Tip/Quote of the Day # 854"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 SmileyTip/Quote of the Day # 853Do not make the mistake of always practicing over perfect distances at home. Sometimes practice meeting a jump on a half stride on purpose... and learn to do it well. This will make you and your horse a safe pair out on cross country. Tip/Quote of the Day # 852 Stay quiet with your aids and let the exercise teach the horse.Tip/Quote of the Day # 851When you have an awkward fence on course, more often than not you were losing some quality of the canter on the approach. Keep the quality of the canter the same, and all of the jumps on your course will ride in a similar manner.Tip/Quote of the Day # 850“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 DujardinTip/Quote of the Day # 849When working with a horse that does not have a great natural lengthening, make sure that you don't ask for too much too soon. Compare this to a singer who is training their vocal cords… they gradually expand their range until they hit their limit. This helps to prevent them from overextending themselves, and builds up confidence in their abilities. Tip/Quote of the Day # 848"Don’t set the horse up when cantering over a pole — allow the horse to make mistakes and learn to adjust its own stride to negotiate the pole." ~ Eric SmileyTip/Quote of the Day # 847“We get the horses as loose as possible before we ask them to do more work in their bodies. if they’re not loose in the beginning, they’re not going to be loose and supple in their proper work.” ~ Charlotte DujardinTip/Quote of the Day # 846Your 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.Tip/Quote of the Day # 845Always perform the halt and salute in your Dressage test with aplomb. It shows the judge that you have confidence, and it makes for great show photos!Tip/Quote of the Day # 844If you are riding with short stirrups in a saddle that was not really designed for shorter stirrups (i.e. an all purpose saddle), you will usually find that your leg gets pushed backwards when landing over fences.Tip/Quote of the Day # 843The relationship between horse and rider is somewhat similar to a marriage. Don’t let familiarity trick you into doing the same thing over and over.Tip/Quote of the Day # 842“Bad jumping can happen at any speed. I have watched some of the most brilliant, stylish jumping I have ever seen at the Maryland Hunt Cup, where the fences vary from 4 feet to 4-foot-10 in height and the average speed for this 4-mile race is about 800 meters per minute. At the same time, I have watched novice eventing riders skidding around like a hog on ice at 350 mpm. The thing I want you to remember is that speed and balance are not mutually exclusive." ~ Jimmy WoffordTip/Quote of the Day # 841
Give your brain something positive to think about when you are worried.
Tip/Quote of the Day # 840Always introduce new exercises in a slow and progressive manner, so you are building confidence and not inviting problems.Tip/Quote of the Day # 839“When you circle the arena to go in, think to yourself, 'Here I come Mr/Mrs Judge – just you watch this’ " ~ Heath RyanTip/Quote of the Day # 838Keep your elbows to your sides to help your horse feel your seat aids through the reins. This will also help you to use your core properly.Tip/Quote of the Day # 837"Riders of all levels must allow their horses to make their own decisions when jumping, as even good riders don’t always get it right." ~ Eric SmileyTip/Quote of the Day # 836Things will not get better on their own... it's up to us as riders to ensure progress.Tip/Quote of the Day # 835"If you want flawed results, go ahead and ask for collection before your horse is relaxed. This is a pretty certain way to produce a horse who needs his mouth strapped shut." ~ Jimmy WoffordTip/Quote of the Day # 834Both horse and rider need to be fit for this sport, as "Fatigue makes cowards out of us all."Tip/Quote of the Day # 833"Indeed, in most horses, it is only one part of the 'machine' that is working, i.e. the limbs – the neck, the back, the loins, the croup remain uninvolved, because they are braced and stiff. Is it a surprise under those circumstances, if the horse wears out his legs early on?" ~ J.-C.Dubois BoisgilbertTip/Quote of the Day # 832When working on flying changes, don't be tempted to ask for the change on the diagonal just because you are coming to the end of it and therefore running out of room. Always try to wait until you feel that your horse is balanced, straight, and ready to change. It is better to stay in counter canter than to ask for a change when you know your horse is not properly set up for it.Tip/Quote of the Day # 831Make sure there is a slight time lapse between a light aid and a correction. This gives the horse a chance to respond to the light aid - and it gives him a chance to LEARN from the correction.Tip/Quote of the Day # 830“The worst mistake a rider can make is to fail to discover and accept a horse’s personality. By oversimplifying horses and lumping them all together the rider risks ‘breaking’ them and taking away their spark.” ~ Klaus BalkenholTip/Quote of the Day # 829When turning in the air over jumps, don't start your turn until the horse is at the top of the 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.Tip/Quote of the Day # 828"Only a horse that goes on a light contact can be attentive..." ~ Steffen PetersTip/Quote of the Day # 827"Never ceases to amaze how many riders think they can get the neck forward by tweaking and twiddling with the reins." ~ Peter DeCosemoTip/Quote of the Day # 826"You are going to meet a fence one of three ways - short, right or long. Therefore you want to meet it on a stride that the horse can work from - a bouncy energetic canter - then he can add if he needs to and pat the ground, or say thanks for getting me here right." ~ Jimmy WoffordTip/Quote of the Day # 825"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. StensbeckTip/Quote of the Day # 824"Good riders land over an obstacle, go the the next jump and make a good arrangement. Great riders land with their horses already arranged for the next obstacle." ~ Bill SteinkrausTip/Quote of the Day # 823Your horse should always be "ready" for a halt as you canter along between jumps. If he is low and heavy, and you know it would likely be hard to stop him smoothly at any point, then you really need to halt and fix it. Show him through the action of reinforcing them that he should not ignore your subtle half halts. Tip/Quote of the Day # 822On jumping around from trainer to trainer, "Any system beats no system." ~ Jimmy WoffordTip/Quote of the Day # 821“First, [the rider] has to be ambitious. Mentally, he has to be well balanced and consistent. He has to be tougher on himself than on the horse. If he gets after the horse too much, he will not get far. One must really be able to push oneself harder than one ever pushes a horse. Then, success will follow…” ~ Ernst HoyosTip/Quote of the Day # 820
Cross country riders always need to have a "plan B" in their heads while on course. And sometimes a plan C and D as well.
Remember that whatever you are used to doing usually feels right to you. You will often have to step out of your comfort zone if you wish to improve.
Tip/Quote of the Day # 818Walk is the "explaining" pace, so whenever possible ride every exercise in the walk first. Tip/Quote of the Day # 817"When the rein back is started on demand and carried out without haste, it is a magnificent exercise which should be repeated frequently." ~ Nuno OliveiraTip/Quote of the Day # 816You should be able to change the amount of bend within your lateral work, or in a movement like counter canter. Ask for a little more, then ask for a little less. This will help to keep your horse lighter, straighter, and more responsive.Tip/Quote of the Day # 815Think about how a wind up clock or toy works. When you wind up a wind up toy, you coil the spring with a key, and then the toy moves forward with energy until the spring is completely relaxed. When the toy is moving on its own, because there is still some energy left in that spring, that is similar to a horse moving with impulsion.Tip/Quote of the Day # 814If the double bridle is used too early in training, the horse can easily learn to overbend or overflex at the base of the neck while remaining stiff at the poll. This causes a disconnect, preventing a true connection.... which once established can be quite difficult to correct. Tip/Quote of the Day # 813"Only allow the horse to stretch after the horse is off its forehand" ~ Reiner Klimke Tip/Quote of the Day # 812If your horse is spooky, be careful to make sure he never feels punished for spooking or getting tense. If you get mad, pull, kick, or do anything else that can be perceived as a punishment, the anxiety that will be created will usually make your problem worse.Tip/Quote of the Day # 811"Once the resistances of the muscles are overcome and the animals are balanced, all horses have soft mouths, as the school horses prove, often with very flat bars. If the muscles resist with full force, if the hindquarters thrust more than the forehand supports, etc., the horse will always seek his lost balance in the hand. And then all of them have hard mouths, like race horses who take an arm-numbing contact in spite of the sharpest bars and bits. Thus, the hard-mouthed horse becomes soft-mouthed, when he develops the strength to carry his neck, and the soft-mouthed horse becomes hard-mouthed under a weak rider." ~ Friedrich v.KraneTip/Quote of the Day # 810When riding with stirrups that are too long, the temptation to raise your hands, stand up, and put your weight directly against your horse is almost irresistible.Tip/Quote of the Day # 809To alter a person's (or a horse's) habits, you almost always have to shift something in their environment.Tip/Quote of the Day # 808Bending and lateral work stretches the outside of the horse's body. As with any type of stretching, increase your demands gradually as the horse becomes more supple.Tip/Quote of the Day # 807Horses with back or SI issues often do best with a canter very early on in their warm up routine.Tip/Quote of the Day # 806If you think you can (or cannot) do something, your horse will usually believe you. Tip/Quote of the Day # 805"Ride around the corner in an active, short canter, and let your horse do the jumping." ~ Andrew Nicholson
