I've dealt with a lot of spooky dressage horses, and I find that often shying gets worse because riders do one or all of the following things.



1. Hit or kick him to make him obedient.

2. Make him walk straight up to scary object and face it straight on.

3. Forget to go around your ring in both directions.

4. Force him to go close to the scary object.

5. Patting and soothing him while he's shying.



Let's understand the nature of horses:

1.…

If your horse doesn't march with good energy in your free walk or fades too early in your trot and canter lengthenings, try "breathing" your legs during the movement.



To "breathe" your legs:



* Take your legs off of his sides.

* Move them an inch or two back, and place them on lightly again.



"Breathing" your legs does two things.



1. If you've been gripping, your horse is probably numb to your legs. Taking your legs off allows you to put…

Hi Guys,



In order for your lateral work such as shoulder-in, haunches-in, and half passes to be effective as collecting exercises, your horse must BEND.



Think of the following equation. Bend + Sideways = Engagement. (Engagement means the bending of joints. As your horse bends his hind legs, his croup lowers, and his forehand goes up–kind of like a seesaw or an airplane taking off.)



So here are some quick tips to help you determine if you're bending your horse…

Last week, I started this series to help you decide how and when to introduce new work. That blog focused on Training and First Levels. What follows is Part 2 of that series.



Let's say your horse is solid at first level. Look ahead to the Second Level movements. Check out the dressage tests. You'll see that you need to work on shoulder-in, haunches-in, renvers, simple changes of lead, reinback and turns on the haunches.



You'll also notice that the big…

Riders often ask me, "How do I know it's the right time to start training something a bit harder?"



This is a big topic so I'm going to cover it over two blogs. In this blog, I'll give you a way to come up with a logical plan for introducing new work at Training Level. Next week, I'll show you to plan to move up to Second and Third Level. I'll also show you how you can use feedback from competition to help you decide whether or not you're ready to move up.



First, I…

I know that riding a spooky horse can be challenging and frustrating so here are some tips to help you understand why your horse spooks and to give you some tools to help cope with shying.



*You might be more patient with your spooky horse when you understand that horses have survived in the wild all these years because of their natural flight response. So, when you think your horse is being unreasonable because he's shying from something that seems benign, change your…

Hi Guys,



No matter where I travel, the most frequently asked questions I get are, "How do I put my horse on the bit...and how do I keep him there consistently?" This concept baffles many riders. My hope here is to simplify the process for you with the following information.



First, you need to know that there is a SPECIFIC AID to put your horse on the bit just like there is a specific aid to ask for canter or for a leg yield. That aid is a half halt. (Don't groan...I can…

Hi Guys!



It's not uncommon for riders to struggle getting their horses to pick up one of their canter leads. The following are some simple exercises to help you pick up the right lead everytime!



The first exercise is done completely in the walk. You will practice positioning your horse alternately for the left lead and then switch to the right lead after a few strides.



Let's say you decided to pick up left lead:



--Put your weight…

Hi Guys,



People often tell me that their horses leg yield very well as far as going sideways is concerned, but they tend to toss their heads and show resistance to the reins. In desperation, some riders even use a tie down to put pressure on the nose to discourage their horses from yanking at the reins.



If your horse finds it fairly easy to cross his legs and move sideways with his body, yet he's tossing his head during leg yields, it sounds like he's objecting to your…

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…

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…

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…

Hi Guys,



Can you feel when your horse's hind legs are on the ground? This is an important skill to develop because you want to time your leg aids so that you give them when your horse's hind leg is on the ground...specifically just as it's getting ready to push off. That's the only time you can influence a hind leg.



I feel where the hind feet are by feeling my horse's hips. When a particular hind foot is on the ground, my horse's hip is higher. It feels like my…

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,



With a young horse, you do changes of canter lead through the trot. Around Second level, you do simple changes of lead. In a simple change, your horse goes from canter to walk and back to canter without any trot steps.



At Third level and above, you do flying changes. In a flying change, your horse stays in the canter and switches his lead during the moment of suspension, when all four feet are off the ground.



In this article, I'll go over a single…

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…

Hi Guys,



You've probably heard lots of discussion about whether or not to work your dressage horse "deep." There are a variety of opinions on the matter. Some riders warm up and cool down their horses "long and low" to stretch and loosen the muscles. Others always school in a balance and frame appropriate to the level at which they are working; they never stretch their horses. Many trainers school in a deep frame only during the movements when the horse habitually comes above the…

Hi Guys,



Do you saw left and right on your dressage horse's mouth or wiggle the bit with both hands to get him "on the bit".



If you "saw" on your dressage horse's mouth by alternating squeezing and releasing with your hands, you're riding your horse from front to back. He might look like he's "on the bit" because his head is down and his nose is on the vertical, but you don't have an honest connection from back to front.



The only part of your horse's…

Hi Guys,



When you train your horse, you're speaking to him in a foreign language. Think about how it feels to have someone speak to you in a language you don't understand. If you don't know the language, you can't understand them. If they speak slower, you still won't have a clue what they're saying. If they shout at you, you still won't understand.

That's how it is for your horse. When you train, you're developing a non-verbal language with him.…