Continue

Last week a few of my family members and I went to the Equine Affair in Massachusetts. One of the booths there was for Dressage Training Online. My Uncle knows my interest in learning dressage and bought me a month and also received a free month for my Christmas present. I just joined yesterday and have probably watched about 4 hours of videos already. I've watched a bunch of…

Continue

The 2011 Competitions Handbook will be in production soon. It features the new 2011 USEF tests for training to fourth level. It is distributed to Dressage Canada members coast to coast, and has an average annual print run of 3000 copies. It is referred to on a regular basis throughout the year and is a great way to get your business noticed across the nation. Rates start as low as $125 for a black and white ad. Contact Angela today to reserve your space...either through Barnmice, or at… Continue

The best riders and trainers in the world will tell you that good training is that which is built block by block onto a strong, solid base. That base is comprised of the following six elements in that particular order:



1) Impulsion/Forward

2) Contact/Acceptance

3) Collection/Self-Carriage

4) Straightness/Balance… Continue

“You can spit in their ear to get them to canter,” a former coach of mine, Robert Hall, used to say, when emphasising how easy it is to train a horse if you use any aid consistently. In a demonstration I will often demonstrate this point by doing something silly, like pulling the hairs behind the saddle as I give the normal aids for canter. I do this about ten times, then take the leg away completely and just pull the hairs and most horses…

Continue

On February 8th Hartpury College in the UK are hosting an International Eventing Conference entitled ‘Training for Safety’. An admirable aim without doubt and some great sessions are scheduled for the day, so the organisers are to be congratulated. However the description of one of the presentations worries me greatly. The title is Dressage – the relationship with Jumping. The description explains that Pammy Hutton FBHS will dispel the ‘myth’ that the higher level of dressage can be…

Continue

'Hannoverian' Butts Leon - German Senior Team '08 & '09 - 97% Thoroughbred.



Convincing people of the need for thoroughbred blood in the event horse is should not be difficult. Ireland has been the World Breeding Federation leading country for event horses for the past 15 years with horses that are almost exclusively 3/4 to full thoroughbred, as have been the majority of the greatest event horses in history.…

Continue

A fifth-leg supremo, William Fox-Pitt.



If you want to jump safely, the fundamental aim in training should be to develop your horse’s ability to look after himself. If your horse looks at what he is jumping, makes automatic alterations, and has quick reactions when getting too close or far away from a fence, or when slipping or tripping, he can be said to have a ‘fifth leg’. All horses should have a fifth-leg training programme as part of…

Continue