"Most of the riders ride with their upper body very stiff – especially their shoulders. If the stomach is in balance and in the position it should be, the shoulders are allowed to relax, and should relax. You need to be loose in your shoulders. As long as the rider is breathing in the upper body he is going to be too tight, too cramped to get the horse to go forward from a relaxed seat. The rider learns to breathe in the lower stomach and everything will relax. The weight will come into the saddle and the horse moves away from the aid of the weight. But if a rider cramps in the upper body, he cramps everywhere and is effectively unable to ride his horse." ~ Ernst Hoyos
When giving the aid to canter, let your outside leg sink back and down as the last part of your canter aid. If you lift your leg up and back to use it (as so many incorrectly do), you will end up losing your seat to some degree, and may also end up sitting crooked.
"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 pole, the chances are good that he will learn from the experience and not do it again. If he continues to step on the poles on the ground, I suggest that the rider find another prospect, as this one is probably too dumb to improve over obstacles." ~ Jimmy Wofford
"Contact is nothing more than the contact to the hind leg, the contact that the rider makes between the mouth and the hind leg. This is the duty of the rider, to put these two together. The moment the horse starts to move, and he moves behind, you have to feel it in your hand, then you have to let it out." ~ Jean Bemelmans
"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
The length of horse's neck and his length of stride are very related. A short, restricted neck means a compromised stride, and a long neck that truly seeks the connection will allow the horse to move to his fullest potential.
"If you do not listen, I cannot teach." This is a sentence my mother said many times teaching kids how to ride. Unfocused and rude children would get these words served with a side of very serious face and tone of voice. Somehow these words reached the understanding of every kid they were told too. Something I admire about my mother is that she always found clever ways to get respect from naughty kids. That or the naughty little critters quit riding because they were not ready to listen. Listening was important to my mother because the riding business is a risky one. If people did not listen to her words, then they could get hurt or get the horse hurt. (Click on Blog Title above to read full entry)
"Having a horse with crazy gaits and an eagerness to please at 5 years old is freaking me out because I’m really feeling the weight of the responsibility to not push too hard, too fast." ~ Lauren Sprieser
"I think it is important to recognize that horses do not just teach us about how to ride and train them... they teach us lessons about our lives, and how to live them." ~ Jimmy Wofford
Dressage is natural for horses, but that does not mean it is always easy for them. Since we cannot explain to them why we are asking them to do things that require increased effort, and go against their natural instincts to do things in the easiest way possible - we must handle any inevitable resistances that might show up with patience in a quietly persistent manner.
"The seat and weight aids are supporting aids. They support either a leg or rein aid, or both. Don’t underestimate their significance though. They are important aids, especially in the fine tuning of advanced horses. The leg and rein aids will fail to achieve their full effectiveness without the support of weight and seat." ~ Christian Thiess
"As I grew older, I became more aware of the basic principles of dressage, and the first is soundness. In my country we have vets at the stables 24/7 – it's a red flag, it tells you something is wrong. Why is the horse limping? Because it is not worked correctly. You need dressage for soundness, to build muscle, to get the horse carrying the weight on its hind legs – then you have less vet problems." ~ George Morris
If your breastplate is fairly tight when your horse is standing still, you will be preventing your horse from being able to use his shoulders at all as he moves and jumps. Make sure there is enough room to put a fist between the middle of the breastplate and the horse, or a little less so for breastplates with elastic.
Let's discuss the Dressage term, "the falling down neck." Who knows what it means for a horse to have a "falling down neck"? Why is this a good thing? And who here has felt it?? (Click on Discussion title above, to join in or read this educational discussion.)
"I’m a big fan of ground lines. I think it teaches the horse to have better technique in front. Everything that we do is connected — the way we start on the cross rail to this, it all connects. We're building through our training." ~ McLain Ward
Does your horse need some motivation over fences?? Here is an exercise that will rev him up, and make him more game about jumping! (Click on Article Title above to read full entry)
"So what do we see when we watch these masters at work? We learn what it means to become a good rider. It means to be picky, detail-oriented, motivated for your whole life, paying attention to every stride, having a system but with the flexibility to adjust it. Even before you can control the horse, you have to first control yourself (99 percent of problems with a horse are caused by the rider). Finally, a good rider needs the willingness to say, 'I made the mistake. The horse didn't make the mistake.'" ~ Christoph Hess
Clinics can be great for the overall experience of doing lots of testing exercises, while hopefully getting some new tools and ideas to add to your "toolbox". But private lessons with your trainer are where you establish your basic foundation and understanding of your training system.
"How can the rider expect the horse to have confidence in his hands when this piece of metal is constantly moving in his mouth?" ~ HLM Van Schaik (Dutch Olympic Medalist)
Maike writes: I trust myself less riding my own horse meaning I really truly trust him but have fear of injuring or disappointing him, much more so than previously riding horses for others… But riding my own horse now, and he is my life! I get really nervous and anxious dreaming about silly accidents. Of course I ride less hours and no other horses anymore, meaning less practice and all those other worries have disappeared, but would love to obtain a handle on those fears the better to enjoy those times we still have together.
Maike – Thank you for the question! Many riders struggle with feelings about not being good enough for their horses. Some, like yourself, worry about letting their horse down in a way that might lead to accidents or injury. Others worry about "ruining" a good horse in other ways like chipping away at the horse’s confidence and training as a result of their lack of skill. (Click on Question Title above to read full answer)
If you want to jump well, make sure you can consistently canter over poles on the ground in a smooth, balanced manner. I am always surprised how many riders are attempting to jump courses, yet they cannot nicely canter over a ground pole.
A Dressage rider’s leg should lie softly on their horse's side like an "al dente" noodle - draped around the horse to allow for soft, subtle, and precise leg aids.
Many amateur riders have a tendency to worry about the fact that their aids may not always be 100% correct when they ask their horse to do something. And therefore they are less likely to insist if their horse does not respond correctly. But just remember that horses can be taught to do just about anything from just about any aid. You can teach your horse to canter on the left lead if you pull on his left ear…. if that's what you want to do. So while it IS important to make sure your aids are as correct as possible, make sure you DO insist that your horse listen to your aids. Even if you don't ask for canter or leg yield the exact same way his last rider did, your horse CAN figure out what you are asking for, if you motivate him to do so.
"The horse is the fastest learner of all domestic animals—including children. If you stay alive by running away, you better learn fast." ~ Robert Miller, DVM
"In the warm-up, I mostly ride curved lines so that I can work on lateral suppleness along with getting the horse relaxed over the back. I spend as much time as it takes for the horse to feel relaxed and willing to lower and stretch from his withers. I do circles, serpentines and figure eights. There is no point in going on with movements if the horse is not supple over his back. I also use leg yields as part of the warm-up to help get the horse responsive to the inside leg and connected to the outside rein." ~ Charlotte Bredahl-Baker
Horses tend to mirror their rider's posture. A horse is much more likely to carry himself in balance and self carriage if his rider is poised and balanced in the saddle. Tension in the rider creates and perpetuates tension in the horse. And tense riders are notorious for holding tension in their shoulders! Rounded and slumped shoulders are a big problem too.
Poor posture leads to muscle imbalances in our bodies. When you slump, your chest muscles shorten and tighten, making it more difficult for you to properly use your core and back muscles. You are also then much more likely to want to grip and "hang on" to try to stay in position (especially on the bigger moving horses!), often using your hands more than your seat to try to control your horse. All of these things effect the horse negatively - the imbalance, the tension, the gripping, and the overuse of the reins.
This should be an easy fix, right? Just square your shoulders! But here's the problem… I find that just telling riders to "keep their shoulders back" rarely solves the problem. Why? Because in trying to force the shoulders back while riding a horse (along with the 50 other things that you need to be thinking about at that moment), many times the tension in the shoulders remains. Which usually means that they will creep forward again as soon as you are focusing on something else! Here is a quick, simple fix that you can incorporate often into your riding, to help you find relaxed and square shoulders in the saddle. (Click on Article Title above to read full entry)
