Before you even begin to jump, you need to make sure you have done the groundwork to establish the foundation for success. I'm not talking about pure dressage; I'm talking about the basic skills that are vitally important to a show jumper.



There are 5 basics that will provide an excellent foundation for show jumping. Build them into your schooling program and you will see the results.



Today I will talk about the first three basics.





1. Rider…

Hi Guys,



It's important to have a training system so that you school your horse in a clear and consistent way. The down side of having only one system is that one approach doesn't work for all horses. If a particular system isn't right for your horse, and you try to force him to conform to that method, he can fall by the wayside.



Because I want every horse to develop to his potential, I've come up with my system, which I call "Benign Antagonism". Simply put, if your…

Hi Guys,



People often ask me to explain the difference between "running" and "lengthenings". In fact, in this article I'm also going to describe the difference between running, lengthenings, medium gaits, and extended gaits.



1. Running- When you ask your horse to lengthen his strides and frame, and you hear his tempo (the rate of the repetition of the rhythm) get QUICKER, he's not lengthening. He's just running.



2. Lengthenings- In a good lengthening, your…

How well do you warm up and cool down your horse?



Warming up your horse prior to working him must not only be in his body, but also in his mind, getting him mentally prepared for the work he is going to do.



Put simply, warming up is getting the horse ready, relaxed and prepared for accepting what you are going to say to him. Time spent warming up will also allow you to release your own tight muscles and warm up as a rider.



During the warm up process, you will…

The Fine Art of Letting Go or Making Go

By Chris Irwin



Hello and greetings to all from Pearson airport in Toronto. As I type these words I’m sitting beside my lovely wife, Kathryn, waiting to board our early morning flight to Bermuda. For the next five days I’ll be coaching dressage riders and jumpers on this small island nation in the Atlantic before flying next week to the Netherlands for the first European Train the…

I travel from horse show to horse show and see poor-fitting saddle pads all the time. Not enough by itself, some misguided riders often combine a too-short saddle pad with a thick halfpad, creating even more pressure points.

Imagine wearing flip flops where the back of your foot hangs out by an inch. Now go walk for 10 minutes. Comfy? I don’t think so.



So how to avoid that:



1. Buy a saddle pad that fits your…

February 19-22 at the Mid-Winter Dressage Fair in California was our first qualifier for the Junior team. This weekend actually held a lot of firsts for me and Chance. It was our first time showing in California, his first time showing in an Equidome, and his first time showing at the Junior level. He was still a little green going into the competition so I was hoping we would be able to pull it together in the ring. On the warm-up day Chance was good but a little lazy and ended up getting a…

Hi Guys:



Many people are confused about the aid for the canter. What follows are some common questions about the canter and my answers.



Q: I know to ask for the canter it is outside leg behind the girth and inside leg at the girth, however during the canter is your outside leg supposed to stay back or do both legs then become neutral at the girth once the canter is achieved?"



A: Swing your outside leg back ONCE, and then…

Before you even ask your horse to do a flying change, there are a number of requirements that should come easily to you and your horse.



1. Can the horse do collected, medium and extended canter?



2. Can the horse do a clean canter walk canter transition? (no trot steps)



3. Can the horse…

Correct Fundamentals help you "do the right things right".



As a rider, you need to put the fundamentals in place so that the right things happen by habit. Good riders ride well, because their right habits are so ingrained into their philosophy and their thought processes that they do routine things without thinking.



Developing the correct habits…

Hi Guys,



Today, let's focus on the Free Walk.



1. What is the free walk? The free walk is a gait of relaxation.



2. What should it look like?



* Your horse should lengthen his frame and lower his head and neck so he looks like he's going to graze. His poll is lower than his withers.

* He should open the angle at his throatlatch so his nose points a bit forward, and he looks like he's stretching toward the bit.

* His strides become longer so…

Now that is an interesting question. The rules are very clear that should a rider at a competition have a question for the judge, they must first ask permission to do so through the steward or technical delegate. An excellent tactic, in that it usually means there will be some emotional involvement and the presence of a third party may allow for some coolness of thought. However, in my experience, riders do not ask judges anything. I believe it is the general perception that to talk to a…

Crooked Riders = Crooked Horses: Develop Your Awareness of Balance and Symmetry



Like many young girls, I grew up carousing around my neighborhood bareback on my pony. The saddle came out for 4-H, otherwise, I stuck to her sleek back like glue. In college, I went on to work for a dressage trainer, never thinking that moving with the motion of a horse could be a problem. In my mid-20s, lured north to the arctic, I quit riding. I moved with my husband to the Brooks…

In 1733 F.R. de la Guérinière lamented that to bring out the beauty of our horse we need “an air of ease and freedom… a controlled yet supple posture...depth of seat” but riders weren’t working to achieve it.



And today? Despite knowledge of biomechanics and physiology elegance and control on a moving horse eludes many of us, Some riders don’t take the time to work on themselves. Others strengthen and stretch, yet they still struggle. Many think they just ride that way,…

Always have in your mind that horses are unpredictable animals, not machines. Our familiarity can lead to taking liberties and accidents occurring.



How many of these practices are on your own safety list?



1. Always wear clothes and boots that are designed for riding.



2. ALWAYS wear a riding helmet that fits you correctly and complies with current standards.



3. If you are young, your horse is misbehaving, you are out of practice or you…

Gosh, it has been a very difficult past few years with my children but finally have them all straightened out and happy so now it is mommy's turn! Have a few personally goals - started to lose weight last year and then hit a platue so back at it again as this year is MY YEAR! With no truck it gives me the time I need to prepare for showing in 2010. We had two unexpected foals last year at the same time, we lost our grand old broodmare Different Season - one of the few remaing CH Kourageous…

Cinch Magazine will be pursuing the 'Great Bitless Experiment' in the summer of '09 to determine, once and for all, the effectiveness of riding bitless versus bitted. Our study will include: well-broken horses, green horses, a nervous pony and starting a horse under saddle with the bitless bridle. We will be using a variety of different riders: adults, children, begginer to advanced. If the bitless experience works out for schooling, we will also try it in the competition ring!



We…

This past week I got to do a two day clinic with Christine Traurig. It was extremely helpful and it really brought some of me and Chance's issue's into light. I would like to share some of the great tips I got.



February 4 - First Day

On the first day we worked a lot on Chance's frame and the quickness of his hindquarters. He needed to have quicker, higher steps and not just run through my hands. Once we got the right engagement he was able to come into my hands from…

Hi Guys,



You can help your stiff horse bend better by using benign antagonism. Remember, benign antagonism is just a training philosophy that allows you to custom design your program for each and every horse. It simply means that you kindly and quietly do the opposite of whatever your horse chooses to do on his own. For example, if your horse likes to carry his head too high, then you ride him "deep". If he likes to put his head on the ground, then you ride him "up". If your horse…

Hi Guys,



First, let me define rhythm and tempo. I want to do this because lots of dressage riders use those terms interchangeably and they don't mean the same thing.



Rhythm - Regularity of the rhythm refers to the even spacing between each step in a stride of walk, trot or canter. Regular rhythm is a priority for all work--whether or not you're riding a pure dressage horse. Movements and exercises should never be done at the expense of rhythm. Rhythm should always stay…