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 a wide variety of types of horses - so they can help you make the best choices with your horse.
"Self carriage is really easy to see. The best thing you can do for self-carriage is the give and re-take of the reins. It is amazing how you forget to do that when you ride on your own." ~ Carl Hester
The purpose of riding a transition is not just to get from one gait to the next. But to do so in a way that further gymnasticizes the horse, and improves his carriage.
"Why not ride your dressage movements out in the open, in the field or the back paddock? Chances are your horse will be brighter, more forward and focused." ~ Michael Jung
Deepen your seat to begin a downward transition. But as you feel your horse beginning to change gears to make the transition, if you can slightly lighten your seat and soften your reins, your horse will be able to come more "through" his topline.
"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 Something every rider should be thinking about!
"The motto of any instructor or rider must always be forward. Forward in the movement of the horse instructed to his care. Forward in order to achieve his aim in the art of training. Forward whenever difficulties appear." ~ Alois Podhajsky
You have to have the ability to ride in "neutral", with no aids whatsoever, for your horse to be able to feel, recognize, and respond to your lightest of aids.
Nearly every rider will experience a plateau at some point in their training. Only those that have the patience to keep a good attitude while pushing through them will ever get where they want to go.
Did you know that your spine doesn't end at your neck?? It goes up into your head! So when a rider looks down, or juts their head and chin forward, they are compromising that stretched up, vertical spine. And your horse will always go better when you ride with good posture!
A good rein connection is a direct line of communication that connects your brain to your horse's brain. When done correctly, he should also feel every nuance of your seat through the reins.
Excessive bend in the horse's neck, whether lateral (usually over bent to the inside) or longitudinal (behind the vertical), disconnects the haunches from the rein aids and allows the horse to remain blocked or locked up in other parts of the body, such as the poll or pelvis.
"The outside rein is like the steering wheel because it executes direction. The rein rests against the neck as the hand is positioned next to the wither." ~ Christine Traurig
Counting each stride out loud or in your head between fences can help you to maintain a rhythm and an even stride when jumping. It can also be a great trick to keep the troublesome part of your brain quiet as you negotiate fences.
"You’re not going to get a quicker reaction from your horse by digging in your spur. If you’re standing on one foot and someone comes behind you and scares you, you’re not going to put your foot higher in the air. You’re going to put it on the ground." ~ Robert Dover
"Body awareness is essential. You must be trained to feel each body part as you’re riding, such as your big toe, or your little finger." ~ Conrad Schumacher
On stretching the horse ~ "My father always said, think of stretching the nose to the sand. Think that as a rider you can always give more and more, the horse will tell you how much he really needs to open up, from the tail, right through the vertebrae, through the neck, really stretched and round like a ball." ~ Ingrid Klimke
The horse shows improved self carriage with more expression and cadence in his gaits, not as a result of the rider doing more, but by the horse doing more and the rider doing less and less.
"Every pull and resistance in the horse's neck originates in the back." ~ Stefan Wolff
So don't try to "soften" the horse's neck or jaw. Address the real cause of the problem - the state of the horse's back, and the activity of the hind legs!
"For riders: It is hard work, takes more time than you have, and requires more money than you thought. You will learn more than you ever thought possible when you began in the sport, but you will never learn it all. You will never be as good as some, but you will probably not be as bad as others if you are willing to work. It is the best thing you could ever do, and even when you fail you learn, and even if you never get a ribbon it is still worth it. Stick it out." ~ Brian Sabo
To help to successfully maintain the sometimes elusive "forward feeling hands", imagine that you are pushing a shopping cart as you ride your horse forward into the bit.
"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
If you feel like you need to wear spurs when you ride, it would be a good idea to go back to the basics in your training to re-visit the concept of your horse answering your feather light leg aids. EVERY horse can be taught this!
