Recent Articles in Tip/Quote of the Day!

A horse must first be able to travel in a connected long and low frame before a proper higher head carriage can be achieved. If you struggle with lengthening your horse's neck while still maintaining a soft contact - be sure to master this connection before moving on to more advanced work. If you don't all of your more advanced work will likely be incorrect and will lack the back connection necessary for true hind leg engagement.

"Shorter reins generally allow for a better connection and less delay of the aids." ~ Reiner Klimke

If becoming a great rider wasn't hard, everyone would be able to do it. It's the hard that makes it great. 

"Nothing is as impressive or as valuable for the training as being able to control the impulsion and the desire to go forward to such an extent that the rider is able to bring his horse to a standstill from an extended trot or canter without the slightest effort or disturbance. Conversely, departing immediately from the halt into an extended gait is an equal proof of the absolute desire to go forward." ~ Alois Podhajsky

The rider hanging on the inside rein creates stiffness, resistance, head tilting, and loss of control of the horse's outside shoulder.

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

"If you get left behind jumping up a bank, your horse will HATE you!" ~ Jimmy Wofford

"Never move up until you can do the level you are at... in your sleep." ~ Jack Le Goff

From Facebook fan Annette Gaynes ~ "Release as you go past the scary spot instead of holding. SO HARD to do, but makes the horses trust that it's ok instead of thinking you're taking up panicked contact."

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

"You don't win because you want to, deserve to, or have to. You win doing the things you do everyday while simply working to be better, perfecting your skills." ~ Unknown

Spend time on the basics, such as straightness and suppleness, and the harder movements will fall into place naturally.

There is nothing wrong with striving for perfection, as long as you don't obsess about it.

The sport of riding is at least 80% mental. Control of your mind is even more important than control of your body.

Speed magnifies mistakes. Therefore your basics had better be fairly solid before you start jumping at speed. 

If you shorten the reins when your horse is not thinking forward, he is likely to become even more stuck and behind your leg. Always get him thinking forward first!

In a movement like shoulder in, where the horse is likely to try to evade the difficulty of bending his body by swinging his quarters out, it can sometimes be helpful to bring your dressage whip forward, and touch the horse with it right in front of the saddle. This helps to reinforce your inside leg which should be up at the girth.

"The horse has to have independence, responsibility, and tolerance for a variety of distances [when jumping] because you’re going to mess up and the horse has to be able to cope." ~ William Fox Pitt

"I think most riders do not focus on one of the foremost goals of dressage, which is the development of the gaits. To develop the horse’s gaits, the rider has to have a supple, balanced seat and ride the horse from back to front. Only then can you have the horse really through and even on both reins. From there you must ride the horse boldly forward within his tempo." ~ Hilda Gurney

"Most riders know the required movements, but not the directives, and that is what we judges pay attention to. We look to see how the horse is ridden in these required exercises. Is the horse ridden to the contact? Does he maintain rhythm and regularity in all gaits? Does he show a degree of suppleness appropriate for his level? Does the rider keep a tempo that facilitates balance? Even for a simple circle the directives are explicit: 'consistent bend around the rider’s inside leg, placement and control over the size of circle, reach to the bit and the quality of the gait.'" ~ Lilo Fore

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

"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

"I study my horse, and my horse studies me. If I am a coward, he is one. If I am lazy, he is lazy. If I am impatient he is impetuous. If I am lost in thought, how dreamily he pursues his way!" ~ Unknown

"If you keep your hands still, you’ll start using your legs." ~ Ulla Salzgeber 

Every well ridden corner is a suppling exercise, and should be recognized as such.

Trotting into bigger fences teaches both horse and rider to wait for the base of the jump, as well as teaching the horse to use technique and bascule to jump rather than momentum.

"If I ride a bad corner, I’m going to ride a bad movement. The short sides and corners are what set you up for every movement." ~ Charlotte Dujardin

"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

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.

Bounce fences teach horses to be quick thinking — an essential quality in an event horse.

"It’s so important that these horses enjoy every day of their work. Our routine is that we train in the school four days a week. On Monday and Tuesday they work, and then on Wednesday they go hacking on the road, and that means every horse—every horse in the yard hacks. Then Thursday and Friday they do schooling sessions, probably not longer than 45 minutes. Saturday they hack again, and Sunday is a complete day off. They all go in the field, even Valegro. They all have a normal life; we don’t wrap them up in cotton wool." ~ Charlotte Dujardin

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

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 fluency of the movement, which should be one of your top priorities.

"Travers improves the horse’s bend and makes him more obedient and attentive to the calf aid." ~ Ernst Friedrich Seidler

Some horses ride a bit differently when show jumping on grass vs sand. Make sure you practice for both, if there is a chance you will eventually have to compete on both.

"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

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

The horse should feel like the reins are connected to the rider's back/seat/core, not their arms.