If things are going wrong with your training, you should ask yourself what is happening, why is it happening and what is the solution? The art of seeing a problem is being able to interpret what is happening and to decide what the solution is.



Flatwork is all about good foundations, which I call 'fundamentals', and they are very simple and straightforward:



Straightness

Calmness

Balance

Rhythm

Responsiveness



If you have that…

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…

Q: My horse seems to stop at a different type of fence everytime we go out. Just as I think we have mastered solid fillers then he starts spooking at flower arrangements. What should I do?



A: Make sure your horse is capable of going round the ring before you compete him. If that means you have to do more homework it is still more cost effective than wasting your entry fees. By hiring a school and practicing over a course you are doing a lot more good and putting a lot…

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…

What I am looking for in a rider is balance and empathy with their horse as a living creature. Someone who has feel for the basic paces and hopefully able to tell the right and wrong lead and the right and wrong diagonal. They need to be able to maintain a contact without being stiff and heavy and to be concise in what they are asking. This is quite important; if you ask a horse to walk on, you tell it to walk on.



Temperament in the rider

Any rider that is so…

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…

Hi Guys,



I received an email from a rider who said, "Can you help me with a problem I have with "locked elbows"? It is a bad habit that I've been trying to break forever. Any tips or visualizations would be really great!"



So, here we go:



In general, elastic elbows allow for movement. In the walk and canter, your elbows need to open and close to allow for the movement of your horse's head and neck. In the rising trot, your horse's head and neck is still, but…

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…

The following blog was inspired by a rider who told me, "I have a wonderful, talented thoroughbred. We can do Second and Third level work at home, yet when we compete, we can barely get through a First Level test. The missing link seems to be relaxation. My horse is off the track, and we seem to feed off each other's tension. How does a normally tense person learn to relax?"



This rider is right in thinking that relaxation is her priority. When you're tense, your work can't…

To understand and work with your horse’s stride length, keep in mind that whilst you are riding, the horse’s legs are your legs, and your brain needs to react to what they are doing.



Try this exercise:



Build two fences five canter strides apart. Warm up your horse, thinking about the canter rhythm.



As a very simple way of understanding your horse’s stride length, call out the strides as you ride the fences. This will help your brain tune in to what your horse…

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…

WHY DO WE TRAIN



I have would like to put across to you some part of my philosophy with regard to the very important subject of why we train. I have also given some part of this blog to what to look for in a good trainer.



BEFORE WE START TO TRAIN OUR HORSES I BELIEVE THAT A DEEPER UNDERSTANDING OF THE REASONS BEHIND TRAINING ARE MADE CLEAR.



What about human beings?



All of us human beings are capable of certain moderately athletic functions which…

Hi Guys,



Do you want to know how to become a better rider without taking tons more lessons? Do what I did. By putting the same amount (or more!) of effort into mental training as into skill development, I was able to realize my dream of representing the United States in international competition.



Here's how it worked for me. Back in 1980 I picked up a book called, Psycho cybernetics, by Maxwell Maltz. This book literally changed my life. I had always wanted to compete…

I wasn’t quite honest last week as I praised Arkle, arguably the greatest steeplechaser of all time…or to be more exact I was being disloyal. Disloyal to my childhood hero Mill House, who was the magnificent winner of the 1963 Cheltenham Gold Cup, and destined to be the King of steeplechasing for many years. So in 1964, when Mill House was hot favourite to win his second Gold Cup I could only watch in shock as Arkle swept into the lead to record the first of his three triumphs in this…

My Ultimate Grid



This is an exercise that I do with all my horses and riders to help them improve their techniques and most importantly the way they work together.



I call it the ultimate grid because the first part of it is designed to help the horse develop a good basic shape and technique over a fence and to use the shoulders, whereas the second part of it is about getting the horse to come back onto his hocks and go up. It’s simple but tests the horse in all…

Grand National fever again last Monday. This time the €250,000 Irish Grand National at Fairyhouse in Co Meath, not far from the famous Dreaper stable which once housed the greatest steeplechaser of all time, Arkle. It was won by the English trained, but Irish bred, Niche Market, brilliantly ridden by 19 year old Harry Skelton. There is a showjumping connection here as Harry is the son of British veteran Nick Skelton, who in recent years came back from serious injury and retirement to be one…

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…