Contact can often look effortless for some horses and riders. And yet, for many other riders, consistent contact can seem like an enigma. Any efforts at consistency tend to lead to heaviness. Or a complete lack of any contact! So where is this fine line between consistent, quality contact and washing lines? In order to develop contact with your horse,…
As I was creating my notes for this episode, it struck me that there is a strong probability that this sounds a lot like Goldilocks! Too much, too little and ‘just right’ will come up repeatedly as I begin talking about your hands when you are riding. Obviously, we are aiming to achieve ‘Goldilocks’ hands; just right! But seriously, the…
When we first learn to ride, turning is often explained to us as merely a ‘tug’ or pull on one rein or the other to turn our horse’s head. There’s a general consensus being that where his head turns, his body will go… However, anyone who has ridden a determined pony or horse will know that this is very often…
Do you find that often when you ride, your hands begin to do their own thing? Waving about, flagging some imaginary air traffic, conducting a symphony, or just bouncing up and down like a jack hammer?! To make this even more frustrating; it seems like the more you try to ‘quiet’ or ‘still’ your hands the worse the problem becomes……
Being straight is a focus for many riders. Often when I am in the arena I end up reminding my riders that they are not riding motorcycles; they are riding horses. From the outset, it seems like a pretty random statement to make. However, let me explain the sequence of events that leads up to me mentioning motorcycles… Straightness is…
