Hi Guys,



Riding with soft hands is an awesome goal, and your horse will thank you for it. In this training tip, I'm going to give you both some simple physical exercises and also some fun mental exercises to help you achieve this goal.



Here are 2 physical exercises.



1. Tie two reins or ropes or even two pieces of baling twine to a sturdy fence. Hold the ropes as if they are reins. Take up a contact of at least 10 pounds in each hand. Then, adjust the weight…

Hello,

I have a Tennessee walker and she rides around the arena fine until she passes the gate. Then it happens, she starts to walk sideways in to the gate. I am a new rider so I'm not sure what to do. When I try to correct her she thinks I'm telling her to stop. How do I do it?





Your horse is simply gate sour and wants to stop at the gate and go out of it and back to the barn. All horses have this tendency, if not handled correctly, and it is sometimes…

Hi Guys,



Attitude is a choice. You don't have to have a bad day. Here are 3 simple ways to insure that every ride you have with your horse is a great one!



1. Learn to see things in shades of grey.



Want to know how to have a great ride everyday? Stop expecting perfection. Don't look at training and competing in black or white terms. Instead, learn to see things in "shades of gray". The key to seeing shades of gray is to recognize…

Hi Guys,



One of the biggest mistakes riders make when we're trying to overcome horseback riding fears is that we direct our efforts toward the conscious mind. You know--willpower, iron-jawed determination. The problem with that strategy is that you can only make short-term, temporary changes when you direct your efforts to your conscious mind. To make permanent changes, direct your efforts to the part of your brain that truly determines your actions--your subconscious mind.…

Hello,

I have a 15-year old gelding – appaloosa/Clydesdale cross, Copper. My problem is that I am not confident enough to follow through with things that I ask him to do. This happens mainly when I ride him – he’s lazy and doesn't want to go, or doesn't want to go in the direction I want to go. That is partly because I don’t have a lot of experience with horses, but mostly because I saw Copper buck someone off that he didn't like, and I don’t want that to happen to me! I know that he…

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…

It's completely reasonable that you might have some fear when horseback riding. After all, you’re dealing with a reactive (reactive means bolt, spin, buck, shy, or rear!) animal that outweighs you by a lot! But you can solve those horseback riding fears by adopting an attitude of gratitude.

The first thing you need to remember is that 99% of the things you fear never come to pass. So why waste all that energy worrying about things that will probably never happen. Mark…

Hi Julie

I have been riding for eight months at a stable and am taking classes once-twice a week as well as clinics. I bought a horse from the stables I go to; he is a twelve year old Arab and a very forgiving horse but in the last two months he has started to pull on the bit. I am finding this very, very frustrating. My teacher is a very good trainer as well as a teacher. Just this…

After the dressage my home bred hero Mandiba leads the World Cup 3* event at Rebecca Farms in Montana....congratulations to Karen O'Connor and all her team....while his full brother High Kingdom, with Zara Phillips aboard, is in 12th place after the dressage in the Advanced division at Aston Le Walls in England and like his brother goes cross country today. Their half brother Tredstep…

Hi Guys,



Your horse's weaker hind leg is the leg on his soft side. There's nothing wrong with your horse! Almost every horse has a weaker hind leg because few horses are ambidextrous. The weaker leg is the one on your horse's "soft" or hollow side. The stronger one is on his stiff side.



The weak hind leg doesn't step directly underneath your horse's body. Your horse displaces it slightly to the side to avoid carrying weight with it. On the other hand, the hind leg on…

So sad to hear that Oki Doki is no longer with us….who needs cheering up? The great thing about age is the ability to enjoy the little equine things that possibly were once hidden by the pursuit of rosettes in earlier days:…

Venue: Brightling, Sussex

Monday 19^th July 2010

Eric asked what we wanted to get out of the day, I volunteered ‘inspiration and energy’ which he thought was a tall order.…

Happy children and happy summer riding days. Full of friendship and partnership with both their ponies and other riders. How lucky these young riders are as long as they come under the wing of a good coach. A coach who fully understands that what children learn first tends to stay with them, just as with a young horse. So our young riders and young coaches need excellent coaches. They don’t need to be high-level coaches of elite performers,…

Does Your Horse's Bit Fit Properly?





Dear Julie,

How do you know when a bit is properly sitting in the horse's mouth? We have always heard that you look at the "wrinkles". However, this can be confusing to us.

Thank you,

Devonna





Devonna,

This is a confusing issue to lots of people and one that almost always comes up in my clinics. It's an old-fashioned concept to say that the bit fits correctly when you see one or two wrinkles in the…

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…

Hi Julie,

I have constantly found that I am loosing the left stirrup when I canter. In various readings it suggests that I am collapsing on my left, hence loosing the stirrup. I tried to stretch my left side when cantering and found this was helpful. Can you give me any suggestions on how to work with this issue, perhaps exercises or things to do while riding that would help with this problem?

Thanks again, I enjoy your advice.

Nanc





Hi Nanc,

It is odd…

Hi Guys,



Here are some great tips for breaking that cycle of fear...



The simplest, quickest, way to relax is to BREATHE. Now, I know you're breathing or you wouldn't be reading this! ;-) But are you breathing in a way that promotes relaxation?



1. Let's find out. First, let's dissect what you do when you inhale. Stand up. Take in a really deep breath. Did your shoulders go up? If they did, you're just breathing in your upper chest. And there's always tension…

De-spooking Your Horse



I have a 4 year old Belgian that I ride. He is pretty solid, but as a young horse he does spook occasionally. I have been trying you method of leading him up to a scary object a step at a time and it works very well (especially with the horse eating manure spreader!). My question is, if he spooks and wheels out away from me do I just continue on with what I'm doing as if nothing happened or should I stop and try to calm him down and back him up to a safe…