Where a rider is looking during any given lateral movement is very important. Not only do you need to look in the direction you are traveling for your horse to understand your intent, but your focus needs to be consistent to help the movement be consistent. Look elsewhere, or at your horse’s head for a few strides in the movement, and you can easily disrupt the flow and rhythm of the movement. Here's a list of where you should be looking for each of the individual lateral exercises: (Click on Article Title above (in blue) to read full article)
Your horse can feel whether or not you have a strong, detailed plan of how to ride your jumping course or Dressage test. And he will gain confidence in you if he feels you are confident in your plan.
Tip/Quote of the Day # 1290"It is difficult to analyze your mistakes while you are riding. In addition to their regular lessons, most of my serious students make extensive use of video and photographs to study their performances after they have cleaned and put away their tack. Study video and photos of yourself to develop a better understanding of what is going on underneath you, and how you can improve your riding and your horse." ~ Jimmy Wofford
And go one step further... send them in to MVEC, and get a full critique! Tip/Quote of the Day # 1289Never underestimate how much any turn on course can take away from the power in your canter. With the lazier type of horse you need to be proactive in maintaining your impulsion through the turns. And even with the hotter type, you need to be conscious of being soft with your hand, so you don't take too much away from them. Tip/Quote of the Day # 1288
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.
"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
(Enjoying the ride leading up to a win at Rocking Horse back in November)
It was almost five months ago that I wrote about my journey to Florida. It's hard to believe five months have slipped by and I have successfully survived my first semester of college with straight As. It feels like just yesterday I was tackling my first day alone. Today I looked up and realized just how much I was enjoying this journey... (Click on Blog Title above (in blue) to read full entry)
If your jumping instructor is worth their salt, they have probably told you to use the turn into your jump to balance your horse when necessary. But what does this really mean? And how exactly do you use the turn onto the jump to best set your horse up for success? Read on to find out! (Click on Article Title above (in blue) to read full article)
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.
Excessive bend in the neck, whether lateral (to the side) or longitudinal (behind the vertical), disconnects the haunches from the rein aids and allows the horse to remain locked up in other parts of the body, such as the poll and hips.
Please stop riding in that arena immediately! Sand that is 6 to 8 inches deep is way too dangerous to be working your horse in. There are some disciplines who prefer working in excessively deep sand, but it is very risky, and I would never advise it. The risk of tendon or ligament strain or even a major injury is just far too high. The correct depth of sand for a riding arena is... (Click on Question Title above (in blue) to read full answer)
Looseness and suppleness in the horse is demonstrated by full body movement and the maximization of the horse’s range of motion in the stride of each gait.
If you tend to ride in a chair seat with your feet out in front of you, try to think about stretching up tall, so that your seat bones point straight down… and then think of bending your knees so that your seat bones point to your heels. Eventually you need to stretch your leg back more fully and starting from the hip, but this can be a good way for riders to start the process.
When your horse is messing about with his leads or tossing his head between jumps on course, don’t let it distract you from what is most important - his rhythm.
Have you ever wondered why it can be so much harder to stay with a horse when jumping up a bank?? It is because horses have to jump up much higher on an up bank than a regular jump of the same size, so that they have room to put their landing gear down at the top of the jumping arc. Because of this, the type of canter that you need to have on the approach to a bank is one that is... (Click on Article Title above (in blue) to read full article)
"Infinite repetitions of one and the same problematic movement are usually a sign of insecurity in the rider and serve no purpose other than self-satisfaction. The horse doesn't gain anything from it. It leads to an overwrought horse and causes muscle fatigue and nervousness. Here, a trainer must intervene and go back to easier exercises rider and horse have already mastered." ~ Klaus Balkenhol
The more stable you are able to keep your outside rein connection, the more quickly your horse will learn to accept it. Stable, yet elastic... like a bungee cord.
"It's the rider's job to make his horse sensitive enough to anticipate half halts, for it is the anticipation factor that makes horse and rider harmonious. The use of the horse's anticipation should work greatly to your advantage in daily training and in riding a dressage test. For example, most dressage movements follow the riding of a corner in the arena. When you ride a half halt before every corner throughout the course of a horse's life, he anticipates that he is going to be more balanced and uphill before, during and after every corner, and then the corner becomes the half halt. Because the horse's brain and body are already in harmony with the rider in the corner, all you have to do is concentrate on the movement that follows." ~ Oded Shimoni
Tip/Quote of the Day # 1271The more you keep your horse busy with lots of little demands, like mini transitions within the gait, changes of bend, spirals, etc, the more your horse will learn to focus on you and what you might ask for next. Riding From "Front to Back"
To ride from "front to back" means that the rider is using their hands to artificiallyshape the horse's head and neck, rather than letting the head and neck position change naturally as the overall carriage of the horse improves with training (ie collection.)
There is a pretty large range of offenders, from those who quietly wiggle their fingers to ask the horse to "give" and tuck his nose, all the way to rollkur, where the horse's head is cranked down with strong force.
In every one of these cases, the horse's neck is shortened from front to back (obviously to varying degrees), which jams the horse up, and prevents the impulsion from truly reaching the rider's hand. The rider who shortens the horse's neck with their hands will never achieve the lovely feeling of throughness, with the circle of energy permeating throughout its body.
To understand how causing the horse to shorten and/or overbend his neck stops up the flow of energy through the topline, look at this... (Click on Article Title above (in blue) to read full article)
You may need to "do whatever you need to do" to get things done sometimes in competition, but in practice you should aim to always do things the right way, with no shortcuts.
Tip/Quote of the Day # 1269"It's very rare to find a horse who has the bravery and heart to do what is required of him in eventing's cross-country phase and who has the careful aspect we look for in the show-jumping ring." ~ Katie Monahan PrudentQuiz #31: Rule quiz!
Would it be legal to jump an unflagged portion of a bank out of water rather, than taking the long way around to exit the water with no bank, in order to get a better line to your next jump? (Click on Quiz Title above (in blue) to read this educational discussion)
Tip/Quote of the Day # 1268"I totally disapprove of sitting behind the vertical, pushing and shoving. The rider always has to follow the horse's movement. If the calves are too far forward, the rider is unable to bring the horse under the centre of gravity." ~ Ingrid KlimkeTip/Quote of the Day # 1267
"Contact doesn't only refer to the hands, reins, and bit, but to the whole rider. A rider must give the horse contact through his entire seat. This means that his legs must lay gently against the horse's body, his seat must be balanced and supple, and his arms and hands must follow the horse's movement quietly and evenly. This create a smooth cycle of movement as the horse takes the rider with him. Only this then creates contact." ~ Klaus Balkenhol
From Facebook fan Kathi Knox Hammond ~ "If I look AHEAD toward where I want to end up, and quit looking down and worrying about whether I have enough bend and am angled correctly, things kind of work together on their own. I finally 'get' that looking down kills energy."
Tip/Quote of the Day # 1264"It is such a huge delight for me to watch a horse of any level going with real quality—willing and happy, through in the back, at ease in their work, light in the rein as a result of their way of going rather than a response to the bit in their mouth." ~ William MicklemTip/Quote of the Day # 1263
If you merely practice your bad habits, you will wind up making the same mistakes perfectly.
A rider's elbow joint is one of the most important joints in their body... especially so for those of us who ride Dressage! As the elbow is essentially the rider's shock absorber - allowing horse and rider to maintain a harmonious connection while in motion. Read on to find out about a very common mistake riders make with their elbows, that causes all sorts of unwanted resistance from their horses! (Click on Article Title above (in blue) to read full article)
You need to decide that, from this day on, your horse will respond to light aids. If you don't expect him to, and don’t give him the appropriate feedback, he probably won't ever be as attentive and responsive as you would like him to be.
"I've always believed that if you put in the work, the results will come. I don't do things half heartedly. Because I know if I do, then I can expect half hearted results." ~ Michael Jordan
Transitions act as a test of your connection. If the quality of your connection is lacking as you begin a transition, it will be particularly evident as you execute it.
Discussion # 152: Who can answer this question about the Dressage movement called "renvers"? The Dressage movement called "renvers" is often defined as the inverse of "travers" (haunches in.) And once the horse is actually in the movement, it surely is the mirror image of a haunches in. But there is a distinct difference in how this movement is created, that makes renvers a unique suppling exercise. Can anyone tell us what that is? (Click on Discussion Title above (in blue) to read this educational discussion)
One of the most important things for you to think about during your Dressage Test is to maintain a consistent rhythm and tempo in each gait throughout. Even if other things are not perfect, maintaining that consistency will produce the best possible score.
