Many riders lean to the outside in half pass because they use too much outside leg to push their horses sideways. Use your outside leg mainly to help bend your horse around your inside leg and secondarily to ask him to go sideways.



Keep in mind that the predominant aids in half pass need to be inside leg and outside rein…not outside leg pushing sideways and inside hand pulling the neck around in a fake a bend.



Here are 3 quick tips to help you sit in the direction…

Horseback riding is all about balance for both you and your dressage horse. To ride in good balance, be sure to keep a good plumb line with your shoulders directly over your hips and over your heels.



In this post, I'll give you two quick tips to help you sit up straight and in balance.



1. Many riders lean behind the vertical (especially in trot extensions!) because they think they're driving their dressage horses more forward.



The problem with leaning…

Are you sick and tired of doing all the work while your lazy horse plods along without energy? Remember that a horse can feel a fly on his side, so logically there’s no reason for him to be dull to your legs.



Here are the steps to put the lazy horse in front of your legs:



1. Give a light leg aid

2. No response, half-hearted response, or delayed response

3. Correct him by sending him forward

4. RETEST

5. 100% response (99.9% isn't good…

Lots of you tell me you're confused about the correct length and height of your horse's neck so I thought I'd address that in this article.



Neck too high: The height of the neck is determined by the degree of engagement of the hindquarters. So, the height of the neck changes as you go up through the levels and your horse becomes more collected.



Always keep in mind, however, that if you ride with the neck too high and short and the angle of the throatlatch too…

Since very few horses, are ambidextrous, it's inevitable that the lateral dressage movements like leg yields, shoulder-in, haunches-in, renvers, and half passes will be easier in one direction than the other.



Your goal for lateral movements in dressage (and everything else you do with your dressage horse!) is to strengthen his weaker hind leg, make his stiff side more "bendable", and his hollow side less "soft".



So, for now, let's just talk about making the weak…

Here's a fun training tip that uses visualization to help you ride your Training Level Dressage horse better. I call it RIDES WITH FRUIT.



I'm sure you remember Kevin Costner's movie, Dances with Wolves. Well, I call this training tip, Rides with Fruit. I thought it was appropriate since it's summer, and many of us start to eat more fruits and vegetables.



So let's use visualization and bring some fruity images to your dressage horse! When you're on a circle, your…

Each year, you eagerly await horse show season so you can ride and compete your dressage horse. But when the time times, the fear gremlins creep in and you end up feeling paralyzed by "stage fright".



In my own personal quest, I've discovered practical techniques that have given me a performance edge at dressage shows. I'll share some of them with you here.



"DRESSING UP" YOUR PRACTICE SESSIONS"



I can't emphasize enough the importance of…

Riders often ask me, "How do I know it's the right time to move my Training Level dressage horse up to First Level?"



In this article, I'll give you a way to come up with a logical plan for introducing new work at Training Level.



First, I just want to make a general comment. All training should be a systematic progression toward a desired end result. So you need to be able to see the big picture.



For example, even at Training Level the quality of your…

If you only use your hands when putting your horse on the bit, you're making one of the biggest mistakes you can make. By focusing on the head and "getting the head down", you'll just be creating an artificial "head-set".



Putting your horse on the bit has nothing to do with "head sets". Physically, it's a round silhouette that occurs when you ride your…

A lot of riders aren't clear on the difference between flexion at the jaw and flexion at the poll, and how to ask for each of these positions.



Keep in mind that a horse can flex three ways–to the left, to the right, and "in".



When a horse flexes to the left or right, he's flexing at the poll. When he does this, you'll just see his inside or outside eye or nostril. I call this position +1 or -1 because you're bringing his head 1 inch to the inside or the outside of…

Hi Guys,



Can you tell if your position is straight and centered on your dressage horse? Or are you collapsing at your waist and sitting crookedly?



Ask a ground person to stand behind your horse.



1. Is your seat in the center of the dressage saddle so that each seatbone is the same distance from the middle of the saddle?

2. Is the distance between your last rib and your belt equal on both sides?

3. Are your shoulders level (i.e. the same…

Many riders don't realize that the reason they have trouble sitting the trot, is because they haven't put their horses on the bit. No matter how good a rider you are, it's nearly impossible to sit on a back that is stiff and hollow.



The key to making both you and your horse more comfortable in sitting trot is to connect him so his back is round. You do that with what I call "the "connecting aids".



Before you try to give connecting aids, check that your horse…

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…

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…