Tip/Quote of the Day!

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.

"It is not our horses job to understand our language. It is our job to understand theirs." ~ Reiner Klimke

"Giving is hard on a horse that has go. But once you do, miracles happen." ~ Diane Grant-Schott 

Having sufficient energy in your canter allows the horse to jump more smoothly and easily. Make sure you are truly riding forward!

"Concentrate on the transitions, forward and back, build the activity from behind. When you bring the horse slightly back, you still have to push her forward to the hand, you can keep riding as long as you can feel the hind legs in your hand." ~ Susanne Miesner

Systematic, progressive training is like stacking one building block squarely on top of another, to eventually build a strong, solid building. Done this way, you have a solid foundation, and can simply go back a step if you run into difficulties.

While riding, be careful that you don't let your horse change your posture in the saddle. 

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 part of his body.

"Every time you ride you are either making that horse better or making it worse!" ~ Lisa VanBuhler

"All riders need very loose joints - loose hips, loose shoulders, loose elbows, loose knees, loose ankles. When I say loose I don’t mean uncontrollably loose, but they need to have a very good range of motion, and an absence of unwanted tension. A lot of riders when they are not comfortable in forward seat tend to grip with their knees, and tend to have a little stiffness in their ankles." ~ Tad Coffin

Always refresh the forward after any period of lateral work.

"Travers improves the horse's bend and makes him more obedient and attentive to the calf aid." ~ Ernst Friedrich Seidler

When you halt and salute the judge at a competition, remember to smile! This will send the judge the message that you are confident about your performance, which can impress the judge and may even influence your scores in a subconscious way. 

"Riding the upper levels becomes less and less about who is the most naturally talented ... It becomes more of who is the best mental competitor. Who can take the competition down mentally, and have the ability to stay focused on the task at hand regardless of what happens, that's what true upper level talent is." ~ Stephanie Shepherd Ezzo 

A running martingale that fits correctly does not come into play unless the horse tosses its head, or tries to stick it straight up in the air. It should NOT be used to keep the horse's head down.

Since the various available lateral movements all work to supple the horse's body in a slightly different way, it is a good idea to use bits of all of them in your training. Don't just do your favorites.

Everyone talks about engaging the horse's inside hind leg - but the key to a good quality canter is sufficient engagement of the outside hind leg… as that is how each canter stride begins.

So many riders seem to ride with tight elbows, and BUSY hands. Instead strive for relaxed and mobile elbows, and quiet and still (yet supple) hands!

Proper hand position will help you to remain loose and supple in your arms. Deviating in any way from the perfect hand position will immediately cause your arm muscles to tighten.

When trying to improve the activity and engagement of your horse’s hind legs in downward transitions, think of a trot in place and dancing your way to the walk or halt.

"One of the good things about our sport is that while getting older might slow your reflexes down, the knowledge you have enables you to continue to improve, and handle the challenges better." ~ Shane Rose

If there is a jump on your cross country course that you don't particularly like, you certainly don't want to have to face it twice! So ride it like you are mad at it, and "get 'er done"!

The majority of amateur riders who think they have no natural talent may not be as quite as well taught as they think they are. In other words, if you are not improving as a rider, you may want to think about trying another instructor. 

When jumping, the horse's bascule is what allows him to more easily get his body up higher in the air.

When you have a problem in your jumping, 9 times out of 10 what you really have is a problem with the quality of your canter. 

Whenever you are nervous about something during your ride, make a very clear plan of what you are about to do in your mind. Then put your focus on the execution of that plan to override your nerves. 

The quality of your walk to halt transitions will tell a lot about the quality of all of your work.

When you are looking down you will have even more of a tendency to ride from your hands. Looking up will help to remind you to ride from your seat.

It can be a clever time to work on the beginning of a piaffe, or "half steps", when you are out hacking and your horse gets a bit excited and "prancy." Take advantage of the moment, to ask them (and allow them) to do what they are offering you in their excitement. And don't forget the reward.