The bend is approaching and you begin preparing both you and your horse to ride straight and accurately through the turn. However, as you ‘shift’ your seat bones into ‘position’ your horse begins, well, almost side stepping… The further you get through the turn, the further your horse is from the path you had planned; in fact, he has derailed…
Have you discovered that your horse is a bit of a maths whizz? He has somehow figured out that if he shaves just a few meters or yards here and there off of the odd corner or three, he has to do less overall in each lesson or schooling session. He seems to have a strong understanding of distance and how to…
When we begin riding, we are generally told about this almost magical ability that we have to communicate with our horse, known as the weight aids. However, it soon becomes apparent that we have to master many other aspects of riding before we can hope to use our weight to communicate with our horse… Unfortunately for many of us,…
How many times have you asked your horse to leg yield, moving forward yet sideways, only for it to become frustratingly obvious a few steps into the moment that what is happening underneath you is definitely not what you had in mind?! Asking our horses to leg yield is one of the first introductions they will have to lateral movement.…
There you are, happily trotting around the arena, delighted at the fact that you can ‘post’ correctly; until someone goes and bursts your bubble by pointing out that you are on the wrong diagonal… “Sit for two” they shout your way… And you’re thinking ‘Come again?’! What is the Diagonal in the Trot? Being on the correct diagonal is to…
Riding through a bend is something you will have to do every time you get in the saddle, whether it be the 4 corners of your arena or just the route you take to get from point A to point B. It therefore makes good sense to work on your ability to navigate those bends successfully, without losing balance, rhythm,…