"For me quality dressage, not the forced dressage, not where you pull the horse or force the horse to do something, dressage is a dance – you can dance through a test with little aids." ~ Ingrid Klimke
"Give the horse the feeling of freedom when you sit on it, always the feeling that it can move forward. Most riders all over the world use their hands to try and control their horse, the neck starts to shorten and then it all starts to go wrong." ~ Christoph Hess
While a thicker mouthpiece is generally considered to be more gentle than a thinner bit, the horse with a small mouth or a low palate often prefers a thinner bit.
When softening the reins, it is common for riders to mistakenly and unconsciously lean forward at the same time. Avoid this problem by thinking about pushing yourself away from your hands as you give the reins.
"I like to describe riding a course as riding a line at a certain pace, and the jumps are just like speed bumps on your journey. Whereas some riders ride the jumps as their objective. They ride one jump, then look up, and ride the next, and the next. I try to teach riders to ride a line with good balance and the correct pace, and that is their primary objective, and the jumps are their secondary objective." ~ George Sanna
Since the various available lateral movements all work to supple the horse's body in a slightly different way, it is a good idea to use bits of all of them in your training. Don't just do your favorites.
"The horse always tries to run away, that is part of his nature. When the rider uses the bit to stop the horse, that is the rider’s first wrong move. We must always give the horse an open door. When we hold the horse with our hands we take the horse out of its mental and physical balance, and that is the beginning of disharmony between horse and rider." ~ Christoph Hess
"The goal of all dressage riding should be to bring the horse and rider together in harmony...a oneness of balance, purpose, and athletic expression." ~ Walter Zettl
"We want the horse to know, if he gets into difficulties, if he slips, he can just take time with things, so they learn to get themselves out of trouble. If a horse has slipped badly or hit a jump badly, just keep hold of the front end, keep hold of the reins, just sit quiet and try and support the horse. Let the horse find his feet, try and slow the whole thing down." ~ Andrew Hoy
"I really believe that horses are very generous and they are on our side. They can also become frightened, so it is important that we don’t ask them anything beyond their capabilities. You can keep them on your side by being quiet with them. They have to be believers in you, and understand what you are asking. I think that we as riders get too aggressive when something doesn’t happen the way we want. You have to remember that the experiences the horses have, especially if they are bad, aren’t forgotten easily. It takes a long time to work through those bad experiences." ~ Andrew Hoy
"We must be careful when making the horse straight not to bend it in front of the withers. We must not loosen the muscles in front of the withers for we need to build them up on either side of the neck so it is steady in front of the withers." ~ Reiner Klimke
"Riding courses is still all about finding the canter. Every jump in every situation has a canter that is perfect for that jump. Whether it is a very flimsy looking stile, or very strong looking oxer, off a short turn, away from the entrance gate into a double… With the oxer to the double you are really under the pump to get in there nice and strong and get the horse in front of your legs – as opposed to the very delicate stile they can look through, going downhill, towards the gate, where you’ve got to take all the ground speed away from them and sit up and give them an opportunity to read it and stay off the front rail." ~ George Sanna
It’s just as easy to train a horse to be sensitive to our aids as it is to train them to be dull to our aids. Every time you give your horse an aid you have a chance to train (or re-train) your horse to be sensitive to it.
Soften the reins too much at the beginning of a lengthening, and you may find that you lose your stored energy. Which will likely cause your horse to quicken his stride rather than giving you a true lengthening.
"If you are riding a youngster they are definitely tuned into you. So I found that if I rode unconcerned on the trails so were they. Eventually nothing seems to bother them." ~ Manette A Pacheco
"Often one hears riders in whatever discipline say that their aim is to bring the horse to a certain level or to place highly at certain shows. These goals are absolutely legitimate, but we must not forget that they are only a byproduct of what should be our highest of aims: To make our horses more beautiful and keep them healthy through their training." ~ Ingrid Klimke
"If you are riding a youngster they are definitely tuned into you. I found that if I rode unconcerned on the trails so were they. Eventually nothing seems to bother them." ~ Manette A Pacheco
If your horse does not offer to stretch near the end of a workout, there is a good chance that you didn't have him working correctly through his topline during your ride.
"Good riders land over an obstacle, go the the next jump and make a good arrangement. Great riders land with their horses already arranged for the next obstacle." ~ Bill Steinkraus
YOU are the one in charge of your riding. That means making sure that you have the right horse for you, and the right trainer. It also means that you stay motivated to work and train hard, pushing through the inevitable ups and downs of the sport. Others can help you, but ultimately the responsibility is yours.
"Natural ability is handy, but I’ve seen so many gifted riders amount to nothing because they weren’t hungry or determined enough. Someone with high ambitions, commitment and who is hard working is always going to stand out." ~ Boyd Martin
True bending from nose to tail requires that the horse understands all three of these things: how to move away from lateral leg pressure, how to move into the connecting outside rein, and the aids for inside flexion.
"Flexibility and self-carriage are the source of the horse's agility. Good turns, which develop its agility, are obtained only by making the horse flexible, putting it into balance, and thus giving it self-carriage. This involves not merely the lateral flexion of the entire spinal column but more so the flexibility of the hind legs. Only the latter enables the horse to perform quick and reliable turns under the rider, since the forehand is able to turn and change direction easily without danger for the health of its limbs only from the always secure support of the hindquarters." ~ Gustav Steinbrecht
To make diagonal lines and center lines accurate in the Dressage ring, imagine that there is a dotted line connecting the letters that make up that line. And plan your turns so that you can accurately get onto that line.
Always remember that your goal with your hand position should be to have a straight line from your elbow to the bit. Hands above that line (which I see far too often!) break the true connection. The horse may feel lighter, but will not be truly seeking the connection. Hands below that line will put painful pressure on the bars of the horse's mouth, which will cause him to either resist or back away from that pressure by curling and dropping behind the bit.
Mental limitations are often much more career limiting than physical limitations when it comes to riding. If things are difficult for you physically, don't give up! You will get there!
"Let us repeat that the two groups of muscles lying on either side of the spinal column which pulsate elastically rather than convulsively must work quite uniformly along a straight line and on a single track. If they do not do so, the horse becomes crooked, with its legs not carrying an equal load on both sides, and we get the impure gait in all its variants." ~ Waldemar Seunig
I always like to see horses jump into cross country complexes like coffins and sunken roads in a catlike way rather than jumping big. This means they are thinking ahead as well, and are preparing to do some good "footwork" between the jumps. Keep this in mind when approaching the first element of these kind of complexes. Maintain a supportive leg, but be careful to not override the first element or approach too fast.
A horse has to be straight to have true impulsion. Any stored energy leaks out where the body is crooked, changing the energy in the stride from impulsion to merely forward momentum.
"A deep seated saddle can limit the freedom of your hips to really move with your horse and you may not even realize how much your saddle is limiting you. Try an old style dressage saddle and you might just be amazed with the difference." ~ Kelly Jennings
While it is important to have a plan when riding, you should always be ready to adapt that plan as necessary. Ultimately, you ride the horse and not the plan!
The concept of collection is often best introduced to the horse in the canter, as that is often the gait that the horse finds it easiest to learn how to "sit" more behind.
