To steady your horse between fences, many times it is sufficient to square your shoulders and stretch up your body in a poised way... opening up kind of like a sail on a sailboat.
"The best stretch can be achieved on a circle when you feel the horse is balanced laterally and longitudinally. Slowly allow the reins to lengthen and see if your horse will lengthen his neck forward and downward. This will feel like a clear release and you will be able to see how the neck fills out and gets wide when you look down." ~ Felicitas von Neumann-Cosel
"The relaxation of the mouth alone is not enough. It can be deceptive, because it does not necessarily lead to lightness. It has to be accompanied by the relaxation of the entire horse. When he relaxes the back, it will definitely have repercussions in the mouth." ~ Nuno Oliveira
"I like to think about making my body longer in the front to make me sit up instead of thinking 'shoulders back,' which can make you stiff." ~ Mary King
"A horse 'held in shape' by his rider is only posturing in a seemingly correct outline, usually for the benefit of the inexperienced observers." ~ Charles de Kunffy
"You need to produce a walk. So work at the walk as well as the trot and canter. Get a good feeling of the body working in the walk. The walk is a mirror of the training of the horse." ~ Christoph Hess
A horse that is well balanced, with the right amount of impulsion for the jump at hand, can comfortably leave the ground from just about any reasonable takeoff spot.
"Stay dedicated to the quality of the basic gaits - the suppleness and balance of the walk, trot and canter. Then as you cultivate the movements, those gaits improve." ~ Volker Brommann
"Your body follows your eyes. If you’re looking down that pulls your shoulders and torso down and forward as well, which could result in your feet and legs slipping back as well, and you possibly hitting the ground." ~ Tori Meinhart
The horse should always set the pace of the progression of both training and competing. Pushing a horse too hard, too soon will usually result in having to go back and start over.
If your horse struggles to maintain a consistent rhythm, think of using your breathing to help him stay regular. This is one reason why counting is so useful, as when you count in a rhythm, you will breathe in that rhythm.
A horse's energy flowing through a turn is similar to water flowing through a tunnel. Just as the outside wall of the tunnel is paramount to guide the water through the turn, a good connection on the outside rein is crucial to a successful turn on a horse.
When the horse carries more weight behind (engagement), there is more stored energy in the stride (impulsion.)
Therefore to develop more impulsion in your horse's gaits, you should not make him run faster, but do exercises which increase his engagement behind, like transitions.
"Remember, the conversation between you and your horse must never be dull or inert. It should be, 'Ask, receive, give. Ask, receive, give.' Ask with your body and legs; receive through your body into your hands; give primarily with the hands, but also with your body and legs, so that you can ask all over again, receive again and give again. The give is your thanks. If you don't give, you must ask harder the next time, and even harder after that, until you end up with a dead or resistant horse." - Sally Swift
"For me it is important that the horse is happy and you see it in the face, you see it in the tail, you see it in the swinging, you can listen, how the horse is breathing, these are the things that are important for a quality test." ~ Christoph Hess
"Lightness sounds very good, if it is light, but it is better if it is not too light because a horse that is too light in the hand is more difficult to ride than a horse that is a little bit heavy on the hand. Okay we always have to talk about finding the right balance, but in the end, contact is nothing more than the contact to the hind leg, the contact that the rider makes between the mouth and the hind leg. This is the duty of the rider, to put these two together. The moment the horse starts to move, and he moves behind, you have to feel it in your hand, then you have to let it out." ~ Jean Bemelmans
The horse is not capable of true collection when their muscles are tense. No matter how hard you try to achieve collection, it will elude you until you can first achieve loose, relaxed, and swinging muscles.
Always use both reins together when steering, especially when turning between jumps. Using one rein only turns the horse's nose - but using both reins turn the horse at the shoulders, which means his body will more accurately follow your chosen line.
"Through the energy of impulsion mobilized from within himself, the horse is now prepared, in his physique and emotional attentiveness, to respond instantly to the slightest indications to change his tempo, posture, direction or gait." ~ Waldemar Seunig
"The purpose of dressage is to enhance our ability to control our horses; hopefully, after a long period of consistent training, our horses will calmly and generously place their forces at our disposal." ~ Jimmy Wofford
"May every rider strive for a better connection with his or her horse by observation, closer understanding and patient groundwork. It matters not what discipline is pursued, only that there be a perfectly balanced union between the two – man and horse – so that the two become one." ~ Frederic Pinon
"The techniques you use for relaxation, stretching, walk breaks, things like that, a more competitive or nervous rider doesn’t pay enough attention to that. They think, 'I’ve got a test to do so I won’t keep stretching him until he’s relaxed, I’ll just get on with it.' That’s pressure." ~ Carl Hester
"There are many horses that can only be taught through lateral bending, especially second degree bending, to let the rein aids go through to the hind legs." ~ Sigismund v. Josipovich
If 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.
It is very important to treat each horse... and each situation, individually. When problems arise - sometimes the best answer is time, patience, and encouragement. While at other times, strong corrections might be in order. A big part of success in interacting with horses is being able to read each situation accurately. And that comes only with experience.
Shoulder in to the right engages and strengthens the horse's right hind leg, which will help to improve their ability to do haunches in and half pass to the left. And vice versa.
In hand work can be a great tool to work on teaching the horse the concept of moving away from pressure. When the horse knows how to yield to pressure anywhere on his body on the ground, you will be able to apply it to under saddle work.
When you realize that you are meeting a jump on an awkward distance or a half stride, it can be challenging to keep a calm, clear head! Give yourself something constructive to think about, and tell yourself to just stay still and keep riding your horse's hind legs all the way till the takeoff.
"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 Bartle
