"Rhythm is more about balance than footfalls. Don't get obsessed with managing the footsteps, rather try to keep the horse bearing weight evenly in the hind end and the feet will fall into a steady rhythm." ~ Suzy Hettich
"Don’t let him trick you into too much contact. He is allowed to go into your hand, but not an ounce more. Never cover up in training, never one stride with too much in your hand. One ounce too much will build up too much tension; shorten the frame creating the reason to let go of the rein. Don’t accept that when you engage him, he becomes more rigid – bend him in, bend him out, test if the suppleness can match the engagement. Make him looser when you collect him. When I collect, can I keep him supple? If you don’t test him, he’ll test you. Expose him to a touch more suppleness in extension and collection – a little more throughness. If you don’t ask for throughness you won’t get it." ~ Steffen Peters
Question # 339: Kayla has another question about how to stay with her horse's motion over jumps. I feel like I land really heavily on the saddle on the back side of fences. Watching some of my videos (like the one I sent you a couple weeks ago), it doesn’t look like my leg is too far back, but I perpetually feel behind the motion when we land. I did shorten my stirrups and that has helped a little, but I feel like there’s a crucial piece that I’m missing in either my muscle tone or my position that would fix it, or at least help? (Kayla)
Hi Kayla!
The rider's ability to smoothly stay with the horse's motion over jumps requires these 5 things: (Click on Question Title above (in blue) to read full answer)Tip/Quote of the Day # 1807
I love to look for an area in a field where I can do a big circle on the side of a hill, where on that circle the horse has to go down into a little dip in the ground and back up again. This can really help the horse to "let go" in their backs. The canter in particular usually feels loose and free when they come out of it.
Tip/Quote of the Day # 1806"I like to keep a little bit of a relaxed knee and thigh and close lower leg. I find if I have my calf close to the horse, I can really control how much pressure I’m putting on my seat. If I get locked in with my knee and my thigh, it’s very hard for me to control the seat, the seat’s putting more pressure than I want. Relax the knee and the thigh; keep the lower leg close, and then you can control very subtly the amount of pressure you’re putting in with your seat." ~ McLain Ward Question # 338: Nancy has a question about one of her legs, which tends to be too far back.One of my lower legs tends to be too far back. I have been told to get it forward by the girth, but I feel crooked when I place more weight in that heel even though I was told that corrected the problem. Not sure if muscle memory needs to be relearned... eventually it will feel normal? Or if the problem may be coming from up higher in my hip and seat. (Nancy)
Hi Nancy!
This is a common problem! Very few humans are natually symmetrical to begin with. And many of the things that we do every day only serve to make us even more one sided! Think of how you... (Click on Question Title above (in blue) to read full entry) Video # 314, and Question # 337: Lauren has a question (with video) about her new OTTB mare.I just got this ottb mare, who came off the track last year. She's hot but not out of control. But if I relax my seat and loosen my reins she is wanting to go into the next gait. She won't relax. She's very tense, but not in a scared way. No transitions or anything. Almost like she is still on the track. I did alot of circles, big and little. When she begins the circle she quiets down and gives her head but coming out of the circle (Or the other side of the circle) she speeds right back up. Do you have any advice on getting her to relax, and quiet down? I feel like our whole ride was half halts. Also during our circle she will fall to the outside, so i close my outside leg a little more and then she falls inside. Maybe im asking for the bend/turn the wrong way? (Lauren) (Click on Video or Question title above (in blue) to read the answer and the critique of this video)
I’d like to tell you about one of the most challenging exercises I was ever given in a jumping clinic. Before I describe the exercise to you, though, I want to set the scene.... (Click on Blog Title above (in blue) to read full entry)
"When you do something too much, too long, it’s called drilling. That’s not a good word with horses. If it’s not perfect it's ok. We have tomorrow, we have next week. Don’t be excessive with the horse." ~ George Morris
"The more avenues of learning, the more rounded the trainer will be. The more variety of exercises, the more rounded the horse will be." ~ Andrea Benson
Tip/Quote of the Day # 1802"In between the fences, you should be doing everything to get the horse round, to influence the use of his body. On take off, soften those hands a bit more. You’ve done all you can – you can’t actually lift them off the ground with your hands. Quite often when riders go ‘Hup’ with the hands all they do is make the horse go more hollow. You have to soften your hands." ~ Matthew RyanQuestion # 336: Kelly has a question about an OTTB that she is trying.I’m looking at an ottb, and put him through some trot poles today. I believe it’s his first time over poles under saddle. He tripped over them and knocked them every. Single. Time. How do you feel about that in terms of jumping potential? I have lunged him over a couple of jumps, small only and he jumped ok. Other factors are super temperament and good looking, moves well, very active hind end. (Kelly)
Hi Kelly!
This is actually pretty common... especially for highly strung TBs! Very often they have to learn how to slow their mind up to actually be able to think about what their feet are doing. Here are a few ideas to help him learn this. (Click on Question Title above (in blue) to read full answer)Tip/Quote of the Day # 1801
A tip for instructors... When a student has a lightbulb riding moment during a lesson, ask them to explain it you in their own words. This way it becomes even more cemented in their own mind, and you can more easily help them find it again if they lose it.
"Competitive toughness is an acquired skill and not an inherited gift." ~ Chris Evert
Tip/Quote of the Day # 1799Unless you are intentionally working on a specific weakness in a horse that has trouble making longer distances, it is best to school most gymnastic and gridwork with distances that are at least slightly snug for your horse. As the shorter distances will make your horse rock back more on his haunches on the takeoff, and will teach him to use his body more fully when jumping. Ruth's Blog post # 4: Questions to Ask Before Getting on a New Horse
Last month we talked about the questions that I ask every owner of a new horse coming into my barn. Young or old, trained or untrained, it's essential to know as much about a new horse as possible. This month I will talk about the questions that I would ask BEFORE I (or one of my staff) would get ON a new horse. Horses come for training for lots of reasons. Whatever the reason however, you still need to collect as much information as possible to keep yourself, your kids, your staff safe. These questions are also very important when you are trying a horse for sale, or even riding a friend’s horse for the first time. (Click on Blog Title above (in blue) to read full entry)
It is possible to have contact without a real connection (in fact, it is quite common unfortunately), but a true connection always involves good contact. The connection involves the horse's entire body… with energy created in the horse's hind legs traveling through the horse's supple body, and into the rider's hands.
It can be a skill in itself to be able to pick up a quality canter or gallop in a straight line and jump a fence that is a short distance away (as you would coming out of the start box on cross country.) Like any skill, this one will only get better with practice. So this is something to practice at home.
Counter bend is a great tool when your horse tries to bulge against your outside aids. And following that up with a change of direction then further reinforces that aid, teaching your horse to have more respect for it.
"I think the rider's attitude in the ring is transposed to the horse's attitude... I think 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 onetackles the problems of the course in riding the horse." ~ Michael Page
Lest you think I am disparaging the work of other instructors, be assured I am pure of heart. As Kim Carnes would say, “As pure as New York snow.”
That said, I’m surprised how many riders will tell me they went to a clinic and spent the whole time on a 20 meter circle. Usually this is less than ideal for a couple reasons. First of all, I think a horse and rider whom I’m not familiar with deserve a few minutes to “show me what they’ve got.” (Click on Blog Title above (in blue) to read full entry)
In Dressage, we use bending both to develop and to prove our horse's lateral suppleness. When the horse is laterally supple, the rider will feel that it is easy to keep the horse straight, and that it is easy to change the bend back and forth when changing directions. Lateral suppleness will also allow the horse to conform his entire body to the shape of the circles and turns that we ride him on... which means he can perform those figures in balance.
The caveat here is that to achieve this suppleness, the horse must be giving you TRUE bend throughout his body (more on that here.) So you need to make sure that your horse is actually responding to your bending aids correctly! And one of the keys to this is to make sure your horse is truly listening to your inside leg - giving you an immediate response to even the slightest of leg aids just behind the girth.
Here is a very basic exercise, suitable for horses and riders at all levels, that will help to improve the horse's response to the rider's inside leg: (Click on Article Title above (in blue) to read full article)
As you complete a halt, lighten your seat slightly to invite your horse to keep his back up underneath you. This will allow you to move off after the halt without the horse hollowing and dropping his back.
"No complicated riding before the horses are going truly forward. In dressage, the difficulties are often created by a lack of good basic work (which is the foundation of the house)." ~ Nuno Oliveira
As I'm carefully bringing Grimm back into full work, one important factor keeps coming to the fore: relaxation. And boy, sometimes that's a hard one!
The tension in his back is ever-present at this point because he doesn't have the stamina yet to trot for very long. Without lateral work and the muscles he'd develop and maintain from full and correct work, he starts every ride stiff... (Click on Blog Title above (in blue) to read full entry)
If your horse is not "hot" to your leg, and you therefore need lots of leg to keep him going, how will he ever hear the leg aid that asks for something more, like lateral work or a flying change?
Some horses have a hard time really swinging and engaging their entire backs, due to tension or stiffness. Many of these horses show signs of improvement with good dressage training, but often continue to carry an area of tension - usually in their lumbar region or lower back. 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. Read on to find out how to do it! (Click on Article Title above (in blue) to read full article)
A horse's energy flowing through a turn is similar to water flowing through a tunnel. Just as the outside wall of the tunnel is paramount, a good connection on the outside rein is crucial to a successful turn.
Do not miss the possible opportunity to shorten your reins when your horse changes his balance in the direction of increased collection. If you do miss it, and are riding with a length of rein that was more appropriate to the longer, lower frame that you had previously... you risk losing the amount of increased collection that you had just attained.
Tip/Quote of the Day # 1778"The minimum canter tempo is 105 beats per minute per leg I’ve found, and if they are slower than that, they have difficulty jumping anything higher and wider than a metre. Yet inexperienced jumping riders often opt for a too slow tempo. Tempo is implicit in creating jumping power, so the too slow canter can lead to the horse hitting the fence, and then their answer may be to run faster or refuse." ~ Andrew McLeanTip/Quote of the Day # 1777
"Remember, the conversation between you and your horse must never be dull or inert. It should be, 'Ask, receive, give. Ask, receive, give.' Ask with your body and legs; receive through your body into your hands; give primarily with the hands, but also with your body and legs, so that you can ask all over again, receive again and give again. The give is your thanks. If you don't give, you must ask harder the next time, and even harder after that, until you end up with a dead or resistant horse." - Sally Swift
