The more spirit the horse has, the more difficult he may be to train. But once you have developed a good partnership with the horse, this same spirit will make him a tremendous competitor, who will fight for you when the chips are down.
Pay attention to exactly how you release your aid after your horse responds. The key is to relax and release the aid in a smooth and subtle manner, with finesse.
From Facebook fan Deena Cahill ~ "If your horse is really tense when riding him, try riding while having a short conversation about happy things with someone else. You will be surprised how relaxed your horse becomes when your body naturally relaxes!"
"Look for a genuine coach with real coaching skills rather than a rider who may know how to do something, but not how to teach it. Also, find someone who has solid experience of working with riders of your level." ~ William Micklem
"The hind legs are brought far enough underneath the center of gravity by the rider’s legs, where they are gradually burdened with more of the combined weight of horse and rider for brief moments, which flexes their joints more. Like coiled springs, they push off with much greater elasticity afterwards than unflexed hind legs. This energetic, springy forward swinging creates a very characteristic feeling in the seat (you feel the work of the hind legs as well as the swinging of the back that it creates very clearly, yet pleasantly), which is typical for a gait with impulsion, and which signals to the experienced rider: „Now he is moving!“ He despises, on the other hand, a wishy-washy, unclear trot feeling under the saddle which is caused by dragging hind legs that hardly push off and consequently don’t make the back swing – whereas others seem to love it. De gustibus … No, this is not a matter of taste. One is correct, the other one is wrong! Thrust may be there naturally, but impulsion must be worked out - or better: into – the horse by cultivating the thrust." ~ Alfred Knopfhart
"Before starting the work of teaching the flying changes, the quality of the canter should be well established. The horse should be thinking forward, should accept the slowing and collecting aids and should be laterally submissive. The horse should be straight in the canter." ~ Chris Bartle
"The most repeated mistake is the riders' weight taking off before the horse and often with catastrophic results - The rider that learns to look after the Engine, Line and Balance of his horse on the Approach and allows his horse to make the decisions about where he takes off, repeatedly puts in a smooth and confident performance." ~ Lucinda Green
"It worries me when riders 'clinic hop' or switch from trainer to trainer in search of the magic bullet for making everything go well. Correct training is a three way relationship between a horse, a student, and a trainer, and students have to take some responsibility for their own growth and learning. You can be passively lectured or you can be an accountable student who listens, interacts with her instructor and finds homework to do between lessons." ~ Jane Savoie
"The quality of the flying changes is reflected in the expression, the length of the change, the straightness and the quality of the canter before and after the change. When we talk of changes having expression, we mean that during the stride of the canter in which the change is executed, the canter has a definite moment of suspension. This enables the horse to bring the new inside hind well under the body and to reach out with the foreleg. Expression should not be confused with tension." ~ Chris Bartle
"This might sound too simple, but I am convinced that the most important factor in keeping the horse's will to work day by day is allowing him to live a life as close to nature as possible." ~ Uta Gräf
"It is most important to realize that the topline is not one muscle from the ears to the hocks. There are different muscles that you have to train – the neck, the wither, the back, the loins, the croup and the hock. The muscles of the hind legs are connected directly behind the horse’s ears, if the topline muscles are not trained, the hind legs cannot move correctly." ~ Johan Hamminga
Think of that girth tight against your horse's side… after a while he tunes that out and barely notices it. The same will happen with your legs if they are always tight and clamped on his sides.
The quality of the contact that the horse will give you is largely dictated by the amount of hind leg activity at that moment, and how much the energy from that activity is able to flow in an uninterrupted way through the horse's supple and permeable body into your hands.
"They asked me at the Seminar, how should a horse look when it is coming towards you? I said to them, if you meet someone and they are looking you in the eyes, a little bit proud, nose up, not arrogant, but someone coming to you, giving you their hand, with a very positive attitude. That’s the way a horse should come to you – when he enters the arena, he should say, hello, here I am." ~ Sven Rothenberger
"I find it better to often have short, intensive moments – ten or fifteen minutes – not longer, then a break to allow the muscles to recover. If you want the horse to carry more weight, then you need time for muscle recovery." ~ Johan Hamminga
"The horse should understand 3 things from the rider's leg: forward, bend, move over. Until the rider understands this the horse can't, so they can't get inside leg to outside rein. Most riders/horses only understand using a driving leg." ~ Susan Moessner
"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
"Riders just worry about the horse’s head – but the horse has a hindquarter, a shoulder, and a head and neck. The rider’s lower leg controls the hindquarter, to a certain extent the shoulder is positioned by the legs and hands, and the head and neck are controlled by the rider’s hands, the horse has to think forward and straight." ~ Vicki Roycroft
"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
"Nevertheless the freedom of the shoulders in all gaits is always only the result of elevation, and this in turn is the result of the hindquarters carrying the correct weight." Gustav Steinbrecht
"For what the horse does under compulsion… is done without understanding; and there is no beauty in it either, any more than if one should whip and spur a dancer." ~ Xenophon
"Riders make it so complicated, and they end up with mental overload. If at any stage you have difficulties in your riding, if you take it back to that basic drill: Can I go forward? Can I stop? Can I turn right? Can I turn left? Is the horse responsive to my leg? Am I actually feeling what is happening underneath me through my seat and then responding correctly?" ~ Andrew Hoy
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. Asking for too much too soon can cause your horse to resent his work.
The half pass helps to develop the brilliance of the medium and extended trot, by increasing hip and stifle flexibility, and freeing up the horse's shoulders.
The rider who keeps their weight too far forward at the gallop will cause their horse to gallop on the forehand. When the rider's weight (center of gravity) is correctly above the center of the saddle at the gallop, the horse will be able to more easily gallop in balance, with free shoulders. And it is of course more easy to elevate the horse's front end for an upcoming jump coming from this position.
"When you look at two horses in an arena, on one side the big Warmblood that finds it hard to be short and quick, but has a power jump, or you have the beautiful Thoroughbred that finds it easy to be short and quick, and if you can just get that Thoroughbred to use its body more – get over its past – one is definitely the easiest to ride, one is definitely the more athletic, and that’s the good Thoroughbred. The good ones have that extra leg under them, they are very quick to be able to take that extra distance, they can use the back." ~ Michelle Strapp
"I want to re-emphasize my point that the x-c galloping position I teach is based on scientific research, not on opinion or intuition. Although we are suspended above the ground by the strength and power of our horses, we do not suspend the Laws of Physics when we step into the stirrups. Secondly, one reason given for galloping with a straight leg was that it was "easier for the rider." I find that statement hard to accept. The legendary horsemen that I still strive to copy were dedicated to the well-being and comfort of the horse, not the rider. Finally, there was some mention in the article of finding a visual role model who has the same physiotype that you have. While this is excellent advice, I urge you to choose someone to emulate that rides correctly as well as being of a similar size and shape. Copying incorrect mechanics will lead to mistakes in your technique...and mistakes in our sport can be fatal." ~ Jimmy Wofford
"Correct dressage training, is, therefore, a natural gymnastic exercise for the horse, which hardens its strength and supples its limbs. Such exercise causes the strong parts of its body to work harder in favour of the weaker ones. The latter are strengthened by gradual exercise, and hidden forces, held back because of the horse’s natural tendency towards laziness, are thus awakened. The end result is complete harmony in cooperation of the individual limbs with these forces, enabling the horse to continuously and effortlessly perform, with only the slightest aids from the rider, such regular and beautiful movements as it would demonstrate on its own only fleetingly in moments of excitement." ~ Gustav Steinbrecht
"Suppleness means that the muscles contract and de-contract, and this has to go through the entire horse, it cannot be blocked in the middle of the back, and it also has to go through the rider." ~ Susanne Miesner
"'Losgelassenheit' means suppleness combined with looseness and the complete absence of any tension. It is the prerequisite for any advancement in training. Together with regularity, it is the primary goal of the initial, familiarising, phase." ~ Christoph Hess
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.
"The legs bring the horse to the seat, and the seat brings the horse to the hands. When the teacher says 'shorten the reins' it needs to be translated into: 'engage the hind legs, sit on them, and then take the slack out of the reins', because if you shorten the reins from front to back, the horse will only resist." ~ Thomas Ritter
Most horses jump their best when riders set them up before hand with a balanced canter at the speed appropriate for the exercise, and then leave them alone to let them do their jobs. No micromanaging!
When it comes to equestrian training, it is almost always faster in the long run to take the time to do it right the first time, instead of having to go back and fill in the holes you missed in your basics. This is true for both horse and rider.
