"I do not ask the rider to alter the horse’s step in front of the pole because I want to awaken the horse’s initiative. Whether he takes a slightly long step or adds a step before the pole, I am equally satisfied. If he steps on the
"Do I still get butterflies? You bet! Adrenaline is an important part of the deal." ~ William Fox Pitt
In the sport of Eventing, ensuring that our horses are truly fit for our level of competition is one of the best ways to prevent unnecessary injuries.
"You can see suppleness by observing how the rider can sit on the horse and not on top of the horse." ~ Susanne Miesner
It is important to treat each horse, and each situation, individually. When problems arise, sometimes what is needed is time, patience, and encouragement. And other times strong corrections might be in order. This is why it is so important to be working with an instructor who has sufficient experience with
I will never forget the first time that I attended the USET training sessions down in Ocala, Florida many years ago..... I was so excited to watch all of the top Event riders receive dressage instruction from Grand Prix dressage trainer Sandy Pflueger Phillips, who was the dressage coach for
Think back to when you first started riding… how hard it was to just post at the trot. Now you do that without even thinking. As long as you are actively working on your riding, you are always improving. Usually improvement is so gradual that you don't see
Horses become incapable of learning when they go past a certain level of fear, anxiety, or stress. This means that if you keep hammering away at the horse, trying to teach them something when they are currently overwhelmed with stress, it will not work.
The key to success with any movement in the Dressage ring lies in how you ride the corner preceding the movement.
In a good, productive stretch - active energy travels over the horse's topline and into the rider's hands. If you don't feel at least a little power coming from behind up into your connection, your stretch is not correct!
To get the very best out of every horse when show jumping, riders need to really think about the specific way that each individual horse needs and wants to be ridden between the fences. Let me help you to figure out what kind of horse you have!
“You need to produce a walk. So work at the walk as well as the trot and canter. Get a good feeling of the body working in the walk. The walk is a mirror of the training of the horse.” ~ Christoph Hess
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Lateral suppleness is the horse's ability to bend easily from side to side. Few horses are naturally ambidextrous, so a major goal of dressage is to make the horse more even on both sides & truly straight. Here are specific exercises to improve lateral suppleness, from most basic to most difficult!
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With a little planning and forethought, you CAN make related distances work for you. You just have to focus on these key points!
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The low wide oxer exercise teaches the horse many valuable lessons! They learn how to 'bascule' and truly use their body to stretch easily across fences with width. This gives the horse enormous confidence in his ability to handle wide obstacles. Learn how to safely introduce this concept here!
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The hot or anxious type of horse can be challenging to ride and train, but if patiently handled, they can be the very best competitors! This exercise will help you get better results with your nervous horse. And it’s so simple, you’ll wonder why you haven’t been using it!
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Your horse will never truly be in self carriage if you give constant aids. Train him to take responsibility to maintain the gait or movement with minimal input from you. It must become a state of mind, so that he truly understands this responsibility. Learn how to teach this here!
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One of the most common problems riders face when turning is losing control of the horse's outside shoulder. This exercise is a great way to get more control over that outside shoulder to help make more accurate turns - which will help you come out of the turns straight and in better balance.
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Counter canter is simply one of the most beneficial exercises you can do for your horse! In addition to building strength, improving balance, & increasing hind leg engagement, it also improves the horse's ability to be straight in the canter. Which will improve all of your canter work.
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Did you know that there are 3 related but distinctly different ways of controlling your horse's shoulders?? Many riders are in the habit of using only one of these 3 methods. So they continue to struggle to accurately control their horse's shoulders in turns, circles, and lateral work.
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This is a great exercise to break through the tension or stiffness in this area, and improve the level of throughness over your horse's entire topline, and the overall quality of your connection. You will see an improvement in ALL of your scores when your horse moves more through their topline!
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If you are like many riders, the act of performing in front of others will make you at least somewhat nervous, whether you realize it or not! Don't despair... there IS something you can do to help you deal with this uncomfortable feeling when it happens! Read on to find out what it is!
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