Tip/Quote of the Day # 732In wet or muddy conditions, it can be a good idea to get someone to wipe off the bottom of your boots after you get on. This will help to keep your feet securely in your stirrups, without sliding around as they might do when they are wet. Tip/Quote of the Day # 731From Facebook fan Annette Gaynes ~ "Self carriage of the rider is necessary for self carriage of the horse."Tip/Quote of the Day # 730When working with a horse that does not have a great natural lengthening, make sure that you don't ask for too much too soon. Compare this to a singer who is training their vocal cords… they gradually expand their vocal range until they hit their limit. This helps to prevent them from overextending themselves, and builds up confidence in their abilities.Tip/Quote of the Day # 729When your horse is harder to the left because he wants to carry his body too "curled" to the left, this is often best addressed by going to the right, rather than the left. If you can do some good work with your horse's body fully bending around your right leg, you are stretching the tight left side of his body, which will help him to go straighter when going to the left. Tip/Quote of the Day # 728If you want your horse to like his job, you need to make an effort to keep his job likeable.Tip/Quote of the Day # 727"Working-in is one of the most important aspects of dressage. You want your horse to be long, round and stretching before you start more taxing work, to get the muscles in front of and behind the saddle soft and working – gymnasts don’t hop straight onto the top bar! Ideally, walk for 10 minutes to start with, but if your horse is fresh, it is best to trot on to settle him down." ~ Carl HesterTip/Quote of the Day # 726When you have a good contact, your horse can feel your thoughts transmitted through the reins.Tip/Quote of the Day # 725Your leg creates the energy, and your seat controls the length of the horse's stride. Tip/Quote of the Day # 724Horses speak through actions. Try to listen to what they are telling you.Tip/Quote of the Day # 723"A horse seeks where it's most comfortable." ~ Ralph HillTip/Quote of the Day # 722"Horses don't WANT to jump badly! They jump badly because of US! Ever seen a horse get loose in a steeplechase? It jumps like a BIRD!" ~ Jimmy WoffordTip/Quote of the Day # 721The fastest cross-country horses are not necessarily the fastest horses in general, but the ones that are the easiest to set up for the jumps. So work on your horse's adjustability.Tip/Quote of the Day # 720"Squeezing with the fingers is a backward action, the sneakiest form of pulling." ~ Peter De CosemoTip/Quote of the Day # 719The horse shouldn't feel punished for trying to escape the connection, they should just feel unsuccessful. Tip/Quote of the Day # 718When you have a good contact, your horse can feel your thoughts transmitted through the reins.Tip/Quote of the Day # 717It should be a big red flag to you if your instructor is the type to say that all jumps should be treated the same. It can be a sign of lack of knowledge or teaching experience in a trainer. Riders should be aware of every question posed by each individual jump, and should not treat all jumps the same. Things that need to be taken into consideration are the shape of the jump, the footing, the terrain involved before and after the jump, the lighting, the kind of approach you are given, and what is on the landing side of the jump.Tip/Quote of the Day # 716With fresh horses that want to look around and be unfocused, do yourself and your horse a favor, and let them have some free time to relax at the beginning of a workout. Either a short time lunging or free schooling, or simply a 10 to 20 minute walk on the buckle to let them gawk and take everything in. Then, when you pick up the reins and go to work, you will usually find that there is less resistance.Tip/Quote of the Day # 715A calm, attentive horse begins with a calm, attentive handler.Tip/Quote of the Day # 714The more thoroughly you have prepared for a movement or transition, the more you can just allow it to happen, rather than making it happen.Tip/Quote of the Day # 713The most energy efficient way for a horse to gallop cross country is to gallop in balance, so that very little adjustments are necessary in front of the fences. If you could gallop in such a way that a fence could drop from the sky and land in front of you when you are just 3 or 4 strides away, and you could jump it well - then you will be giving your horse the best chance to finish the course with plenty of gas in the tank.Tip/Quote of the Day # 712 To build anything successfully, you need the right tools. Riding is about building a successful partnership between you and your horse. The tools you need to do that are patience, knowledge, understanding, and feel.Tip/Quote of the Day # 711“Riders use the spur instead of the calf of the leg. This is wrong. As trainers and judges, we need to encourage putting the rider in front of the leg, NOT the spur.” ~ Christoph HessTip/Quote of the Day # 710A rider's rigid elbows will cause the horse's back to become correspondingly rigid.Tip/Quote of the Day # 709Always keep in mind that it is more difficult for horses to turn in water. So your power steering may not work as accurately, and you may need to start your turns a little earlier! Tip/Quote of the Day # 708"The horse’s posture, his strength, his suppleness, influence very much the sensations that the bit creates in him." ~ Dupaty de ClamTip/Quote of the Day # 707"For lateral work always remember to sit on your inside seat bone." ~ Carl HesterTip/Quote of the Day # 706"You can ride a horse up without sitting on their backs." ~ William Fox PittTip/Quote of the Day # 705Don't half halt or make an adjustment in front of a fence unless you need to. So often I see riders that ruin their good canter on the approach by taking back unnecessarily. And the same holds true on the flat…. if you have a good trot or canter, leave it alone!Tip/Quote of the Day # 704On the idea of taking risks in the Dressage ring: "Aim for a score of a 7 on most movements, and decide what movements your horse excels at, and push for a bit more on those. Going for 8's across the board can backfire, leaving you with some 4's." ~ William Fox PittTip/Quote of the Day # 703"Speaking as a veterinarian/animal chiropractor, a significant amount of damage can be done, especially to the young or remedial horse, by the use of draw reins. Draw reins multiply the force the bit has on the bars, and therefore act to pull the head and neck in a backward direction resulting in a broken neckline and often hyperflexion which puts enormous tension on the upper neck muscles/nuchal ligament system, and the back via the supraspinous ligament. When hyperflexed the horse is overextended at the lumbosacral joint and is not able to properly bring the hindquarters underneath to allow lift of the back without tension. What you are often left with is a horse moving with a tense back that is unable to properly support the weight of the rider." ~ Kelli TaylorTip/Quote of the Day # 702
Remember that to balance your horse in front of a fence you do not necessarily have to slow down. Many times you simply need to change the shape of the canter stride - i.e. bring the horse into a more uphill frame.
Tip/Quote of the Day # 701Unless 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 takeoffs, and will teach him to use his body more fully when jumping.Tip/Quote of the Day # 700Turning your toes out beyond your natural conformation will cause you to pinch the horse with the back of your thighs and the muscles of your seat.Tip/Quote of the Day # 699Thinking of steering your horse from the middle of his body rather than his nose will help you to keep all of his body parts under control.Tip/Quote of the Day # 698Horses speak through actions. Try to listen to what they are telling you.Tip/Quote of the Day # 697Make sure there is a slight time lapse between a light aid and a correction. This gives the horse a chance to respond to the light aid... and it gives him a chance to learn from the reinforcement of that aid. Tip/Quote of the Day # 696"Our job is to prepare the line and canter, then ride forward to the jump. Riding forward to the jump is NOT accelerating to the jump. There is a difference. When riders got to a longer or shorter distance than ideal, the emphasis should be on the rider staying in the moment and conveying confidence to the horse." ~ William Fox PittTip/Quote of the Day # 695With horses, just like with people, let your actions speak for you. For example, you may think you are rewarding your horse when you say "Good boy" or "Good girl"… but if you don't also release the aid, your horse will not really feel rewarded for their effort.Tip/Quote of the Day # 694"Every transition you ride at home has to be a good one." ~ Charlotte DujardinTip/Quote of the Day # 693Riders often get to sitting crooked when trying to "weigh" a particular seat bone. So when I am teaching, and I want riders to use the influence of their weight or a particular seat bone as an aid, I tell them to "engage" that seat bone instead of to weigh it. Think about engaging your core to press down on the seat bone that you want to engage, while keeping your spine stretched up, and your shoulders level.Tip/Quote of the Day # 692"The goal of our training is to build the horse's mind and his muscles. Suppleness and relaxation require adequate muscle strength. strengthening requires both contraction and relaxation. Blood flow and oxygenation occur when the muscle relaxes. If the muscle is kept in a constant state of contraction, it loses power and strength, and actually becomes smaller. Frequent rest periods, especially for a young horse at a free walk on a long rein, are necessary. The rest periods are not for a rider's fatigue, but to allow the horse to stretch and relax his muscles. The rest breaks will give you a completely new horse. This is the systematic gymnasticizing of the horse." ~ Klaus BalkenholTip/Quote of the Day # 691So often, riders are taught to "lean back" when going down hills and over drop fences. While this is better than leaning too far forward in either of those situations, you must remember that as a rider you are where your center of gravity is, not where your shoulders are. You will be in a better position to be in harmony with your horse going down hills and on fences with drops (or any time you need to be in a defensive position, as in this article), while keeping your hip angle closed with your hips well back.Tip/Quote of the Day # 690The key to riding good "cross the diagonal" movements in the Dressage ring is to ride deeply in the preceding corner, while keeping the impulsion through the turns, so that the energy level stays consistent throughout the movement. Tip/Quote of the Day # 689The more complex the movement, the more the basic foundation is tested. If you run into an issue when attempting a particular movement, always be ready to look back to that foundation to fix it. Tip/Quote of the Day # 688"Although breeders have created a better horse, the market has created a demand for a stronger, healthier, more powerful horse. It's easier to sell a horse that looks like a carefully developed eight-year-old, and not like a three- or four-year-old just beginning his career." ~ Klaus BalkenholTip/Quote of the Day # 687If your horse feels locked and braced against you, you are probably bracing and pulling against him yourself. He will probably never let go unless you do. Tip/Quote of the Day # 686"It's very important, especially in the first two years of training, not to specialize the young horse. Training should include a variety of activities, including trail riding, which is good for the mind as well as building strength with hill work. It should include jumping, either free or low jumps under saddle, including small natural obstacles on the trail, and cavaletti. A variety of work will allow the horse to stay mentally fresh and to enjoy his work. Only when the horse is happy can dressage become art." ~ Klaus BalkenholTip/Quote of the Day # 685If 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?Tip/Quote of the Day # 684"Your corners and short sides are what make your movements. Nine times out of ten, you have to do something out of a corner. If you ride a bad corner, you ride a bad movement." ~ Charlotte DujardinTip/Quote of the Day # 683Even the stiffest horse can reach around and bite at a fly on its rump. The neck is already one of the most supple areas of the horse's body, and does not need any further suppling. Horses are also naturally supple in the poll and jaw. What we perceive as stiffness in these areas is simply tension and resistance to our aids. We must encourage the horse to relax in those areas, but should not attempt to "work" those areas to force suppleness. The horse primarily needs to become supple in the mid section of the body, between the withers and the croup. So that is the area you should focus on in your suppling work.
