Recent Articles in Tip/Quote of the Day!

Horses are often so quick to bend their necks (which is one of the most flexible areas in the horse's body) in response to the rider's request to either flex laterally at the poll, or to bend in the body. Make sure you have sufficient connection on the outside rein with either request to keep your horse's neck straight.

If you don't have forward, you won't be able to achieve a true half halt. And without an effective half halt, it will be hard to improve the horse's balance. 

"In flying change training, the horse is ready when counter canter is firmly established and horse can easily perform correct simple changes. If the horse offers a flying change early don't punish him. 'What a child knows, it knows'" ~ Reiner Klimke

Using a volte (a 6, 8, or 10 meter circle) before a lateral exercise like a shoulder in, haunches in, or half pass allows you to establish the bend for those movements even before you begin them.

Varying the degree of your half pass can improve your horse’s suppleness from all angles, as well as increasing his responsiveness to your aids within the movement. In other words, while going in half pass across the diagonal, half halt, and do a few strides with a steeper angle (more sideways than forward), then go forward again.

A horse can become unresponsive to the aids within a single ride - if you allow it to happen. 

Both horse and rider should learn to love that deep takeoff spot. If either one is not truly comfortable there, the pair will be at increased risk of falls or refusals.

Practice your two point position.

If you want to have a really solid position over jumps, practice it a lot. 

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.

If you do all of your training on the exact same kind of footing, i.e. either all firm ground, or all sand - you might be putting your horse at an increased risk of possible injury. Training on a variety of different surfaces will develop both the strength and the elasticity of tendons and ligaments, which will help to prevent injury.

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 you don't realize that he has done so), you are training him to make these decisions on his own.

Nearly every rider will experience plateaus in their training. Only those that have the patience to keep a good attitude while pushing through them will ever get there.

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 cut your reins.

Moving the bit in the horse's mouth to keep him from bracing against it is preventing the symptom without addressing the underlying cause.

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, and shows him to yield in that specific part of his body.

“You cannot combat a mistake by making another one. Stay focused in the present and make the round the best you can be.” ~ McLain Ward

“Why not ride your dressage movements out in the open, in the field or the back paddock? Chances are your horse will be brighter, more forward, and focused.” ~ Michael Jung

Always keep the cheeky type of horse busy by giving them lots of little tasks to do, or they may look for a way to amuse themselves.

There are some trainers who teach "lifting" the horse with your hands on the takeoff of the jump, to assist the horse off the ground. This is somewhat of a slippery slope, as the more you offer to lift the horse, the more the horse will rely on it and lean into it. Instead, create the type of canter that will allow your horse to rock back and lift his front end easily for himself. Then stay out of his way and let him do just that. This will help to produce a horse that wants to jump clean on his own, rather than one that needs micromanaging.

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