Nearly every rider will experience a plateau at some point in their training. Only those that have the patience to keep a good attitude while pushing through them will ever get where they want to go.
Did you know that your spine doesn't end at your neck?? It goes up into your head! So when a rider looks down, or juts their head and chin forward, they are compromising that stretched up, vertical spine. And your horse will always go better when you ride with good posture!
You don't see too many narrow fences at the Beginner Novice level! Or at least you never used to...
How many of you train your young and green horses over skinny/narrow fences?
Let's say that you have NOT yet trained your green horse over narrow fences, and you find a jump like this on your cross country course at an Event. What would be your plan on how to best approach this fence, to give you the best odds of getting over it the first time? (Click on Discussion Title above to read or join in on this educational discussion)
A good rein connection is a direct line of communication that connects your brain to your horse's brain. When done correctly, he should also feel every nuance of your seat through the reins.
Excessive bend in the horse's neck, whether lateral (usually over bent to the inside) or longitudinal (behind the vertical), disconnects the haunches from the rein aids and allows the horse to remain blocked or locked up in other parts of the body, such as the poll or pelvis.
"The outside rein is like the steering wheel because it executes direction. The rein rests against the neck as the hand is positioned next to the wither." ~ Christine Traurig
Counting each stride out loud or in your head between fences can help you to maintain a rhythm and an even stride when jumping. It can also be a great trick to keep the troublesome part of your brain quiet as you negotiate fences.
"You’re not going to get a quicker reaction from your horse by digging in your spur. If you’re standing on one foot and someone comes behind you and scares you, you’re not going to put your foot higher in the air. You’re going to put it on the ground." ~ Robert Dover
"Body awareness is essential. You must be trained to feel each body part as you’re riding, such as your big toe, or your little finger." ~ Conrad Schumacher
On stretching the horse ~ "My father always said, think of stretching the nose to the sand. Think that as a rider you can always give more and more, the horse will tell you how much he really needs to open up, from the tail, right through the vertebrae, through the neck, really stretched and round like a ball." ~ Ingrid Klimke
The horse shows improved self carriage with more expression and cadence in his gaits, not as a result of the rider doing more, but by the horse doing more and the rider doing less and less.
"Every pull and resistance in the horse's neck originates in the back." ~ Stefan Wolff
So don't try to "soften" the horse's neck or jaw. Address the real cause of the problem - the state of the horse's back, and the activity of the hind legs!
"For riders: It is hard work, takes more time than you have, and requires more money than you thought. You will learn more than you ever thought possible when you began in the sport, but you will never learn it all. You will never be as good as some, but you will probably not be as bad as others if you are willing to work. It is the best thing you could ever do, and even when you fail you learn, and even if you never get a ribbon it is still worth it. Stick it out." ~ Brian Sabo
The national weather service has issued an advisory complete with a mapped out cone of uncertainty for the “potential development of a tropical disturbance” which would be named Fred. Be clear: at the moment it does not exist, but there are indications that it might in the future.
This is a good model of how you should think about riding your horse. As you are preparing to perform a movement, don’t wait until the storm clouds are gathering on the horizon to think of packing a hurricane survival kit. (Click on Blog Title above to read full entry)
To help to successfully maintain the sometimes elusive "forward feeling hands", imagine that you are pushing a shopping cart as you ride your horse forward into the bit.
"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
If you feel like you need to wear spurs when you ride, it would be a good idea to go back to the basics in your training to re-visit the concept of your horse answering your feather light leg aids. EVERY horse can be taught this!
Ten or fifteen years ago the USDF proclaimed it the Year of Transitions. To emphasize that idea separate transition scores were introduced which bracketed lengthenings and mediums both in trot and canter.
Good enough. It’s better than just fading out or dribbling into false collection at the end of a diagonal. (Click on Blog Title above to read full entry)
"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
Secure your reins by keeping your bent thumbs pinched on top, but keep the rest of your fingers only lightly closed. Gripping the reins too firmly with all of your fingers will tend to tighten your forearms.
"Allow your horse to make a mistake, and then correct him once he makes the mistake. If you prevent him from making mistakes, you're preventing him from learning." ~ Jan Brons
Throwing the reins away to the point that they are so loose that there are loops in them is not the answer to solving your problem of being too strong/tense/rigid in the hands and arms. You must be able to keep a connection, and learn how to be elastic within that connection. That is the only way to advance in your riding.
If your instructor is the type that teaches you the reasons WHY behind each aid or exercise used in each specific circumstance, you will become a more educated rider with a greater ability to be productive on your own time. So many instructors do not. And if you have the type of instructor who does not, you are much less likely to become an independent rider.
From Facebook fan Laura Klecker ~ "I’ve been having riders glance at the brim of their helmets when they half halt. The change in their upper body position is remarkable."
