"The following rein stays in contact with the horse’s mouth and follows the horse’s motion with sensitivity and feel in the direction of the horse’s mouth. When the rider’s educated hands follow the mouth with elasticity and consistency in the contact, it creates a horse that is supple through the topline and in beautiful balance and self-carriage." ~ Christine Traurig
"For a horse that likes to get heavy, we want to get to a place where you can drop the reins and they stay on your aids. For a horse that gets too light, and above or behind the bit, we want them to be confidently taking the contact and carrying you forward. The horse has to be as light or as heavy in the contact as YOU want them to be. You get to decide, not them." ~ Robert Dover
You have to be able to SEE yourself achieving whatever it is that you are currently striving for. If you don't have a clear picture of what you want in your head... If you cannot visualize yourself successfully accomplishing something - it may be a lot less likely to happen for you. Get in the habit of using visualization techniques to help you to achieve what you want in your riding, and your life!
"Learn from each and every horse you ride. Every horse has something to teach you, and sometimes you don’t realize what that lesson is until years later!" ~ Carl Hester
"Contrary to popular belief, horses do not get bored with basic work. If the rider demands exact responses, paying close attention to detail and quality, neither horse nor rider will have time to get bored, rather, a true sense of accomplishment will be gained." ~ Erik Herbermann
"If you always do what you always did, you‘ll always get what you always got. If you are not happy with what you are getting, you have to change what you are doing." ~ Kyra Kyrklund
"Young horses are like a blank slate. In my experience they naturally give you the right answers often, especially when you first start riding them." ~ Bridget Hay
"I don't mind working with some of the lesser talented horses and a lot of my riders that have those lesser talented horses I see with light bulbs going off and things registering in their minds in terms of the methodology. And when they are lucky enough to have something with more talent I know they are going to be exceptional horsemen and trainers who are going to be able to produce really good results." - Jeremy Steinberg
"The engine has got to be revving, & then you put your pedal to the floor and it will go. Sometimes you have to get the engine screaming." ~ Chris Bartle
"Trust and respect are two-way streets. We want the horse to accept us as leaders of the herd, to guide them safely and to provide protection and comfort. In return, they will give us their respect, and willing submission to our ideas about what to do next, and when and where. But this respect can only be based on well deserved trust." ~ Walter Zettl
"I am so surprised/shocked that almost every time I ask even an advanced rider to ride without stirrups they moan or make a face. A serious rider should prefer riding without stirrups. I even have riders who have never ever ridden without stirrups. Come on teachers, let's think about developing better seats. And riders, if your teacher doesn't tell you to, do it by yourself." ~ Lendon Gray
Whether you are working on Dressage or Jumping, whenever you ride a specific exercise, make sure that you stay as quiet as possible with your aids, to let the exercise teach your horse.
Whenever you have an awkward fence on course, more often than not you were losing some quality of your 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.
No matter if my father was training a very young horse, an eventer or a high-performance dressage horse, his training was always based on three principles:
"One of the goals of dressage is to recreate the natural beauty of the horse’s gaits under the rider, so that the horse moves as beautifully under the weight of the rider as he does at liberty. In order to achieve this, the swinging of the horse’s back has to pass through the seat of the rider undiminished. The back has to be able to rise and fall with the same ease, regardless of the rider’s presence. If the rider merely sits passively, his weight alone can sometimes be enough to diminish the freedom of movement of the horse’s back. In these moments, the rider has to enhance the upswing of the horse’s back with an active contraction of his abdominal muscles, which helps the rider’s pelvis to swing more forward-upward, without tilting forward, however." ~ Thomas Ritter
The more impulsion you have at any given moment, the more submission you need. And submission is not the same thing as subservience. Submission is the willingness of the horse to follow your instructions.
"Through the energy of impulsion mobilized from within himself, the horse is now prepared, in his physique & emotional attentiveness, to respond instantly to the slightest indications to change his tempo, posture, direction or gait." ~ Waldemar Seunig
Horses can easily begin to think that walk time is "break" time if you are not careful. If you want to ensure that you get good scores on your walk work, you have to convince your horse otherwise in your daily work.
Every time you begin a Dressage test at a show, make sure you think about making a good first impression with a forward, confident center line, and a smile for the judge!
Keeping your elbows close to your sides will help your horse to feel your seat aids through the reins. It will also help you to use your core properly.
"Often one hears riders in whatever discipline say that their aim is to bring the horse to a certain level or to place highly at certain shows. These goals are absolutely legitimate, but we must not forget that they are only a byproduct of what should be our highest of aims: To make our horses more beautiful and keep them healthy through their training." ~ Ingrid Klimke
If your upper body is leaning to the inside as you try to bend your horse on a circle or through a turn, you will likely find that your horse won’t bend very well. This is because your leaning to the inside causes your horse to also lean to the inside, rather than to bend nicely around your inside leg.
"I think the rider's attitude in the ring is transposed to the horse's attitude. The difference between the good riders and good trips versus the outstanding trips are in large measure the positive attitude and inspiration that one shows to the judge and the way one tackles the problems of the course in riding the horse." ~ Michael Page
"Rhythm is the result of the horse being able to move under the rider in a way that is supple, loose, and without any tension or constraint." ~ Miguel Tavora
"Is the rider able to ride all the movements with a long rein, long with contact, then as long as possible? It is possible to ride piaffe on a long rein when the rider rides 100% with a balanced body, and the horse is on his aids." ~ Christoph Hess
If your horse doesn't want to be straight in his body, you can best improve him by exaggerating the opposite of whatever tendency he has. For example, if he likes to over bend his neck to the left and carry his haunches to the left as so many horses do - regularly ask for flexion and bend through the body to the right (no matter which direction you are going.)
"The relaxing of the legs & the hands of the rider is the proof of the real collection. And the collection is the poetry of the impulsion." ~ Nuno Oliveira
