked."

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. 

When trying to improve the activity and engagement of your horse’s hind legs in downward transitions, think of a trot in place and dancing your way to the walk or halt.

A horse can turn lazy or become unresponsive to the aids within a single ride. It's up to YOU as his rider to make sure he is responsive to light aids!

If your horse struggles to maintain a consistent rhythm, think of using your breathing to help him stay regular. This is one reason why counting is so useful, as when you count, you will breathe in that rhythm.

"If he puts his head up, keep riding, don’t pull down, he’ll decide it’s not comfy up there…" ~ Debbie McDonald

"The back is the bridge, and the energy is going from the hind end and the hocks over the back through the neck and into the mouth, and then back again." ~ Ernst Hoyos

Turn on the forehand and leg yield can be used to teach the horse that the rider's leg can mean something other than, "Go forward." The horse must understand this concept in these very basic movements before you will find much success with any of the more complicated lateral movements. 

"I like to think of the tension in a Thoroughbred’s body as it seeks to learn the meaning of our aids as an intense desire to please us." ~ Steuart Pittman

"Most of the riders ride with their upper body very stiff – especially their shoulders. If the stomach is in balance and in the position it should be, the shoulders are allowed to relax, and should relax. You need to be loose in your shoulders. As long as the rider is breathing in the upper body he is going to be too tight, too cramped to get the horse to go forward from a relaxed seat. The rider learns to breathe in the lower stomach and everything will relax. The weight will come into the saddle and the horse moves away from the aid of the weight. But if a rider cramps in the upper body, he cramps everywhere and is effectively unable to ride his horse." ~ Ernst Hoyos

From Facebook fan Devan Cottrell ~ "When you think you need a half halt, try releasing first....then aha, there's your real half halt. Don't let the status quo be a heavy hand!"

"The basic techniques, or what they call basics, are more difficult than what comes later, this is the Trap of Dressage. Correct basics are more difficult than the piaffe and passage." ~ Conrad Schumacher

Riding in a position that puts you in perfect balance is obviously the best place to be much of the time. But there are plenty of times that it is better to be in a defensive balance, with your center of gravity slightly behind your horse’s center of gravity (meaning that you are slightly behind the motion), and slightly behind your own feet. There is never a productive reason to be ahead of the motion however.

Circles and basic lateral work offer the best opportunities to work on increasing the horse's understanding and acceptance of the rider's leg aids. 

"Beginners are not bad riders, they merely lack experience. The only truly bad riders are usually 'experienced' in the poorest sense of that word; those who blatantly and ignorantly bully their horses." - Egon von Neindorff

"Dressage is not an easy sport, there are so many variations, but the reaction to your leg, and straightness, are so important. You just don’t see top Grand Prix riders kicking or straining for a result. Don’t tease him, tap there so quick he doesn’t know it is coming. Everything in a horse’s life should be black and white, not grey." ~ Debbie McDonald

From member Jennifer Stankiewicz  ~ "When my trainer tells me to adjust my body parts, it's always with mentally including maintaining where my center of gravity is in my hips instead of just focusing on the body part I'm supposed to adjust."

Always remind yourself that the basic rule of riding is that energy is created with the legs, directed by the seat, and guided by the reins.

"If the horse is straight, not with the haunches in or out, it depends not on the neck, but on the body. The body is from the shoulder and that’s how you get the horses straight, you get both sides in the same length, that’s it." ~ Wolfram Wittig

"It was a really good lesson for me to learn that sometimes to go forward with training you have to go back and fill in the holes." - Katy Barlow

From Facebook fan Mikki Schattilly ~ "I have struggled with my right leg/side since I broke my ankle my trainer had me working on my hip position and my leg got better. It's not always where you think you have the issue that fixes it."

"It is easier for horses to relax their muscles when there is no hand in their mouth." ~ Stefan Wolff

You have to think about how you can get into your horse's head, to win him over to your side, rather than trying to muscle him around. Horses usually seek where they are most comfortable. Always keep that in mind.

"The less we do on cross country, the easier we are on our horses. Learn how to be more still, touch their mouth only when you need too, plan your turns. The lighter we are with them galloping between fences we save their bodies and legs." ~ William fox Pitt

"To become a rider it is not enough to be able to sit elegantly on a horse. Even a good seat and balance does not make you a ‘rider’. To be able to ride you must be able to influence your horse and to extract the best performance from him." ~ Christian Thiess 

Teach the lazy horse to think forward coming out of every corner, in both Dressage and Jumping.

Lateral work can be used to steady and improve the regularity of the rhythm of your horse’s gaits. Particularly with horses that want to rush and/or become irregular, asking for a little shoulder in, leg yield, or a few steps of spiral in or out, can help them wait and find more cadence in their stride. 

If you don’t ride and train in such a way that your horse learns to listen to your seat, you will usually find that you have to use a lot more hand to get things done.

Control the length of your reins by keeping your thumb closed tightly on top of the reins. If you attempt to do so by keeping ALL of your fingers closed very tightly, you will risk tightening your forearms as well.

"If I can open the frame a bit more [meaning a longer neck], it is easier for the horses to work in their body, and in their back." ~ Hubertus Schmidt

From Facebook fan Kristen Wiley ~ "Going forward into the outside rein in the corners really does prevent loss of balance! Who knew?!?"

Studying riding theory will make you a better rider or trainer in many ways. Trainers need a knowledge base broad enough to enable them to apply the appropriate system for each horse/rider combination in front of them. Riders need to thoroughly understand what they are trying to do and why.

Riding the horse with its head and neck low is only beneficial to the horse if there is a connection over the back.

"The outside rein keeps the horse straight, it controls the outside shoulder, it helps in the halts, it must always be a connecting feel. If the connection is too strong it blocks the inside hind leg. The contact must be elastic in both reins." ~ Gill Rolton

The hindquarters are the engine, but you turn the horse by directing his shoulders.

"For me to work with a horse, I have to like their movement, and the expression they have – and I don’t like mares. With a mare only one person can ride them, if you change the riders with a mare you will always get problems. I am not home enough for this. I have to leave horses at home when I go to competitions, so no mares." ~ Ulla Salzgeber

A calm yet mobile mouth means that the horse is light in the hand, and relaxed through the jaw and neck, which allows for easy swallowing. 

"For me, I love hot horses. The hotter and the crazier they are, the better. Lazy horses make police horses. Not interested. When you get to top level Grand Prix and you have to ride three days, the last thing you want to be doing is kicking through the first test." ~ Charlotte Dujardin

"Today is the time of the cheap read. Read the old books. In the next generation that knowledge will be extinct." ~ George Morris

From Facebook fan Kathy Wilson Rowe ~ "The more relaxed I can be, the more relaxed and responsive my horse is.......duh!"

From member Kate Pacey Saulle ~ "When the horse knows more than you, open all channels to listen."

The first few steps of any lateral exercise are generally the most beneficial. So shorter periods of lateral work interspersed more frequently into your schooling is often the most productive.

From Facebook fan Rachel Mackmin ~ "Shoulder control established with outside rein and thigh allow us timid riders to let go of that inside rein! It's so hard to give that inside rein to a spooky horse!"

When your elbows leave your sides your shoulders are even more prone to tension.

"Contact has to be just that, contact. People think 'oh this horse is very light I have nothing in my hand' – this is wrong because then you have no contact to his hind legs." ~ Jean Bemelmans

In a good connection, the rider's hands should breathe with the horse's mouth.

If you are working with a very bold jumping youngster, and have plans to take him up the levels, it is a good idea to have a plan to teach him to be economical when jumping into water and off of drops. This means doing something a little different… and coming back to the trot just in front of your little drops, and bringing him right back to the trot when you land. Doing this in training will produce a horse that will be less extravagant about his jumping efforts off of drops and into water. Which will make it much easier to negotiate the complex combinations that will show up as you move up the levels.

The tempo in the rein back should be the same as in the walk. Don't let your horse rush through the rein back.

In your Dressage seat, let your legs hang quietly down - close to your horse's sides for easy and intimate communication, but not tight, which would lessen your ability to communicate in a subtle manner.

The fastest way to get where you're going is to take your time.

"The quality of the seat determines whether we can even speak of 'riding', or whether the horse simply has to 'deal with' the load on his back." ~ Kurt Albrecht

Thinking about keeping your head up and still throughout the jumping motion will help to keep your upper body more quietly poised over fences.

"The seat and weight aids are supporting aids. They support either a leg or rein aid, or both. Don’t underestimate their significance though. They are important aids, especially in the fine tuning of advanced horses. The leg and rein aids will fail to achieve their full effectiveness without the support of weight and seat." ~ Christian Thiess   

A good horse will forgive you when you make a mistake - and expects you to do the same.

"For me, the walk is indispensible. If a horse is not walking correctly – extended, collected, two tracks with all the lateral work – then he doesn’t show that he is relaxed, supple, together. I do it all the time, with young horses, with educated horses, I do some lateral work in walk, some extensions, relaxation and collection, half pirouettes, all this before I come into the trot. It makes the horses calm, makes the rider also calm, it makes the rider coordinate his aids – now I need more bending, less bending, re-balance this half pass, it is indispensible. Also indispensible are the breaks in-between with long reins and free reins. We should start every session in walk – for ten minutes, it should be walk. Not just free reins, working in walk." ~ Rafael Soto

"A rider interfering with the rein on the way down to fence is fundamentally dangerous." ~ William Fox Pitt

If you ask for too much angle in any lateral movement (more than your horse can handle at that moment,) you risk impeding the balance and fluidity of the movement, which should be your top priorities.

Riders who put in the time and effort to learn theory will go much further in this sport.

Always keep your spine stretched upward when riding. When you slump, your head and shoulders will become "heavy", and your horse will likely become heavy in your hands.

"I haven't counted how many strides that line is, it really doesn't interest me. I care about your line." ~ Chris Bartle

Riders who get the best out of the sensitive type of horse are especially good at being tactful.

The bigger the jump, the more the horse must rock back and lift upwards on the takeoff. Therefore as the jumps get bigger, it becomes even more important that you are poised and patient with your upper body off the ground.

From Facebook fan Joan Childs ~ "One of the best bits of advice I was given many many years ago I now pass on freely to all my students. Your hands must be free in order to use them effectively. You can not pull, push, follow, open or close your reins if they are busy being a source of your balance."

"Dressage is about repetition and correction and being strong with yourself to not let bad habits happen. It’s being on top of every little thing. If you make bad transitions at home because you’re lazy or not really thinking of it, you’re going to make bad transitions in the arena. Then you go, ‘oh, he did that,’ but that’s because you allowed him to make all those mistakes in the first place." ~ Charlotte Dujardin

From Facebook fan Krista Fabregas ~ "On an 18h gangley monster, a custom made saddle makes a world of difference... and ramen noodles provide adequate enough nutrition when paying for said saddle."

"The rider contains the horse with the hip and upper body; arms and legs are aids." ~ Nuno Oliveira

Sometimes you can make your circles better by not working on circles! Work on squares, 90 degree turns, and diagonal lines for a while, and maybe some nose 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.

In just about all situations, the best transitions are initiated from the rider's seat, not the leg or hand. 

"The motto of instructor and rider must always be forward. Forward in the movement of the horse instructed to his care. Forward in order to achieve his aim in the art of training. Forward whenever difficulties appear." ~ Alois Podhajsky

The hindquarters are the engine, but you turn the horse by directing his shoulders.

"Anyone can ruin a horse in a heart beat… and what is happening is this vicious circle of working incorrectly, veterinary need, working incorrectly, more veterinary maintenance, that’s a vicious circle." ~ George Morris

"The horse’s particular, individual tempo must also be coordinated with his particular length of frame. A horse can only set his front foot down on the spot toward which his nose is pointing. Thus, the longer the step, the longer the horse’s frame must be." ~ Walter Zettl

Excellence does not require perfection.

"Good style is effective style." ~ Bill Steinkraus

There should be no joint in a rider's midsection. Otherwise the hip joint doesn't work as it is supposed to.

When riding a Dressage test, riding accurately to the letters and making good use of the corners of the ring shows the judge that you are aware, thinking, and have good control of your horse.

From Facebook fan Lee DiGangi ~ "If YOU breathe, your horse will breathe. Especially true with tense mares."

From Facebook fan Lisa VanBuhler ~ "Every time you ride you are either making that horse better or making it worse!"

Think of the fact that there is a beginning, a middle, and an end to every exercise you ride, and every jump that you jump. In other words, if I just tell you to go jump that oxer, you job is not just to jump the over well, but to do a good transition into canter, get the right canter, jump the oxer well, and then to pull up in a smooth and organized manner.

Frustration is often a part of the process of learning and improving as a rider. Look at it from the perspective that you have been strong enough to move out of your comfort zone., and into an area that is difficult for you. And if you persist with determination, you will get there!

"Sit on your pockets like you got a million bucks in there." ~ Unknown

Technically it isn't correct to be sitting all the way on your back pockets. This can, however, be a good thing for a rider who has a tendency to lean too far forward to think about doing!

Your seat shouldn't stop the horse's hind legs, it should send them actively up into your hand to stop the horse on its hindquarters.

From Facebook fan Sandi-Leigh Norris ~ "Don't bring your stress into the arena. Calm your mind first."

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.

"Forward is your salvation!" ~ Ralph Hill

"It was a really good lesson for me to learn that sometimes to go forward with training you have to go back and fill in the holes." - Katy Barlow

Even if the rider has all of their body parts generally in the right place, they will feel out of balance and out of "sync" with their horse's movement when the shock absorbing joints in their legs are locked and rigid.

From Facebook fan Lisa Davidson ~ "Progress with horses is like watching grass grow - you can never see it happening but the lawn needs mowing every week!"

"There is one way to check that you are on the right way – in the high collection you must be able to stretch them so they follow the bit and they are not stuck up there. In every situation you must be able to stretch them – even a piaffe or a pirouette, even then, I must be able to do it." ~ Hubertus Schmidt

"For your horse to be keen but submissive, it must be calm, straight and forward." ~ Bill Steinkraus

"When the horse jumps, you go with it, not the other way around." ~ Bill Steinkraus

From Facebook fan Jackie Salyer ~ "Ride as many horses as you can! Each one has something to teach you."

"What must the hand and arm be able to do? Yield, sustain, resist. What they do not need to do is pull, because no rider has ever won a pulling contest with a horse. In order to sustain and resist, the hands must be supported from the rider’s elastically braced back and, to the necessary degree, from the support of the upper arm against the side." ~ Bill Steinkraus

Many horses like and do well with a little bit of rein contact throughout the jumping effort. But there are some that are so sensitive, that ANY amount of feel of their mouth at the top of the jumping arc will restrict their form - causing them to either jump with their nose tucked to their chest, or to try to fight the rider’s hand in the air. Both of which will ruin the quality of the horse’s jump. Make sure you know which kind of horse you have!

From Facebook fan Ashleen McCullough ~ "You have to trust in something. Trust your riding, trust your horse, at the very least trust that your trainer knows what you can do. Without trust, you can't complete the exercise (no matter what it is.)"

"The goal of any rider is to have the horse fall in love with your hands." ~ Tad Coffin

From Facebook fan Tammy Parks ~ "When I treat my shoulders like the moveable joints that they are, everything 'comes together' so much better."

"When you come to a jump, the horse is the one who has to decide to leave the ground." ~ Andrew Hoy

"You have to have a little contact so the circle from the pushing aids to the steady contact to the mouth is correct. Even in halt, you still have to have the feeling that the horse wants to go forward – without pulling." ~ Jo Hinnemann

Land from a jump thinking about what you are going to do next. Don't land thinking about what you just did.

I find that many riders ride with reins that are too long, in an attempt to be softer with their hands. This backfires however, because the rider will then have to draw their hand backwards to use the reins. A shorter rein with a forward feeling hand is what usually works best. 

"Use your chest muscles as if you are riding into a strong wind." ~ Mary Wanless

"In dressage everything depends on the rider. The best horse in the world means nothing if the rider can’t ride." ~ Conrad Schumacher

From Facebook fan Elise Vandover ~ "I often tell my students that the outside rein is like the vinyl wall of an above-ground pool; elastic, stretchy and flexible, but enough of a boundary to keep the 'water in the pool.'"

"So long as we allow riders with an incorrect seat, with incorrect aids, to approach horses, then we will only have an accumulation of mistakes. The longer they ride a horse, the more damage they do, and it should be the opposite. The longer a good rider rides a horse, the more glorious the horse gets." ~ Charles de Kunffy

From Facebook fan Kate M. Severson ~ "Sometimes taking a step back, looping the reins, and just letting the horse do its job is the hardest thing to do! I need to let go of my perfectionism and stop trying to always micromanage, especially in the show jumping. Sit up, leg on, and let the horse jump!"

With green horses that don’t yet fully understand the bending aids, or for those who struggle with bending one direction, it can be helpful to bring your outside rein a little away from their neck (to the outside) as you bend them. This makes the outside rein a little more inviting for them to move into. 

"Where it tips over, that positive tension, is if you let the horse get strong in the bridle. Once you let the horse become heavy on the hand and strong in the bridle, it’s not positive any more, because then there is a block. If you can create what we try to create, without heavy hands, without hanging onto the rein, if you can do it with self-carriage, then it looks beautiful. It’s this word, expression, which is a dangerous word because once you put expression into it, like heightened suspension and things like that, then if you have got the wrong rider, or a rider who doesn’t ride with an independent seat, then they use their hands and that’s when you get that horrible looking, jerky dressage. It is something we really work on, to be able to create it, without going over-board." ~ Carl Hester

Every horse you ride can tell pretty quickly if you genuinely like them or not. And it makes a difference.

Horses that tend to hurry need to be ridden at a slower than ideal pace until they are rhythmical and relaxed, and are no longer trying to hurry. 

"'I have time' should be the guiding word especially of dressage riders during the entire course of training and remind him of the fact that the goal of the classical art of riding is to be attained only by the gradual increase of demands." ~ Alois Podhajsky

"I do hundreds of transitions, loads of them, so transitions become like 'pouring cream.'" ~ Carl Hester

If your horse tends to look around a lot when you are riding, keep his attention on your inside leg by asking for an exaggerated bend to the inside. You will know you have achieved putting your horse’s attention on your inside leg when his inside ear looks back at you. 

If you want your horse to truly enjoy his work, it helps to be having fun yourself when you ride. Sometimes when things are difficult, it can be hard to find the fun in that moment. You have to go out of your way to look for it! Your horse will feel the difference if you do. 

"Push him to contact, release and then push to contact again." ~ Carl Hester

"When thinking about collecting a horse--closing a horse from behind to shift his center of gravity further back--many riders only think of closing the horse longitudinally from hocks to bridle. However, one also closes the horse laterally, i.e., from outside leg to inside rein, and from inside leg to outside rein, like an X." ~ Charles de Kunffy

"If you practice being fluid, you eventually will be fluid. If you're casual about it, it will never happen." ~ Joe Fargis

"My coaches insisted that the reins may be used for a thousand things except for two: to inhibit the haunches or to set the shape of his neck." ~ Charles de Kunffy

"A horse's energies are gathered up from behind and by yielding on the reins and giving him the room to step through to the center of gravity, the neck will shape to reflect the activities in the haunches. Trying to achieve collection by working on the horse's neck cuts the horse off in the front, confining him and preventing the hind legs from lifting, suspending and powerfully supporting the rider's balance." ~ Charles de Kunffy

From Facebook fan Firn Hyde ~ "Reschooling a horse with vices and sending it back to its owner is not enough. The vices will return with unguided riding. Only by retraining both horse and rider can the problem be solved."

"Whenever a horse has learned a new movement or a new aid in its basic form, the rider should give him a break and deliberately ride something else for a few days or weeks. When he returns to the movement, he will notice how much more easily the training will proceed." ~ Reiner Klimke

No moment of riding without stirrups is ever a waste of time!

If you fall into using loud aids, and don't have a plan to make your horse more sensitive, you will probably always need loud aids.

The elasticity in your connection should really come from your elbows, not active fingers.

When you find yourself thinking a negative thought about your riding, cancel it out by following it with a positive one. 

Whenever you are facing any type of jump with a ditch in front of it, think of it as a "free" front rail, or a rolled out ground rail. Focus on the top of the jump (ignoring the ditch), and ride freely forward to it in a balanced, rhythmical gallop.

It is very hard to get a horse truly fit in an arena. You need to use varied terrain and footing to build a strong athlete that will hold up to the rigors of Eventing.

From Facebook fan Dana Ferguson ~ "Moving through the levels is really dependent on the bar that you raise for straightness. The more cognizant and careful you are to maintain it, the more the horse can work in true collection." 

"One of the good things about our sport is that while getting older might slow your reflexes down, the knowledge you have enables you to continue to improve, and handle the challenges better." ~ Shane Rose

To help keep your horse uphill when spiraling in on a circle, imagine that you are going up a spiral staircase. With each stride inward on the spiral, grow taller and think about going up an imaginary step. 

Whether on or off the horse, the lower you center of gravity is, the easier it is to balance. So what does this mean to your riding? Keeping your balance point low, by keeping your seat close to the saddle when up off of your horse's back, and your weight sinking well down into your heels, will make you more secure.

"I see photos of even top level riders turning or doing lateral work with the inside rein going backwards, and just want them to see the photos and realize, this is neither bend or engagement, but crooked and blocking the engagement and the ability to ask the horse to "track true" and for the horse and rider to start to learn to collect and carry themselves uphill." ~ Peter Shaw

While a thicker mouthpiece is generally considered to be more gentle than a thinner bit, the horse with a small mouth or a low palate often prefers a thinner bit.

"If you find the half pass challenging, try this exercise:

Ride shoulder-in. Ride a 10-meter circle. Return to shoulder-in for a few strides. Turn the shoulder-in into half pass. This exercise is effective because it breaks down the pieces of the half pass (shoulder-in and the 10-meter circle) and then puts them back together in a logical sequence.” ~ Charlotte Bredahl-Baker 

From Facebook fan Rachel Rogers Laliberte ~ "First you must be able to follow a horse's mouth perfectly before you can add any 'ask' for a frame....because contact comes from the leg."

"If the horse is beautifully ridden and makes a mistake, just do it again, exactly the same, and the horse teaches itself." ~ George Morris

The more impulsion you have at any given moment, the more submission you need. And submission is not the same thing as subservience. Submission is the willingness of the horse to follow your instructions. 

"To ensure correct bend in the haunches-in, imagine wrapping your horse’s body around your inside leg." ~ Charlotte Bredahl-Baker

"Think about riding your horse up and in front of you. Every chance you get, put your hands forward so you can meet the contact out further. Keep thinking about the frame and keeping your horse growing in front of you." ~ Charlotte Bredahl-Baker

"I can really only execute an exercise properly when I fully understand the theory – why and how I am riding the exercise to begin with. For this, I need the relevant knowledge, which is either imparted to me by my riding instructor, or which I gain by reading books, listening to special lectures, watching DVDs, or attending clinics." ~ Ingrid Klimke

"The inside rein indicates direction, the outside rein executes direction." ~ Christine Traurig 

Lunge work provides a sound foundation for your work under saddle. It helps young horses to develop confidence in their handlers, helps them to find their own balance at all three gaits, and builds their strength for carrying a rider. 

Bending and lateral work stretches the outside of the horse's body. As with any type of stretching, increase your demands gradually as the horse becomes more supple.

When you are teaching your horse something new, begin to teach it to him in the direction that he finds the easiest, so that it is a more positive experience for him.

"You must teach the young horse to clearly understand the difference between yielding versus bending on a circle." ~ Christine Traurig

You have to keep your horse straight in the body when you ask for lateral flexion at the poll, in order to actually get true lateral flexion at the poll. 

"The quality of the [rider's] seat determines whether we can even speak of 'riding', or whether the horse simply has to 'deal with' the load on his back." ~ Kurt Albrecht

After your initial halt at X, don’t be in a hurry to move off, just because the judge is watching you. Keep thinking about what your horse needs at that moment. If you need to stand for another second and ask for flexion at the poll towards your horse’s stiff side, for example, that extra moment taken can help you move off with a better connection. However, if you feel like your horse is getting antsy, and wants to move, then it can be best to go forward like it was your idea.

"Use exercises that naturally encourage collection without mentally forcing it." ~ Christine Traurig

"Energy from the hind engine must be coupled with mental and physical suppleness." ~ Christine Traurig

"How can the rider expect the horse to have confidence in his hands when this piece of metal is constantly moving in his mouth?" ~ HLM Van Schaik (Dutch Olympic Medalist)

"Your horse’s desire to go forward must be greater than your need to remind him. But he must stay calm in his mind and loose in his body." ~ Christine Traurig

No one is in charge of your riding except for YOU. 

From Facebook fan Gabby Ballin ~ "Some rides are going to be perfect. Some rides are going to have you wondering why you don't quit riding. When that happens, take a deep breath and go back to something you know you and your horse can do easily."

From Facebook fan Annette Gaynes ~ "The love affair with two point continues, and galloping in two point in the desert has us starting changes as I learned by accident how naturally she does them. So let the horse loosen up and go, even if you're a dressage rider, and good things may happen."

Horses usually add a stride when jumping uphill.

Always remember that horses are herd animals and read the emotional status of their herdmates to know when there is danger lurking ahead. Every time you ride or handle a horse, you become a part of your horse’s herd. When you tense up, he expects trouble. When you keep your cool, he takes confidence from you.

"Every ride that ends in a voluntary dismount is a good ride." ~ Unknown

"Lightness, whose characteristic lies in the elastic and springy flexibility of all joints and muscles, can only be acquired after all resistances have completely disappeared, that is, with the disappearance of all inopportune contractions." ~ Alexis François L’Hotte

"On the whole, there are only few mouths that cannot be taught a good rein contact by giving the horse the appropriate degree of balance." ~ Borries v.Oeynhausen

From Facebook fan Alysa Tarrant ~ "The best punishment for your horse is not to engage, so that he has no good reason to fight back."

The opening rein acts like a vacuum, moving the horse's shoulders easily as desired, especially when supported by the opposite leg and rein.

"To the degree that the horse perfects his flexibility, his obedience increases and opposition decreases. As soon as the horse is completely flexible and through, his unconditional obedience is secured as well." ~ Ernst Friedrich Seidler