"At its finest, rider and horse are joined not by tack, but by trust. Each is totally reliant upon the other. Each is the selfless guardian of the other's very well being." ~ Michael Plumb
Courses of ground poles are a smart way to practice just about every single skill you need to jump well, while minimizing the stress on your horse's legs.
Think of your leg, seat, and rein aids as ways to communicate with your horse. You don't physically push or pull him anywhere, you give him subtle signals. And if he doesn't initially respond to your subtle signals, you need to teach him to - EVERY horse can learn to respond to light cues, if taught properly.
Riders should carry their hands just above the horse's withers, so as to create a straight line from the rider's elbow to the horse's mouth. When a rider’s hands are rising above that line, many times this is because of tense, drawn up shoulders.
"Classical riding starts with correct movement, we want to build up the strength of the horse and build up the movements – make them more brilliant more expressive, more light, more supple, and if you do not understand this, then you do not follow the rules." ~ Reiner Klimke
Carrying your hands with your thumbs on top when riding keeps your hands, wrists, elbows, shoulders in a "neutral" position, which allows your joints to move most freely to enable an elastic rein connection.
If you attempt to teach a horse something while tension is present, his learning will be compromised. And you will be more likely to run into problems associated with the flight response.
The horse that is the fastest on cross country is often not the one that is allowed to gallop at a greater rate of speed, but rather one that is highly adjustable, and is ridden on economical lines.
"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
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.
"It's the rider's job to make his horse sensitive enough to anticipate half halts, for it is the anticipation factor that makes horse and rider harmonious. The use of the horse's anticipation should work greatly to your advantage in daily training and in riding a dressage test. For example, most dressage movements follow the riding of a corner in the arena. When you ride a half halt before every corner throughout the course of a horse's life, he anticipates that he is going to be more balanced and uphill before, during and after every corner, and then the corner becomes the half halt. Because the horse's brain and body are already in harmony with the rider in the corner, all you have to do is concentrate on the movement that follows." ~ Oded Shimoni
Event riders need to be careful to not get "drunk on speed" when running cross country. There needs to be a point on the approach for every fence that the rider makes sure that the horse is truly galloping in balance, and makes any necessary adjustments to the speed and balance before they make their final approach.
Try to always keep your elbows close to your sides when riding, so that your upper arms remain a part of your seat. This will help you to you use your body to control your horse more than your hands.
"If the rider can halt his horse in any lateral movement, so that it stands quietly in the same position, or ride straight forward without hesitation, it is proof that the horse was going well between hands and legs." ~ Borries von Oeynhausen
Counter bend is a great tool when your horse tries to bulge against your outside aids. And following that up with a change of direction then further reinforces that aid, teaching your horse to have more respect for it.
"Leg yielding is a loosening exercise for the horse – they pull up the leg, fold the joints, push the leg to one side. It is far easier for the horse to leg yield from the centre line to the wall. He wants to go to the wall for help, but never let a young horse go all the way to the wall. The wall is like a magnet, stop him short of the wall." ~ Kyra Kyrklund
"Stretch and supple the horses for a long and healthy career. Keep them moving to keep them sound. Leaving them in a box and only out an hour a day is not a good way to keep a horse sound." ~ Carl Hester
"You have to have a little contact so the circle from the pushing aids to the steady contact to the mouth is correct. Even in halt, you still have to have the feeling that the horse wants to go forward – without pulling." ~ Jo Hinnemann
"A good instructor makes riders relax so the experience is enjoyable. If the rider feels safe and is able to repeat the exercises without the coach present then they have learnt. If they are afraid of the coach belittling them, destroying their confidence, humiliating them etc the coach is a bully." ~ Shirley Sheat
"If dressage horses hold themselves and won't stretch, stand in the stirrups and go for a forward canter, allow them to be a horse. Get rid of the freshness, then back to work." ~ Ingrid Klimke
"When I was in Pau, Bobby (Hale Bob) did his best dressage ever, because I was there with one horse for one week, and we put cavalletti on the circle with so many exercises, he was so supple and so smooth and had so much expression in his gaits. I am really convinced that cavalletti works." ~ Ingrid Klimke
"The rein back should be the same as asking the horse to move forward, otherwise they can't move their hind legs — so don't restrict the movement." ~ Frankie Sloothaak
If you are able to do a good transition from walk to halt - keeping your horse straight, connected, and up into the bridle, you will have a good basis for all downward transitions.
"I mean no disrespect to L judges, and I hope I can be one someday, but being an L judge doesn't tell me much about your riding, training, or teaching ability; it only tells me about your qualifications as a judge.
Similarly, I see a lot of people with their USDF Bronze medal advertising as instructors or trainers, and that absolutely terrifies me because I have a Bronze and earning it revealed to me how much more I need to learn and just confirms to me how unqualified I would be if I were to teach." ~ Valeska Davis
"The first thing I do is move them off my leg. After the lateral work, nine times out of 10, horses put their head down because their back is coming up. No draw reins, no gimmicks, just the inside leg to the outside rein." ~ Anne Kursinski
"The back is the bridge in the horse, and it can only be there if the hind leg is really working. The rider has to influence the hind legs to build that bridge, otherwise it is a horse in three pieces, back, front and you somewhere in the middle." ~ Francis Verbeek
Your leg aid alone does not produce a leg yield. You need to close the door a bit on the outside shoulder by connecting with your outside rein to get any real hind leg crossing behind.
"I've learned that a saddle that truly fits can give you a totally different horse to ride. I now have more stretch, larger movement, foamier mouth, and more go." ~ Jodi Waldrip
"I like to think of 'sitting on the outside hind' when I ask for the canter... That mental picture makes my body do the right thing." ~ Jessie MacWhistle
When a horse is ridden with a hollow back, his back muscles cannot properly support the rider's weight. This increases the risk for sore back muscles or even kissing spines. It is SO important that we teach them how to use their backs correctly!
Hans Mueller explained the difference between an aid and a cue this way: "Suppose every time your horse picked up a right lead you spit on his right ear. Pretty soon every time you wanted a flying change from left to right you spit on the right ear. Then you do the same for the left lead. Now you start tempe changes, and it works beautifully until you get to one time changes and you run out of spit!"
