Lesley's Corner
Lesley's Corner
Lesley is a "graduate" of Jimmy Wofford's training program, and has competed to the Advanced 4 star level in 3 day Eventing on a horse she bought off the track as a 3 year old. She has also trained through the Prix St Georges level in Dressage, and was an Equine Vet Tech at the prestigious Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital in Lexington, KY. A series of educational articles written by Lesley. If you have any requests for topics, please send them to: admin@myvirtualeventingcoach.com
Lesley's Corner
One Sidedness in Riders
We riders spend a lot of time working on making our horses more ambidextrous. But what about ourselves? How can we ride our horses straight if our own bodies are one sided? It will definitely be much easier for them if we make an attempt to be more even and ambidextrous. Learn how here!
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The Horse That Carries Tension in its Back
Tension in the horse's back is very paralyzing to the rest of its body, inhibiting the hind legs from coming underneath to balance itself. It can cause back soreness, spooky, and disobedient behavior. Let's talk about how to tell if your horse is tense in the back and what you can do about it.
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Exercises to Improve Your Horse's Suppleness
Lateral suppleness is the horse's ability to bend easily from side to side. Few horses are naturally ambidextrous, so a major goal of dressage is to make the horse more even on both sides & truly straight. Here are specific exercises to improve lateral suppleness, from most basic to most difficult!
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A Little Trick That is Helpful in the Training of Hot or Nervous Horses
The hot or anxious type of horse can be challenging to ride and train, but if patiently handled, they can be the very best competitors! This exercise will help you get better results with your nervous horse. And it’s so simple, you’ll wonder why you haven’t been using it!
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The BEST Exercise to Loosen Up Your Horse's Tight Lower Back Area
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Making Related Distances Work For You
With a little planning and forethought, you CAN make related distances work for you. You just have to focus on these key points!
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The Responsibility Exercise
Your horse will never truly be in self carriage if you give constant aids. Train him to take responsibility to maintain the gait or movement with minimal input from you. It must become a state of mind, so that he truly understands this responsibility. Learn how to teach this here!
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Square Exercise # 3
One of the most common problems riders face when turning is losing control of the horse's outside shoulder. This exercise is a great way to get more control over that outside shoulder to help make more accurate turns - which will help you come out of the turns straight and in better balance.
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3 Distinctly Different Ways of Controlling Your Horse's Shoulders in Circles, Turns & Lateral Work
Did you know that there are 3 related but distinctly different ways of controlling your horse's shoulders?? Many riders are in the habit of using only one of these 3 methods. So they continue to struggle to accurately control their horse's shoulders in turns, circles, and lateral work.
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Introducing the Counter Canter
Counter canter is simply one of the most beneficial exercises you can do for your horse! In addition to building strength, improving balance, & increasing hind leg engagement, it also improves the horse's ability to be straight in the canter. Which will improve all of your canter work.
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An Exercise to Help Improve Your Horse's Connection Over the Back
This is a great exercise to break through the tension or stiffness in this area, and improve the level of throughness over your horse's entire topline, and the overall quality of your connection. You will see an improvement in ALL of your scores when your horse moves more through their topline!