Tip/Quote of the Day # 682Train amongst distractions if you want to be able to perform with them.Tip/Quote of the Day # 681When jumping on rolling terrain, be careful that you do not underestimate the effect of the terrain on your horse's stride and impulsion level. Tip/Quote of the Day # 680“You should always ride travers after the shoulder-in and not as often and long.” ~ Michael JungTip/Quote of the Day # 679Always have a plan when jumping. Each exercise should have something to teach your horse. Don't waste jumps by jumping simple jumps with no purpose - other than for warm up, or if the horse needs them for building confidence. Tip/Quote of the Day # 678"People can make looking after horses so complicated. They're happiest out in the field, living out and being worked in the field. Whereas people keep them in and feed them so many additives that it's ridiculous. They feed them this and that and so many things. There's nothing like good green grass out in the field." ~ Mary KingTip/Quote of the Day # 677Riding backwards (too much hand and/or not enough leg) when the horse is "having a look" at a fence can easily cause a stop.Tip/Quote of the Day # 676To be a great cross country rider, you have to be able to ride aggressively when needed - yet you have to be patient at the same time. You have to be assertive and positive without actually hurrying the horse off the ground.Tip/Quote of the Day # 675The most successful riders stay very much "in the moment", and are very attuned to feeling exactly what their horse is doing at any given moment.Tip/Quote of the Day # 674A very common mistake riders make when performing the movements haunches in, half pass, or turn on the haunches is sitting too much towards the outside of the movement. To prevent this, think about stepping into the inside stirrup at the beginning of each of these movements, and again every couple of strides if necessary.Tip/Quote of the Day # 673When jumping a fence that is a part of a complex where you feel like you need extra control, don't make the tempting mistake of hanging onto your horse's mouth in the air to try to keep that control. If you interfere with your horse's jumping motion in the air, not only will you ruin his form over the jump, but he will likely resist you, leaving you finding yourself with even less control on the landing. The more perfectly you go with your horse's motion over the jump, the more quickly you will be able to have instant communication and control upon landing.Tip/Quote of the Day # 672Don't just do trot and canter lengthenings to practice those movements for the test - they are a very important tool for increasing hind leg activity! Tip/Quote of the Day # 671If you get to riding with your reins a bit too long, you will be tempted to use your hands in a backwards way. It is easier to make a connection with truly forward feeling hands when your reins are sufficiently shortened.Tip/Quote of the Day # 670"Rein aids don't work if your horse is not ahead of your legs." ~ Yvonne BarteauTip/Quote of the Day # 669With horses that get strong or play up after fences, it can be a good exercise to halt after each fence to instill discipline. And whenever a horse is difficult to halt, I add a rein back. This will teach them that they need to be ready to halt when they land, and helps to create a situation where they are waiting for you on the landing side of the fences.Tip/Quote of the Day # 668Confidence is something you need to build for yourself. It is something you have to actively pursue and proactively work to maintain.Tip/Quote of the Day # 667In your Dressage warm up, it is most helpful to work on the specific exercises which best improve your connection, rather than the particular movements that are in your test. If you can create a good connection in the warm up, the movements themselves will be easy. Tip/Quote of the Day # 666Moving up to a jump by pushing the horse into a longer stride or frame will change the horse's balance at a time when he most needs it to stay the same. Instead, create a canter with sufficient impulsion early on in the approach, and ride forward within the stride and balance that you have to maintain that balance. Tip/Quote of the Day # 665When things are not going especially well in training, you must go out of your way to find things to reward. This will help to keep your horse's level of confidence in you as high as possible, and will motivate him to keep trying for you. Tip/Quote of the Day # 664Don't lose your good score for your trot or canter lengthenings by not performing a clear, precise, and active transition back to the working gait at the end of the lengthening. Tip/Quote of the Day # 663Sally Swift gives a good explanation about why the best riders are often not the best instructors: "Many of the great riders have the gift of natural balance and coordination so that they never have to question how to do anything with any part of their body. If they know what they want to do, their body will respond. Because of this innate coordination, they have not needed to know how one makes a leg move, or how one breathes, or how one balances. It just happens. Therefore it is usually difficult for them to explain to the rest of us less-coordinated mortals how to move some particular part of our bodies."Tip/Quote of the Day # 662Don't feel like you have to stick with the same movements or even the circle size of the Dressage test you are about to do in your warm up. It can be very helpful to utilize some smaller circles and lateral work (if you and the horse are both capable) in your warm up, to increase your level of engagement and improve your connection. Tip/Quote of the Day # 661"Take your time, but don't waste time." ~ Arthur KottasTip/Quote of the Day # 660
"Connection is often misunderstood. The horse must be taught to go from the seat and leg to the hand for it to be correct. But some riders will try to force it by working their hands and arms to 'work the horse’s neck back and forth to achieve that lightness,' which is incorrect." ~ Lilo Fore
Tip/Quote of the Day # 659"Under no circumstances (except to save your life) is see-sawing on the bit ever allowed. Nor is sneaky jiggling. The bit should only be moved by the chewing action of the horse." ~ Catherine Haddad StallerTip/Quote of the Day # 658Throwing the reins away to the point that they are so loose that there are loops in them is not the answer to solving your problem of being too strong/tense/rigid in the hands and arms. You must keep a connection, and learn to be elastic within that connection. That is the only way to advance.Tip/Quote of the Day # 657
"At the beginning of every ride you must be willing to explain 'yet again' to your horse what you expect of him with sympathy and empathy. Dressage is our dream, not theirs." ~ Yvonne Barteau
Tip/Quote of the Day # 656It can be very helpful to keep all of your Dressage test sheets together, and to take the time to sit down and review them on a regular basis. This can remind you of the type of comments that you regularly receive, which you can use to help point you towards what you need to work on. Tip/Quote of the Day # 655Shoulder in to the right really strengthens the right hind leg, which will help to improve the horse's ability to do haunches in and half pass to the left. And vice versa.Tip/Quote of the Day # 654From Facebook fan Rachel Rogers Laliberte ~ "The hands make contact with the mouth but the riders use of driving aids (leg and seat) create the connection." Tip/Quote of the Day # 653When jump schooling, it can be a good idea think about changing direction after each jump, unless you have a plan to do otherwise for a specific reason. So every time you approach off of the left lead, you turn right afterwards, and vice versa. This way, you get lots of practice with your lead changes (simple or flying), and you will help to ensure that you do an equal amount of practice jumping off of each lead, which is important. Tip/Quote of the Day # 652When lunging, pivot with one foot so that you keep yourself still and centered in the middle of your horse's circle. This way, he will learn to make an actual circle shape, rather than an odd shape.Tip/Quote of the Day # 651Neutral riding means the rider maintains their position, but with the absence of aids. Aim to return to neutral as much as possible after every aid. Tip/Quote of the Day # 650"Finding an honest connection and throughness can be as elusive as trying to find your true image in a fun house mirror." ~ Yvonne BarteauTip/Quote of the Day # 649"Cross-country saddles should have room for five fingers breadth behind your seat. This allows room for you to slide your seat backwards. This will give you a 'safe seat'. The ability to do that depends on the length of your stirrup--they must be SHORT." ~ Chris BartleTip/Quote of the Day # 648
You turn your car by turning the wheels on the front axle, not by turning the hood ornament (dating myself here... I know). And similarly, you should turn your horse from his shoulders, not from his nose.
Tip/Quote of the Day # 647"If your rein aids are not working it is because your leg aids are not working. Piece by piece fix the response to your leg aids first. Every horse should be able to do a proper turn on the forehand so start there." ~ Yvonne Barteau
I so agree! The turn on the forehand is often overlooked in the training process, and it is the foundation lateral exercise! Master that, and everything else will become so much easier. Tip/Quote of the Day # 646"When you relax your arms and feel the reins softly you need to feel that your horse wants to step into the contact. If you do not then he is behind your leg and seat." ~ Yvonne BarteauTip/Quote of the Day # 645It is commonly taught to wiggle or move the bit when the horse is trying to lean on the rider's hands. But while that makes it less attractive for the horse to lean on the bit, it only covers up the real problem rather than solving it. The only real way to fix it is to solve the cause of the problem, which is to use exercises to rebalance the horse. Tip/Quote of the Day # 644Allow with the reins coming into a drop into water. Holding too much in the last strides can cause the horse to not use his body fully over the fence into the water… which can cause a stumble or fall on landing in the water. Tip/Quote of the Day # 643A sound horse's head does not move in the trot. So if your hands move at all in the trot, you are moving the bit and disturbing the connection from the horse's perspective. Tip/Quote of the Day # 642 The more you can teach your horse to gallop in balance between fences on cross country, the less you will have to do in front of the jumps. And your horse will also be more likely to remain sound. Galloping long distances out of balance is very punishing on the horse's front legs.Tip/Quote of the Day # 641The best reach and push forward through the neck in Dressage comes as a result of the horse's back lifting... much like a bascule over a jump. Tip/Quote of the Day # 640"Never ceases to amaze how many riders think they can get the neck forward by tweaking and twiddling with the reins." ~ Peter DeCosemoTip/Quote of the Day # 639"Make him proudly independent of you so that he understands his job so well you merely walk the course and then show him the way. Tell your horse what you want him to do, and then allow him to do it." ~ Jimmy WoffordTip/Quote of the Day # 638When riding, always be true in the moment. You need to react to what is actually happening underneath you, rather than you what you are expecting to happen.Tip/Quote of the Day # 637 The more you can teach your horse to gallop in balance between fences on cross country, the less you will have to do in front of the jumps. And your horse will also be more likely to remain sound. Galloping long distances out of balance is very punishing on the horse's front legs.Tip/Quote of the Day # 636The key to a good trot lengthening or medium trot is in the preparation. If you can sufficiently coil the spring of the horse's hindquarters beforehand, the lengthening will happen naturally when you allow it. If you don't have enough stored energy, and have to push to try to get it, that is when the horse will lose rhythm or balance, or break into the canter. Tip/Quote of the Day # 635Half halts work best when applied within the rhythm of the horse's stride. Tip/Quote of the Day # 634The deeper the water you are landing in at your water jump, the more slowly you must approach the fence into the water.Tip/Quote of the Day # 633"Whenever a horse has learned a new movement or a new aid in its basic form, the rider should give him a break and deliberately ride something else for a few days or weeks. When he returns to the movement, he will notice how much more easily the training will proceed." ~ Reiner Klimke
