When doing lateral work, every time your horse steps nicely under his body with his inside hind leg, you should feel him stepping up into the connection of your outside rein. Be sure to make good use of that opportunity to soften your inside rein. Every single time.
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.
"I try and have the feeling when I sit on a horse that I sit in the saddle, and my legs aren’t gripping around the horse - they just hang. At the sitting trot everyone wants to stop themselves from bouncing. What you have to do is let yourself go with the flow of the horse." ~ Charlotte Dujardin
"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 hindlegs in your hand." ~ Susanne Miesner
Horses that tend to rush or hurry often do best when ridden at a slower than ideal pace until they are rhythmical and relaxed, and are no longer trying to hurry.
Whether on or off the horse, the lower your center of gravity is, the easier it is to balance. So what does this mean to your riding? Keeping your balance point low, by keeping your seat close to the saddle when up off of your horse's back, and your weight sinking well down into your heels, will make you more secure.
When working with horses, always be mindful of the feedback you are giving your horse at any given time... whether intentional or accidental. When your horse misbehaves, make sure you don't give him an accidental reward by stopping to regroup (which to him is a rest and a reward.) Keep moving, get the horse to do something (anything) well, and THEN stop to regroup if you must.
Quote from Bert de Nemethy: "When I think of the rider's aids, I am reminded of an anecdote that is told about one of the world's great pianists, who was asked how difficult it was to learn to play the piano as he did. ‘It is really not difficult at all,’ he replied. ‘You only have to figure out which fingers go on what keys, and for how long. Then you practice for the rest of your life so that you can do it up to tempo.’ Communicating with the horse is about the same."
"Unless he is standing still, then from the moment you get on him, the horse is in a rhythm – it can be regular or irregular – but everything in riding has rhythm to it. Rhythm is a very integral part of horsemanship." ~ Tad Coffin
If you want to develop a nicely shaped crest (the top of his neck muscling) on your horse, you have to make sure your horse is truly seeking the connection - reaching into the bit, rather than backing away from it.
"Since the criteria of a correct seat are the same as the criteria of good posture in general, being constantly attentive to one’s bearing when standing or walking is excellent training. A correct vertical posture of the head and the trunk on horseback is not a special posture applicable only to riding." ~ Kurt Albrecht
When trying to find your balance, whether for posting at the trot, jumping a fence, or anything in between - you will always be in one of three positions: Either ahead of the motion (too far forward), behind the motion (too far back), or exactly with the motion (perfect). If you have a strong tendency to be in one of the positions other than perfect… say you are often a bit too far forward, don't be discouraged if you find yourself going the other way (too far back) when trying to break your bad habit and make a change. It is a perfectly normal part of the process of finding your balance. Riders will almost always teeter back and forth over that line…. sometimes a bit too far forward, and sometimes a bit too far back, before they find that perfect middle ground.
"Many people think, what is piaffe, piaffe is something the top riders do in Grand Prix – no, no, no, that is not right. Piaffe is something you use to train your horse, to make the horse more together and more balanced. You can start the piaffe right from the beginning, even with a five year old horse, you can start to do it in the hand on the ground, or also when you are riding, and that helps make the steps of the horse more controllable, and out of that you have a much more beautiful stride forward, and a much more beautiful stride sideways." ~ Rafael Soto
"Every horse is different, but you learn to compare, what to do in this moment with this particular horse, and that takes time. Dressage doesn’t go fast, this is the difference between our young riders and our more experienced riders." ~ Reiner Klimke
"I never really work a horse for longer than four or five minutes [at a time.] I want to take a quick break, and then we go again. Any of you who’ve worked out know how much a break of 30 seconds can help. It gets some oxygen back into the muscles." ~ Steffen Peters
Speed vs impulsion... Successful jumping requires that riders know the difference between the two, and can create the right amount of real impulsion needed for the particular obstacle or complex in front of them. Read all about impulsion, and how to attain it, in this article: Impulsion Defined. And here is a specific jumping exercise, that will show you how to turn your speed into impulsion. (Click on Article Title above to read full article)
"I want any rider approaching any jump to concentrate on rhythm. They should concentrate on HOW they get there, not where they get to." ~ Jimmy Wofford
"Beware of the modern day notion that a person can 'invent' a new horse training method. There are no quick and easy ways. Truth is that the training of a horse is a study, a craft, an art. Training takes patience and the knowledge develops over many years. Many of the principals by the horse-masters are principals that are not ready to be understood until they have been experienced. The experience takes many years to acquire and many different horses to acquire it from. The principals can be built upon and expanded and explained with different nuances of the language, but it cannot be reinvented." ~ Xenophon
Remember that even a COW can jump a 3 foot fence from a standstill... if it wants to. So never worry about whether or not your horse has enough scope to do lower level eventing or jumping. The bigger issue is whether or not you can keep him balanced at the canter.
The key to a successful transition back into a working trot after a stretching trot is to ride forward as you are adjusting the reins, while maintaining the bend. Note that "forward" does not mean faster! Read all about forward here.
Riding out in the fields over undulating terrain helps a rider to develop a good, solid seat much more quickly than riding around and around in the ring.
To be the most successful when dealing with horses, you need to be a fair, calm, and confident "herd leader" to them, whether in the saddle or on the ground.
"There is one principle that should never be abandoned when training a horse, namely, that the rider must learn to control himself before he can control his horse. This is the basic, most important principle to be preserved in equitation." ~ Alois Podhajsky
It can be more difficult for a rider to improve their jumping when they only have one horse to ride. Since it is not usually a good idea to jump a horse more than a few times a week, it is smart to take advantage of the many ground pole exercises available to practice the many skills that produce good jumping.
I have a 3 (soon to be 4) year old ottb. I'm hoping to do eventing with him, even though there's not much of a competition scene where I'm at her in New Mexico. I've gotten to the point of forward that he's swinging his hind end and moving forward in good balance for the most part. What are the next steps to encourage him to lift his back? He's been giving me a few steps here or there naturally, but I'd like to encourage him even more. (Amanda)
Hi Amanda!
I am SO happy that you are asking this question! Many riders don't think nearly enough about how the horse is using their back. And that is the holy grail! It is the key to keeping our horses sound, happy in their work, and supple in their bodies. The key is to teach your horse how to truly seek the bit. (Click on Question Title above to read full answer)
From Facebook fan Jennifer Stankiewicz ~ "When your horse loses his 'go', try sitting lighter, not deeper. I find on my mare, when I'm loosing impulsion, I'm gripping or riding too deep and when I just relax my legs and drape them and use my hips more, my horse goes forward. Sometimes that means standing for a split second and readjusting my seat to get lighter but it works!"
"The horse will work out the distance if the line looks sensible to him, so ride a good line, in balance, and don't try to overly manage the stride length." ~ Chris Bartle
If your horse is not honestly in front of your leg, every single movement will be negatively effected. And things like "throughness" and collection will never happen for you.
Varying the degree of your half pass can improve your horse’s suppleness from all angles, as well as increasing his responsiveness to your aids within the movement. In other words, while going in half pass across the diagonal, half halt, and do a few strides with a steeper angle (more sideways than forward), then go forward again.
"The horse must perform from joy, not subservience. Praising a horse frequently with voice, a gentle pat, or relaxing the reins is very important to keep the horse interested and willing." ~ Klaus Balkenhol
