Tip/Quote of the Day # 704On the idea of taking risks in the Dressage ring: "Aim for a score of a 7 on most movements, and decide what movements your horse excels at, and push for a bit more on those. Going for 8's across the board can backfire, leaving you with some 4's." ~ William Fox PittTip/Quote of the Day # 703"Speaking as a veterinarian/animal chiropractor, a significant amount of damage can be done, especially to the young or remedial horse, by the use of draw reins. Draw reins multiply the force the bit has on the bars, and therefore act to pull the head and neck in a backward direction resulting in a broken neckline and often hyperflexion which puts enormous tension on the upper neck muscles/nuchal ligament system, and the back via the supraspinous ligament. When hyperflexed the horse is overextended at the lumbosacral joint and is not able to properly bring the hindquarters underneath to allow lift of the back without tension. What you are often left with is a horse moving with a tense back that is unable to properly support the weight of the rider." ~ Kelli TaylorTip/Quote of the Day # 702
Remember that to balance your horse in front of a fence you do not necessarily have to slow down. Many times you simply need to change the shape of the canter stride - i.e. bring the horse into a more uphill frame.
Tip/Quote of the Day # 701Unless you are intentionally working on a specific weakness in a horse that has trouble making longer distances, it is best to school most gymnastic and gridwork with distances that are at least slightly snug for your horse. As the shorter distances will make your horse rock back more on his haunches on the takeoffs, and will teach him to use his body more fully when jumping.Tip/Quote of the Day # 700Turning your toes out beyond your natural conformation will cause you to pinch the horse with the back of your thighs and the muscles of your seat.Tip/Quote of the Day # 699Thinking of steering your horse from the middle of his body rather than his nose will help you to keep all of his body parts under control.Tip/Quote of the Day # 698Horses speak through actions. Try to listen to what they are telling you.Tip/Quote of the Day # 697Make 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 reinforcement of that aid. Tip/Quote of the Day # 696"Our job is to prepare the line and canter, then ride forward to the jump. Riding forward to the jump is NOT accelerating to the jump. There is a difference. When riders got to a longer or shorter distance than ideal, the emphasis should be on the rider staying in the moment and conveying confidence to the horse." ~ William Fox PittTip/Quote of the Day # 695With horses, just like with people, let your actions speak for you. For example, you may think you are rewarding your horse when you say "Good boy" or "Good girl"… but if you don't also release the aid, your horse will not really feel rewarded for their effort.Tip/Quote of the Day # 694"Every transition you ride at home has to be a good one." ~ Charlotte DujardinTip/Quote of the Day # 693Riders often get to sitting crooked when trying to "weigh" a particular seat bone. So when I am teaching, and I want riders to use the influence of their weight or a particular seat bone as an aid, I tell them to "engage" that seat bone instead of to weigh it. Think about engaging your core to press down on the seat bone that you want to engage, while keeping your spine stretched up, and your shoulders level.Tip/Quote of the Day # 692"The goal of our training is to build the horse's mind and his muscles. Suppleness and relaxation require adequate muscle strength. strengthening requires both contraction and relaxation. Blood flow and oxygenation occur when the muscle relaxes. If the muscle is kept in a constant state of contraction, it loses power and strength, and actually becomes smaller. Frequent rest periods, especially for a young horse at a free walk on a long rein, are necessary. The rest periods are not for a rider's fatigue, but to allow the horse to stretch and relax his muscles. The rest breaks will give you a completely new horse. This is the systematic gymnasticizing of the horse." ~ Klaus BalkenholTip/Quote of the Day # 691So often, riders are taught to "lean back" when going down hills and over drop fences. While this is better than leaning too far forward in either of those situations, you must remember that as a rider you are where your center of gravity is, not where your shoulders are. You will be in a better position to be in harmony with your horse going down hills and on fences with drops (or any time you need to be in a defensive position, as in this article), while keeping your hip angle closed with your hips well back.Tip/Quote of the Day # 690The key to riding good "cross the diagonal" movements in the Dressage ring is to ride deeply in the preceding corner, while keeping the impulsion through the turns, so that the energy level stays consistent throughout the movement. Tip/Quote of the Day # 689The more complex the movement, the more the basic foundation is tested. If you run into an issue when attempting a particular movement, always be ready to look back to that foundation to fix it. Tip/Quote of the Day # 688"Although breeders have created a better horse, the market has created a demand for a stronger, healthier, more powerful horse. It's easier to sell a horse that looks like a carefully developed eight-year-old, and not like a three- or four-year-old just beginning his career." ~ Klaus BalkenholTip/Quote of the Day # 687If your horse feels locked and braced against you, you are probably bracing and pulling against him yourself. He will probably never let go unless you do. Tip/Quote of the Day # 686"It's very important, especially in the first two years of training, not to specialize the young horse. Training should include a variety of activities, including trail riding, which is good for the mind as well as building strength with hill work. It should include jumping, either free or low jumps under saddle, including small natural obstacles on the trail, and cavaletti. A variety of work will allow the horse to stay mentally fresh and to enjoy his work. Only when the horse is happy can dressage become art." ~ Klaus BalkenholTip/Quote of the Day # 685If your horse is not "hot" to your leg, and you therefore need lots of leg to keep him going, how will he ever hear the leg aid that asks for something more, like lateral work or a flying change?Tip/Quote of the Day # 684"Your corners and short sides are what make your movements. Nine times out of ten, you have to do something out of a corner. If you ride a bad corner, you ride a bad movement." ~ Charlotte DujardinTip/Quote of the Day # 683Even the stiffest horse can reach around and bite at a fly on its rump. The neck is already one of the most supple areas of the horse's body, and does not need any further suppling. Horses are also naturally supple in the poll and jaw. What we perceive as stiffness in these areas is simply tension and resistance to our aids. We must encourage the horse to relax in those areas, but should not attempt to "work" those areas to force suppleness. The horse primarily needs to become supple in the mid section of the body, between the withers and the croup. So that is the area you should focus on in your suppling work.Tip/Quote of the Day # 682Train amongst distractions if you want to be able to perform with them.Tip/Quote of the Day # 681When jumping on rolling terrain, be careful that you do not underestimate the effect of the terrain on your horse's stride and impulsion level. Tip/Quote of the Day # 680“You should always ride travers after the shoulder-in and not as often and long.” ~ Michael JungTip/Quote of the Day # 679Always have a plan when jumping. Each exercise should have something to teach your horse. Don't waste jumps by jumping simple jumps with no purpose - other than for warm up, or if the horse needs them for building confidence. Tip/Quote of the Day # 678"People can make looking after horses so complicated. They're happiest out in the field, living out and being worked in the field. Whereas people keep them in and feed them so many additives that it's ridiculous. They feed them this and that and so many things. There's nothing like good green grass out in the field." ~ Mary KingTip/Quote of the Day # 677Riding backwards (too much hand and/or not enough leg) when the horse is "having a look" at a fence can easily cause a stop.Tip/Quote of the Day # 676To be a great cross country rider, you have to be able to ride aggressively when needed - yet you have to be patient at the same time. You have to be assertive and positive without actually hurrying the horse off the ground.Tip/Quote of the Day # 675The most successful riders stay very much "in the moment", and are very attuned to feeling exactly what their horse is doing at any given moment.Tip/Quote of the Day # 674A very common mistake riders make when performing the movements haunches in, half pass, or turn on the haunches is sitting too much towards the outside of the movement. To prevent this, think about stepping into the inside stirrup at the beginning of each of these movements, and again every couple of strides if necessary.Tip/Quote of the Day # 673When jumping a fence that is a part of a complex where you feel like you need extra control, don't make the tempting mistake of hanging onto your horse's mouth in the air to try to keep that control. If you interfere with your horse's jumping motion in the air, not only will you ruin his form over the jump, but he will likely resist you, leaving you finding yourself with even less control on the landing. The more perfectly you go with your horse's motion over the jump, the more quickly you will be able to have instant communication and control upon landing.Tip/Quote of the Day # 672Don't just do trot and canter lengthenings to practice those movements for the test - they are a very important tool for increasing hind leg activity! Tip/Quote of the Day # 671If you get to riding with your reins a bit too long, you will be tempted to use your hands in a backwards way. It is easier to make a connection with truly forward feeling hands when your reins are sufficiently shortened.Tip/Quote of the Day # 670"Rein aids don't work if your horse is not ahead of your legs." ~ Yvonne BarteauTip/Quote of the Day # 669With horses that get strong or play up after fences, it can be a good exercise to halt after each fence to instill discipline. And whenever a horse is difficult to halt, I add a rein back. This will teach them that they need to be ready to halt when they land, and helps to create a situation where they are waiting for you on the landing side of the fences.Tip/Quote of the Day # 668Confidence is something you need to build for yourself. It is something you have to actively pursue and proactively work to maintain.Tip/Quote of the Day # 667In your Dressage warm up, it is most helpful to work on the specific exercises which best improve your connection, rather than the particular movements that are in your test. If you can create a good connection in the warm up, the movements themselves will be easy. Tip/Quote of the Day # 666Moving up to a jump by pushing the horse into a longer stride or frame will change the horse's balance at a time when he most needs it to stay the same. Instead, create a canter with sufficient impulsion early on in the approach, and ride forward within the stride and balance that you have to maintain that balance. Tip/Quote of the Day # 665When things are not going especially well in training, you must go out of your way to find things to reward. This will help to keep your horse's level of confidence in you as high as possible, and will motivate him to keep trying for you. Tip/Quote of the Day # 664Don't lose your good score for your trot or canter lengthenings by not performing a clear, precise, and active transition back to the working gait at the end of the lengthening. Tip/Quote of the Day # 663Sally Swift gives a good explanation about why the best riders are often not the best instructors: "Many of the great riders have the gift of natural balance and coordination so that they never have to question how to do anything with any part of their body. If they know what they want to do, their body will respond. Because of this innate coordination, they have not needed to know how one makes a leg move, or how one breathes, or how one balances. It just happens. Therefore it is usually difficult for them to explain to the rest of us less-coordinated mortals how to move some particular part of our bodies."Tip/Quote of the Day # 662Don't feel like you have to stick with the same movements or even the circle size of the Dressage test you are about to do in your warm up. It can be very helpful to utilize some smaller circles and lateral work (if you and the horse are both capable) in your warm up, to increase your level of engagement and improve your connection. Tip/Quote of the Day # 661"Take your time, but don't waste time." ~ Arthur KottasTip/Quote of the Day # 660
"Connection is often misunderstood. The horse must be taught to go from the seat and leg to the hand for it to be correct. But some riders will try to force it by working their hands and arms to 'work the horse’s neck back and forth to achieve that lightness,' which is incorrect." ~ Lilo Fore
Tip/Quote of the Day # 659"Under no circumstances (except to save your life) is see-sawing on the bit ever allowed. Nor is sneaky jiggling. The bit should only be moved by the chewing action of the horse." ~ Catherine Haddad StallerTip/Quote of the Day # 658Throwing 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 keep a connection, and learn to be elastic within that connection. That is the only way to advance.Tip/Quote of the Day # 657
"At the beginning of every ride you must be willing to explain 'yet again' to your horse what you expect of him with sympathy and empathy. Dressage is our dream, not theirs." ~ Yvonne Barteau
Tip/Quote of the Day # 656It can be very helpful to keep all of your Dressage test sheets together, and to take the time to sit down and review them on a regular basis. This can remind you of the type of comments that you regularly receive, which you can use to help point you towards what you need to work on. Tip/Quote of the Day # 655Shoulder in to the right really strengthens the right hind leg, which will help to improve the horse's ability to do haunches in and half pass to the left. And vice versa.
