The way the horse performs transitions to the halt and from the halt tells us a lot about his training. Many horses and riders struggle with these transitions. Half halts often don’t go through in down transitions, so the horse inverts or curls up. The halt isn’t square, the horse is crooked, to name just some of the most common problems.
How To Improve The Horse’s Straightness In The Shoulder-in
This is a great discussion of how a thinking rider can correct the horse’s attempts to evade the demands of the shoulder-in by using the other lateral movements to bring both hind legs underneath the body. This somewhat indirect approach is much more effective than trying to create the correct bend by pulling on the inside rein, or trying to create a contact on the outside rein by using “more inside leg and more outside rein”, which are so often the standard recommendations of trainers. These direct approaches actually only make the problem worse, whereas the indirect approach teaches the horse better body awareness and it makes the hind legs stronger and more supple, so that he is able to perform a correct shoulder-in easily and without feeling the need to evade.
Through the Back
The swinging movement and energy connection that are the result of a horse working properly through the back create a feeling you will never forget. Choose exercises and arena patterns that encourage the horse to engage and flex his hind legs, and remember to use your seat in a dynamic way that supports the horse’s movement, so that he is able to lift his back, engage his hind legs, flex his hind legs, and push off again with them in a forward-upward direction.
Inside Leg to Outside Rein
What does it mean to ride from the inside leg to the outside rein? And how do I do that?
Inside leg to outside rein is an abbreviation for a relatively complex set of movement patterns that result in a very supple, balanced, straight, and agile horse. The job of the inside leg is to initiate the circle of aids by bringing the inside hind leg closer to the outside one as well as closer to the front legs. This results in a weight shift from the inside shoulder onto the outside pair of legs, which results in an expansion and stretch of the muscles on the outside of the horse’s bend, this in turn creates a contact with the outside rein, which is then able to connect back to the outside hind leg.
The Thinking Rider
Every horse and every training situation presents us with challenges and problems that we need to solve because no horse and no rider is ever perfect. There is always something that can be improved. In a sense, these imperfections and shortcomings give us a job. Without them, we would have nothing to do.
In order to decide what topic to work on, which exercise to choose, or which aid to give, we have to analyse the horse and the training situation. We normally notice surface level symptoms first, such as a rein contact that is too heavy, or too hard, or uneven, or a stiffness in the hindquarters, shoulders, or rib cage, or an issue with a turn, transition, or movement.
3 Tips For Improving Your Canter Departs
Building a Better Relationship Through Trust and Communication
In order for the horse and the rider to become the best versions of themselves and the best possible team they need to have a good relationship. The basis of this friendship between horse and rider is mutual trust, mutual respect, and effective communication. In all three areas, the burden is on the rider to prove herself to the horse, that she can be trusted, that she deserves respect, and she needs to learn to become a good communicator.
We Don’t Know What We Don’t Know
When you are working on your own, you can investigate certain questions together with the horse and let the horse show you how he wants to be ridden. Each horse is different, each situation is different, and the preferences of individual horses change over time, as they develop and move up the levels. That’s why you should investigate these questions again from time to time with your horse in order to be able to adapt your seat and aids to the horse’s changing and evolving needs.
Four reins and two bits… oh my, how do I start?
The Double Bridle can lead to a beautiful conversation
In modern dressage, the double bridle is often used as if both bits were designed identically. Most riders hold all four reins with the same tension. So the horse and rider don't get the benefit of the finesse of two bits that are designed differently and act very differently. The double bridle is not intended as a part of a costume. It is not there to get the head down. It is not there as brakes to stop your horse! In reality, the double bridle can bring a whole new dimension to the conversation with your horse.
For me, introducing the double bridle is almost like being slightly near-sighted and putting on glasses. With glasses, I can see a lot better. With a double bridle, you can feel a lot more details because you receive information through four reins and two different channels. And you can talk to the horse even more precisely than with just a snaffle.
We Don’t Know What We Don’t Know
We don’t know what we don’t know. That can make progress difficult because we may not know what to work on, and we may not be aware of certain mistakes we make.
There are strategies, of course, with which we can discover some of the things we don’t know that we don’t know. The fastest and easiest way is to take lessons from a good teacher on a highly trained school master. Together they will let you know very quickly what is missing and what you need to work on. Unfortunately, this is not an option for most riders.
Deep Seat - Light Seat
You have probably all heard that one of the qualities of a good seat is that it is deep. But what does that mean? For me personally, a deep seat is a seat with a low center of gravity and the largest possible area of support. This lends the seat stability and it allows the rider to feel the horse with her entire body, which is why the old masters used to say that the rider should sit “in” the horse, rather than “on” or “over” the horse. A seat with a high center of gravity and a small support base, on the other hand, is unstable and doesn’t allow the rider to feel the horse very well.
Dynamic Seat vs. Static Seat
Lately I have been thinking a lot about the fact that traditional seat descriptions and discussions of the seat often seem to treat the seat as something static that doesn’t move. Sitting still, having a quiet seat is often considered to be the ideal. Traditional seat instruction is often rather static as well: always sit on the inside seat bone, always have the inside hip more forward and the outside hip more back….
Unfortunately, the emphasis on stillness and on always sitting exactly the same way - whether the horse needs it or not - can lead to stiffness in the rider’s seat, which will in turn create stiffness in the horse’s body and interfere with the horse’s freedom of movement.
Why the Seat is so important for the canter
The seat is always important in our riding. It plays an important role in everything we do, but in the canter, it is even more important than in the walk and trot. Due to the bigger movement in the canter, the rider’s seat gets challenged more than in the walk and trot, and the horse often needs more support from the rider’s seat in the canter in order to keep their balance.
Don't lose sight of the whole picture
This week’s blog is another practical tip that comes out of mistakes I made in the past. Every time something goes wrong it is an opportunity to look more closely at what is happening, how it is happening, and why it is happening. It is a great chance to learn something new and to gain deeper insights into the biomechanical and psychological causalities in riding. So, in many ways mistakes are blessings in disguise because they can push us further along and help us attain a higher level of understanding and competence.