Recent Articles

If you let your hot horse train you to take your leg off, they will likely be over-reactive when you need to put your leg back on to give an aid.

"The techniques you use for relaxation, stretching, walk breaks, things like that, a more competitive or nervous rider doesn’t pay enough attention to that. They think, 'I’ve got a test to do so I won’t keep stretching him until he’s relaxed, I’ll just get on with it.' That’s pressure." ~ Carl Hester

Any use of the inside rein can easily shorten the horse's neck.

"There are many horses that can only be taught through lateral bending, especially second degree bending, to let the rein aids go through to the hind legs." ~ Sigismund v. Josipovich

"If the calves are too far forward, the rider is unable to bring the horse under the centre of gravity." ~ Ingrid Klimke

"Once you have ridden cross country with short stirrups you will never ride cross country with long stirrups again." ~ Chris Bartle 

If you get to riding with your reins a bit too long, you will be tempted to use your hands in a backwards way. It is easier to make a connection with truly forward feeling hands when your reins are sufficiently shortened.

It is very important to treat each horse... and each situation, individually. When problems arise - sometimes the best answer is time, patience, and encouragement. While at other times, strong corrections might be in order. A big part of success in interacting with horses is being able to read each situation accurately. And that comes only with experience.

Shoulder in to the right engages and strengthens the horse's right hind leg, which will help to improve their ability to do haunches in and half pass to the left. And vice versa.   

From Facebook fan Jenn Elizabeth ~ "The biggest thing I can do to help my horse improve his form is improve my own."

Just putting in the time does not guarantee success. You have to be practicing things correctly to improve.

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

In hand work can be a great tool to work on teaching the horse the concept of moving away from pressure. When the horse knows how to yield to pressure anywhere on his body on the ground, you will be able to apply it to under saddle work.

When you realize that you are meeting a jump on an awkward distance or a half stride, it can be challenging to keep a calm, clear head! Give yourself something constructive to think about, and tell yourself to just stay still and keep riding your horse's hind legs all the way till the takeoff. 

"Cross-country saddles should have room for five fingers breadth behind your seat. This allows room for you to slide your seat backwards. This will give you a 'safe seat'. The ability to do that depends on the length of your stirrup--they must be SHORT."  ~ Chris Bartle

"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

Comfort is the enemy of achievement.

Think of engaging your hamstring muscles at the back of your thigh, to help your leg become part of your seat in Dressage. 

"The hand should be a filter, not a plug or an open faucet." ~ Nuno Oliveira

"You do not need much skill to maintain a good position... if your horse is not moving." ~ Jimmy Wofford

Regularity in the gaits can only be achieved when the movement goes through the horse's relaxed and swinging back.

When riding Dressage, we want our horses to reach and push forward through the neck into the rein connection. This happens as a result of the horse's back engaging and lifting... similar to a nice round bascule over a jump. 

It is impossible to create a correct rein connection when the horse is not truly thinking forward. You must create a situation where the horse wants to move forward into the connection.

"The rider's seat is a 'transformer' whose role is to modify the energy emitting from the horse's haunches." ~ Charles de Kunffy

The more a horse relaxes within a lateral movement, the more gymnastic value the exercise will have. 

When riding, always be true and present in the moment. You need to react to what is actually happening underneath you, rather than you what you are expecting to happen.

Take your time when riding transitions. Many riders seem to rush through them just to get them done. Be conscious of preparing for each one, and feeling all of the details while you are making the transition - being ready to abort the transition if things start to go wrong. 

"Connection is the mirror of the entire horse, it’s the mirror of his balance, and it is a mirror of the degree of collection the horse is able to offer at this point in time." ~ Susanne Miesner

The half halt works best when the rider has the ability to apply it within the rhythm of the horse's stride.

When jumping into water, always think about the depth of the water to decide the speed of your approach. The deeper the water you are landing in at your water jump, the more slowly you must approach the fence into the water.

If YOU are stiff in your back or hips as a rider, your horse will probably tend to move with a stiff back.

On the horse being ridden with conflicting aids - "Some horses can cope while others develop serious behaviour problems. As riders and trainers, we don’t always notice because horses don’t yelp and scream, they just show conflict behaviour. As humans, we often interpret that as ‘naughty’ behaviour. Perhaps one day it will be part of every horseman’s tool box to identify conflict behaviour in all its forms and see the horse as an entirely blameless participant in the training process." ~ Dr Andrew McLean

"If the calves are too far forward, the rider is unable to bring the horse under the centre of gravity." ~ Ingrid Klimke

"This afternoon I decided to work on turn on the forehand after watching Anne Kursinski's demonstration during the George Morris clinic. My aha! moment is when I realized that I was allowing 'good enough' instead of 'right'! Once I persisted until right he got it in half the time!" ~ Shannon Trae Proul

When turning in the air over jumps, do not start your turn until the horse is at the top of the jumping arc. In other words, once the horse has lifted both shoulders fully, and the knees are up, it is safe to turn. Turning before that moment can cause a loss of balance, and make the horse jump less cleanly.

"The jump is the product of your last three strides, always." ~ Michelle Strapp

"When you’re riding across country, any problems that you have in the showjumping will become magnified because the difference between cross country and show jumping is the speed that we travel at, the surface that we run on, and the fact the fences don’t come down. So we definitely need control." ~ Andrew Hoy

It can be a clever time to think about working on the beginning of a piaffe, or "half steps", when you are out hacking and your horse gets a bit excited and "prancy." Take advantage of the moment, to ask them (and allow them) to do what they are offering you in their excitement. And don't forget the reward.

It is never wise to add pressure to the situation when your horse is already tense. Make careful use of quiet, soothing exercises that the horse is already familiar with to help him to relax, rather than pushing for anything difficult.

The more complex the movement you are riding, the more your basic foundation is being tested.

Your basics are the base of your success. The stronger your base, the further you will go.

Since Eventers are very often adrenaline addicts, the more nervous you feel before you start off on cross country, the bigger the rush afterwards!

In a good, productive stretch - active energy travels over the horse's topline and into the rider's hands. If you don't feel at least a little power coming from behind up into your connection, your stretch is not correct! 

"School figures should not be regarded as an end in themselves but rather as a stage in a particular aim, that of control of the horse. Initially, they will be practiced in the school but an early opportunity should be taken to perform them outside so that the rider may learn to cope with extraneous influences which can distract his horse and prevent it concentrating (for example, his horse not wanting to leave its stable or move away from other horses.)" ~ W. Muessler

"Your riding needs to take into account your horse's personality." ~ Jimmy Wofford

"Push yourself away from your hands." ~ Stephen Clarke

Ninety eight percent of the problems that riders have with their horses are actually pointing to a problem with their basic foundation.

Experience is a hard teacher because it gives the test first, and teaches the lesson afterward.

"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

Correct Dressage is the best physical therapy for horses. When done well, it brings out the best movement the horse is capable of - creating a straight and supple athlete, that is therefore more likely to stay sound.