Recent Articles in Tip/Quote of the Day!

The fastest way to get where you're going is to take your time.

"The quality of the seat determines whether we can even speak of 'riding', or whether the horse simply has to 'deal with' the load on his back." ~ Kurt Albrecht

Thinking about keeping your head up and still throughout the jumping motion will help to keep your upper body more quietly poised over fences.

"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   

A good horse will forgive you when you make a mistake - and expects you to do the same.

"For me, the walk is indispensible. If a horse is not walking correctly – extended, collected, two tracks with all the lateral work – then he doesn’t show that he is relaxed, supple, together. I do it all the time, with young horses, with educated horses, I do some lateral work in walk, some extensions, relaxation and collection, half pirouettes, all this before I come into the trot. It makes the horses calm, makes the rider also calm, it makes the rider coordinate his aids – now I need more bending, less bending, re-balance this half pass, it is indispensible. Also indispensible are the breaks in-between with long reins and free reins. We should start every session in walk – for ten minutes, it should be walk. Not just free reins, working in walk." ~ Rafael Soto

"A rider interfering with the rein on the way down to fence is fundamentally dangerous." ~ William Fox Pitt

If you ask for too much angle in any lateral movement (more than your horse can handle at that moment,) you risk impeding the balance and fluidity of the movement, which should be your top priorities.

Riders who put in the time and effort to learn theory will go much further in this sport.

Always keep your spine stretched upward when riding. When you slump, your head and shoulders will become "heavy", and your horse will likely become heavy in your hands.

"I haven't counted how many strides that line is, it really doesn't interest me. I care about your line." ~ Chris Bartle

Riders who get the best out of the sensitive type of horse are especially good at being tactful.

The bigger the jump, the more the horse must rock back and lift upwards on the takeoff. Therefore as the jumps get bigger, it becomes even more important that you are poised and patient with your upper body off the ground.

From Facebook fan Joan Childs ~ "One of the best bits of advice I was given many many years ago I now pass on freely to all my students. Your hands must be free in order to use them effectively. You can not pull, push, follow, open or close your reins if they are busy being a source of your balance."

"Dressage is about repetition and correction and being strong with yourself to not let bad habits happen. It’s being on top of every little thing. If you make bad transitions at home because you’re lazy or not really thinking of it, you’re going to make bad transitions in the arena. Then you go, ‘oh, he did that,’ but that’s because you allowed him to make all those mistakes in the first place." ~ Charlotte Dujardin

From Facebook fan Krista Fabregas ~ "On an 18h gangley monster, a custom made saddle makes a world of difference... and ramen noodles provide adequate enough nutrition when paying for said saddle."

"The rider contains the horse with the hip and upper body; arms and legs are aids." ~ Nuno Oliveira

Sometimes you can make your circles better by not working on circles! Work on squares, 90 degree turns, and diagonal lines for a while, and maybe some nose to the wall leg yield. Then come back to your circles, after you have worked on better use of and response to your outside turning aids.

In just about all situations, the best transitions are initiated from the rider's seat, not the leg or hand. 

"The motto of instructor and 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

The hindquarters are the engine, but you turn the horse by directing his shoulders.

"Anyone can ruin a horse in a heart beat… and what is happening is this vicious circle of working incorrectly, veterinary need, working incorrectly, more veterinary maintenance, that’s a vicious circle." ~ George Morris

"The horse’s particular, individual tempo must also be coordinated with his particular length of frame. A horse can only set his front foot down on the spot toward which his nose is pointing. Thus, the longer the step, the longer the horse’s frame must be." ~ Walter Zettl

Excellence does not require perfection.

"Good style is effective style." ~ Bill Steinkraus

There should be no joint in a rider's midsection. Otherwise the hip joint doesn't work as it is supposed to.

When riding a Dressage test, riding accurately to the letters and making good use of the corners of the ring shows the judge that you are aware, thinking, and have good control of your horse.

From Facebook fan Lee DiGangi ~ "If YOU breathe, your horse will breathe. Especially true with tense mares."

From Facebook fan Lisa VanBuhler ~ "Every time you ride you are either making that horse better or making it worse!"

Think of the fact that there is a beginning, a middle, and an end to every exercise you ride, and every jump that you jump. In other words, if I just tell you to go jump that oxer, you job is not just to jump the over well, but to do a good transition into canter, get the right canter, jump the oxer well, and then to pull up in a smooth and organized manner.

Frustration is often a part of the process of learning and improving as a rider. Look at it from the perspective that you have been strong enough to move out of your comfort zone., and into an area that is difficult for you. And if you persist with determination, you will get there!

"Sit on your pockets like you got a million bucks in there." ~ Unknown

Technically it isn't correct to be sitting all the way on your back pockets. This can, however, be a good thing for a rider who has a tendency to lean too far forward to think about doing!

Your seat shouldn't stop the horse's hind legs, it should send them actively up into your hand to stop the horse on its hindquarters.

From Facebook fan Sandi-Leigh Norris ~ "Don't bring your stress into the arena. Calm your mind first."

Always keep in mind that you need to engage your horse's brain to get him to truly think forward. Your goal should not be to merely get his feet moving, but to ignite the area of his brain that makes him decide to want to move forward. Only when your horse really wants to go forward do you truly have a forward horse... no matter how fast you are actually traveling.

"Forward is your salvation!" ~ Ralph Hill

"It was a really good lesson for me to learn that sometimes to go forward with training you have to go back and fill in the holes." - Katy Barlow

Even if the rider has all of their body parts generally in the right place, they will feel out of balance and out of "sync" with their horse's movement when the shock absorbing joints in their legs are locked and rigid.

From Facebook fan Lisa Davidson ~ "Progress with horses is like watching grass grow - you can never see it happening but the lawn needs mowing every week!"

"There is one way to check that you are on the right way – in the high collection you must be able to stretch them so they follow the bit and they are not stuck up there. In every situation you must be able to stretch them – even a piaffe or a pirouette, even then, I must be able to do it." ~ Hubertus Schmidt

"For your horse to be keen but submissive, it must be calm, straight and forward." ~ Bill Steinkraus

"When the horse jumps, you go with it, not the other way around." ~ Bill Steinkraus