Tip/Quote of the Day!
Always be aware of the amount of tension you carry when riding, and whether you are breathing softly and evenly or holding your breath. Talking or humming quietly is a good way to ensure you keep breathing.
Tip/Quote of the Day!
Riding shoulder in steps immediately before the half pass brings the inside hind leg deeper underneath the horse's body, to carry more weight and be a more solid balance point, which allows for a bigger lift and reach across with the legs on the outside of the horse&
Tip/Quote of the Day!
If you don't ride and train in such a way that your horse learns to listen to your seat, you will usually find that you have to use a lot more hand to get things done.
Tip/Quote of the Day!
"Tempo enables dressage to become dancing. Rhythm is the regularity of the pace. Tempo is the speed of the pace." ~ Hilda Gurney
Tip/Quote of the Day!
Feel your horse's rhythm with your whole body when riding. Whether you are doing Dressage, jumping, galloping cross country, or just enjoying a relaxing trail ride, the more you can be in sync with your horse's rhythm, the more harmony you will find.
Tip/Quote of the Day!
"First, [the rider] has to be ambitious. Mentally, he has to be well balanced and consistent. He has to be tougher on himself than on the horse. If he gets after the horse too much, he will not get far. One must really be able to push oneself harder
Tip/Quote of the Day!
If you don't give your horse something to do, he might give YOU something to do. Always have a plan for each ride, and keep your horse's mind engaged with YOUR plan.
Tip/Quote of the Day!
True bending from nose to tail requires that the horse understands all three of these things: how to move away from lateral leg pressure, how to move into the connecting outside rein, and the aids for inside flexion.
Tip/Quote of the Day!
Everyone feels like they have the one horse that is so different and unusual that conventional and classical methods will not work for them. But the truth is, the basic principles will work on 99% of horses. Yes, every horse should be treated as an individual. But classical principles still
Tip/Quote of the Day!
If you and your horse have been having the same problem for a while, chances are the two of you have developed a set of reactions that serve to trigger each other's behavior. You will need to figure out what those are to get past it.
Tip/Quote of the Day!
"When the rein back is started on demand and carried out without haste, it is a magnificent exercise which should be repeated frequently." ~ Nuno Oliveira
Tip/Quote of the Day!
When the horse is at a level where they are ready for it, mixing up a few strides of shoulder in, a few of half pass, a few more of shoulder in, to a few steps of renvers is a great way to keep your horse sharp to your aids.
