Does the thoughts of riding shoulder in leave you feeling less than confident in your riding abilities.  Are you a little unsure about the angle, the bend and the degree of collection required in order to successfully ride the movement? Shoulder in is super for encouraging suppleness and collection in your horse, however if ridden incorrectly, things can quickly begin going the opposite way of your desired results...

The audio version of this…

Do you find yourself a tad confused as to what exactly to do with your legs while you ride?  Do you find that even if you know what to do, degree of pressure to use or how often to apply the aid is confusing you?

You are hearing terms such as 'Keep your leg on', 'use your leg', 'more leg', 'leg', 'soften your leg', 'support with your leg', 'back up your leg'... leg, leg, leg!!!

You can listen to the audio version of this blog post…

Do you find yourself huffing and puffing after a few strides of canter?  Have you been riding less recently and find that now your back in the saddle, your less effective than before?  Are you spending hours schooling your horse but seeing little to no difference in his way of going...

It often amazes me how much time, effort, planning and work riders put into conditioning and increasing the fitness levels of their horses and yet completely fail to invest even a little of that towards…

Who doesn't love to canter?  It may just be the most enjoyable gait to ride when in the saddle for many riders, however it is also the gait that might just have us working the hardest to actually successfully get there and then, returning back to trot or walk seems to also open a whole can of worms for many riders too!!

In fact, often the lack of competence felt by a rider with regards to riding smooth, balanced canter transitions is enough to make them avoid canter like the plague...…

Does your normally relaxed, sane and rhythmic horse turn into his version of a racehorse each time he rounds a corner and spots anything that resembles a jump when you are riding?  Your quiet calm ride turns into a flat out gallop, resembling the rush for the finish post on the final furlong of Aintree...  (minus the cheering crowds!)

Unfortunately horses rushing or racing over fences is a common problem for riders and one that, once all pain or discomfort has been ruled out as the…

Trail riding or hacking is a fantastic way for both you and your horse to experience the world outside the gates of the arena.

However many riders look at riding on the trail as merely a way to relax and unwind.  And while they are not wrong, riding along a bridle path is a fantastic way at boosting the connection between you and your horse, it is often an overlooked opportunity for schooling and working through different exercises and movement, with the advantage of doing so in a…

There seems to be two types of riders in the world, those that love an OTTB and those that don't!  I am squarely in the former category and if you are also there, well make yourself comfortable because this week on Daily Strides we are focusing on basic exercises you can begin implementing with your OTTB today that will help lay a solid foundation for future schooling, regardless of the discipline.

You can read the original post & listen to the…

Jumping, it has the ability to thrill and to strike fear into riders, sometimes all at once!   However, if approached in a systematic and patient manner, most of the fear will dissipate allowing both you and your horse to enjoy jumping; whether it be a pop every now and then, or a trip round a course of fences weekly at a local show.

You can listen to the audio lesson over on the original blog post …

Have you ever found yourself riding a hot horse where the slightest touch of your leg sends them shooting forward with the speed of a snake strike?  Even worse, once they start on that forward trajectory, they get heavier and heavier on your hand, they get more and more unbalanced until eventually there is an epic tug of war happening; horse and rider pitted against each other, often at speeds, which for the space you are currently occupying, are breakneck! …

Developing your riding seat begins with understanding that your seat must be used to signal to your horse, not interfere or disrupt his natural movement.  In order for you to utilize this aid successfully, it is imperative that you be relaxed first.  Relaxation is not floppiness, it is just an awareness of your body and how you are using it without any tension or resistance through your muscles.

The problem and confusion over developing your riding seat often begins right at…

We have all heard the old saying 'No hoof, no horse', and any of us that have been around horses for any length of time know it to be true.

But, aside from just the regular picking out and greasing of your horses hooves, what else are you actively doing to ensure the long term integrity of your horses feet and how closely are you paying attention to the small changes that can sometimes lead on to big problems?

Often as owners and riders we just assume our farrier is doing his…

More importantly, how do you know if your horse is falling in?  The quickest and easiest way I can explain this is to imagine you are riding a circle which you have planned out beautifully in your head; but as your horse travels around it you seem to be getting more and more off track with each passing stride; in fact what started out as a 20m circle is soon resembling a 10m triangle, drawn by a three year old...

Or another area this where problem can tend to rear its ugly…

Is there a more frustrating and exhausting experience when riding to match that of being on a horse who is not paying you a blind bit of notice?!

You are on board kicking and pumping away, while you horse is just meandering along...  Ignoring you completely and acting as though he is on a relaxing Sunday outing.

This week on Daily Strides we are focusing on helping you overcome the inertia and begin getting some movement happening underneath you, by…

This month on Equine Business Coaching we are all about figuring out where, how and on what should we be investing our time on a day to day basis in order to see the best return on your most precious asset, time, in your business.

Streamlining your schedule is often one of the most difficult things we can tackle related to our productivity, however figuring out a workflow and routine that supports all the necessary ‘maintenance’ items in your business, while at the same…

Leg yielding is generally most riders first introduction to lateral movement; lateral meaning sideways.   This weeks audio horse riding lessons aim to not only explain leg yielding to you in easy to understand terms, but also to give you some nice exercises you can use while riding your horse to begin working his muscles and joints in a different, and beneficial way.

At the beginning of the podcast this week I mention that leg yielding and, quite frankly, riding…

One of the things that a lot of Daily Strides listeners have in common is the fact that the time they have to devote to riding and improving their riding skills, is generally in short supply… And rides can become something that are squeezed in between the million other things we have going on in our lives.

In times like this, when we are riding, we are set out looking to achieve an active, working trot… But due to lots of different factors, this can end up just…

Many, many moons ago, I would regularly take part in photo challenges and the likes, posting my extremely amateur results over on my other blog...

Being that I mostly see horses every day, with the occasional Donkey thrown in the mix for good measure, I have been on the look out for a 'Horsey' themed photo challenge for some time now... To absolutely no avail!…

This weeks lesson is a little bit different... I hope you enjoy!

One of the biggest disadvantages to riding alone is the fact that while you may think and feel like you are doing everything correctly, there is a big chance that in actual fact you are not.

Many riding centre's and equestrian facilities install mirrors in the arena for this exact reason; however that can be a pricey solution...

Today, I present you with a much easier, cheaper solution that you can use…

The half halt is possibly one of the most important, and yet most underutilized tools, particularly where novice riders are concerned.

This weeks lessons are designed to make you more conscious of how often you are using your half halt and improving every ride by doing so.

So, firstly, why do we use the half halt?

The half halt can be used for a couple of different reasons;

1. Balancing or 'steadying' your horse
2. Letting your horse…