Does your horse just trot faster and faster when you ask it to canter from a trot? Find out why in this interview excerpt with Dawn Hill Adams, Ph.D. about the biomechanics of the trot to canter gait transition.

As the show season progresses, it’s easy to get caught up in competition and your goals of advancing through the levels. However, it’s back-to-school season, and both you and your horse can benefit from it. Taking a few rides to focus on the basics can make your more advanced riding even better. Here’s why you might want to take your…

Carrying proper weight in your heels is the foundation to a secure seat when riding, but many riders struggle with getting their heels down deeply enough. If you’d like to be able to drop your heels down further while in the saddle, we’ve got some great exercises you can try.

Check for Proper Leg Alignment and Stirrup Length

If you’re riding with an improper…

Horseback riding provides excellent exercise to both you and your horse. Many horses benefit from regular riding, but it’s important to keep your horse’s physical well being in mind each time you mount up. These tips can help you keep your horse healthy and in shape through riding.

Warm Up and Cool Down Slowly

Injuries are bound to occur if you…

Blake

Most riders eventually understand that it is ideal for their horse to work in a frame. A frame is a way of carrying the body that utilizes the ring of muscles by asking the horse to engage his haunches, lift his back, travel lightly on the forehand, round the neck from the base and drop the head. This is an efficient way for the horse to move that prevents injury and helps the horse to carry the weight of the rider. Unfortunately, many people lose sight of the whole picture and focus only on…

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.…

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…

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 is a bit like instilling good manners into children and teaching them to say "please" and "thank you". This can be quite…

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…

Please enjoy these final tips. I hope they have been useful for you and your horse!





31. Don’t come in to the grid too fast in an effort to clear a bigger jump at the end of it. The secret is to maintain a rhythm throughout.



32. If you attack the first fence and then try to shorten the stride, you will confuse your horse and he will resist, and that may cost you a fence. Be disciplined in your approach to the first fence and establish the rhythm you want to…

Please enjoy tips 21-30. I'm a big fan of number 23!





21. Good technique isn’t just about what the horse does over the jump.



22. When jumping a combination, don’t ride into it with too much pace because your horse will learn to jump flat and run on the landing. Give him time to adjust his weight onto his hocks.



23. Canter, rhythm, line. Get it right every time.



24. The better the approach the better the chance of the horse jumping…

I hope these tips are helping everyone. Here are tips 11-20:





11. As a rider you too need to be warmed up. Through warming up you should release tight muscles. Warming up helps prevent stiffness and injury to both horse and rider.



12. It is important to get your horse’s body and his state of mind prepared for what you are going to ask him to do.



13. Get the basics right and you will have a firm foundation for jumping.



14. It is a…

Hello Everyone!



My next few posts encompass an overview of some of my top tips. Some are easier said than done! The first ten...





1. All veterinary care is paramount – your horse is not going to perform to the best of his ability if he is not feeling great.



2. Horses are like people, they have weaker sides and stronger sets of muscles. Work on improving these weaknesses with the help of a physiotherapist.



3. Learn to recognize what your…

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…

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…

There's not enough room in that saddle for you & your temper.

Your anger makes it harder for your horse to please you, & blinds you to the lesson s/he is offering.





Listen to your horse.

If you're not getting the answer you think you want, try listening for the answer the horse is giving you.





Make…