Tip/Quote of the Day # 203Always try to think ahead and set yourself up for success. Prevention is better than correction.Tip/Quote of the Day # 202Sometimes do your flatwork in your jumping length stirrups, and mostly up off of your horse's back. It is harder to be as effective on the flat this way, but as with most things, you will only get better at it by working on it.Tip/Quote of the Day # 201"If horse isn't even in both reins don't keep pulling the heavy one - work to put the weight in the empty rein" ~ Carl Hester
This is so counter intuitive for most riders, but it is the key to success!Tip/Quote of the Day # 200If you figured everything out today, then what would would you do tomorrow? Enjoy your process of being a "work in progress"!Tip/Quote of the Day # 199Use the corner after the jump to get your horse back to you if necessary. Use the corner on the turn into the next jump to elevate the horse's front end.Tip/Quote of the Day # 198Intelligent horses need plenty to occupy their minds. And poles on the ground provide them with something visual to focus on. They help to improve attention, focus, awareness, and confidence.Tip/Quote of the Day # 197From Facebook fan Carrie Allen ~ "What makes a good coach? Someone who can put a 'feeling' into words which make sense when you read them…"Tip/Quote of the Day # 196Work on a horse and that horse gets better. Work on yourself and all your horses get better.Tip/Quote of the Day # 195From our very own blogger Shannon Elizabeth ~ "There is always a light at the end of the tunnel, sometimes you just have to dig a bit further to find it."Tip/Quote of the Day # 194"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 # 193"The goal is not to raise the neck, it is to lower the hips .” ~ DecarpentryTip/Quote of the Day # 192In the Dressage ring, you must look at the corners as your friend! Each corner is an opportunity to improve your horse's carriage and connection.Tip/Quote of the Day # 191Most problems can be solved by riding forward. Tip/Quote of the Day # 190Tension meeting tension = double the tension. If your horse becomes tense, you must be able to stay relaxed, or you will make it worse. Tip/Quote of the Day # 189In a correct circle, you should be slightly turning continuously to the exact same degree from beginning to end. No corners or flat sides!Tip/Quote of the Day # 188When a horse has true impulsion, they become easy to steer and keep straight. And being able to perform perfect geometrical figures (the ability to be straight on curved lines) proves your ability to maintain a consistent level of impulsion.Tip/Quote of the Day # 187Get off the rail to verify your horse's straightness. Use the quarter lines and center lines. Or better yet… go out in a big field!Tip/Quote of the Day # 186Your horse can feel whether or not you have a strong, detailed plan of how to ride your jumping course or dressage test. And he will gain confidence in you if he feels you are confident in your plan. Tip/Quote of the Day # 185The horse needs to understand that he should not go against the bit, but we do not want him to think that he should "give" to the bit. When the horse thinks he should give to the bit, he merely poses in a false frame when he feels pressure on the reins. What we want is the horse happily moving INTO the rein connection. He should literally "chase" the bit, wanting to connect with it as if it were a carrot. Tip/Quote of the Day # 184Part of being a good cross country rider is having the ability to ride forwardat the fences even when your horse is strong. Riding backwards at cross country complexes can cause all sorts of problems.Tip/Quote of the Day # 183The best riders are masters at self control.Tip/Quote of the Day # 182The 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.Tip/Quote of the Day # 181There is a time for being in perfect balance, and a time for being in a defensive balance (with your center of gravity behind your feet) - but there is never really a time where it is productive or beneficial to be in a position where your balance point is ahead of your feet.Tip/Quote of the Day # 180It is possible to have contact without a real connection (in fact it is quite common, unfortunately), but a true connection always involves good contact. The connection involves the horse's entire body… with energy created in the horse's hind legs traveling through the horse's supple body, and into the rider's hands.Tip/Quote of the Day # 179You will get more of whatever behavior you tolerate - both from horses and from people.Tip/Quote of the Day # 178Ride forward within the stride you have to the jumps, vs pushing horse out of its stride and disrupting balance.Tip/Quote of the Day # 177"In training we must be encouraged to first establish the principles and only then to tackle the details." ~ Reiner KlimkeTip/Quote of the Day # 176"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 PodhajskyTip/Quote of the Day # 175"Your back must stay strong in a canter/walk transition, but your hands must stay low so that your horse will stay through." ~ Stephen ClarkeTip/Quote of the Day # 174"Riding must be a totality of exercises that bring the horse into the hand without leaning onto it." ~ Nuno OliveiraTip/Quote of the Day # 173There is usually an opportunity hidden within every challenge. It pays to look for it. Tip/Quote of the Day # 172Keeping an even rhythm and a consistent pace will allow the horse to make his own adjustments in front of the fence.Tip/Quote of the Day # 171If you are not willing to put in the effort, don't expect the results.Tip/Quote of the Day # 170The elasticity in your connection should really come from your elbows - not active fingers.Tip/Quote of the Day # 169"Impulsion has nothing to do with speed. Impulsion begins by the mind of the horse, not by his legs," ~ OliveiraTip/Quote of the Day # 168"When I do a half-halt, I try to bring the weight of my horse on his behind (his back), in this way I can set free the front of the horse and so I can feel him more soft in my hands, while he is staying in the contact. After the half-halt, he should be able to carry himself more easily. He may have more self carriage and be more uphill.” ~ Arianna PetronciniTip/Quote of the Day # 167Ride the horse you are on at the moment. Don't be suckered into bringing along yesterday's baggage on today's ride. Tip/Quote of the Day # 166"A comfort zone is a beautiful place, but nothing ever grows there."Tip/Quote of the Day # 165"The first thing to think in half-halt is to make it invisible to those watching on, which is easier said than done." ~ Carl HesterTip/Quote of the Day # 164"A little practical hint for the aids in lateral movements and turns: If you want to move the horse’s shoulders sideways, you can picture the face of a clock, and move your belly button like the hand of a clock in the direction in which you want to turn the shoulder. For instance, in the shoulder-in right, your belly button points towards 1 o’clock, or 2 o’clock, if you want to ride with a steeper angle. In the shoulder-in left, your belly button points towards 11 o’clock, or 10 o’clock, if you want to achieve a steeper angle. If you point your belly button back towards 12, you end the lateral movement and ride straight ahead. If you want to move the haunches laterally, you move your tailbone in the direction in which you want the horse’s tail to point. In the haunches-in right, you turn your tailbone towards 5 o’clock or 4 o’clock. In the haunches-in left, you point your tailbone towards 7 or 8 o’clock. To end the lateral movement, the tailbone moves back towards 6 o’clock. You can find more on this in my arena gps smartphone app, which is due out very soon." ~ Thomas RitterTip/Quote of the Day # 163"To ride a good corner in a test one must sit in balance and make sure that the diagonal aids (outside hand and inside leg) are working effectively together." ~ Ingrid KlimkeTip/Quote of the Day # 162Core strength is a key factor in good riding, as it is with most athletic endeavors. Tip/Quote of the Day # 161When training a spooky or green horse over fences, keep all new or odd looking fences quite small at first. This way you can make sure that there will be no refusals. If he spooks at it, you can just walk over it. When you train a young horse with the mentality that he is going to go over a strange fence the first time he sees it, even if he has to crawl over it - he will come into each fence knowing that he must figure out how to get to the other side, and that there is no other option.Tip/Quote of the Day # 160Create good habits right off the bat with the young horse that is just learning how to jump, by using rails on the ground on both sides to form a visual chute for any gymnastic line or gridwork. With less steering needed from his rider, he will be more free to focus on his footwork, and learning how to use his body over the jumps.Tip/Quote of the Day # 159Many horses attempt to avoid bending in their bodies by stepping to the outside with their outside hind leg. Be on the lookout for this, and keep that outside hind leg under control to make sure the horse truly bends in the ribcage. Tip/Quote of the Day # 158Control the tone of the voice in your head when you are riding, as if it becomes irritated or harsh, your horse will feel it and become tense. If it becomes timid or uncertain, your horse will feel that and may either become timid and uncertain himself, or he may take advantage of you and take over. No voice in your head at all? That's a problem too! Be a thinking rider!Tip/Quote of the Day # 157“I don’t want to have riders who tire themselves out. Work by thinking instead.” ~ Nuno OliveiraTip/Quote of the Day # 156It is hard to maintain tension in the body when smiling. Make yourself smile when you feel tension creeping in.Tip/Quote of the Day # 155"Major improvements take time. They don’t happen overnight. If you make a commitment to learning something new every day, getting just a little bit better every day, then eventually – over time – you will reach your goals." ~ Jack CanfieldTip/Quote of the Day # 154The more freedom you can give your horse when performing, the more brilliance he will be able to show.
