Most riders have heard about how they should ‘ride from the inside leg to the outside rein’; but really – what does that mean?! How exactly do you ride from what seems like a bit of a diagonal and what about all the other aids? Should we forget about them? The term ‘riding from the inside leg to the outside…
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…
You have spent the past few months diligently improving your young horse’s standard of education. A lot of time invested on the basics of moving forward in a balanced rhythmic way. He is happy, you are happy and the next natural progression is to ask for the canter. However, it seems all those carefully cultivated hours in the arena fly…
Are there days where your horse’s camel impression is worryingly accurate? He lounges along, his back all strung out resembling a cable that’s sole purpose is to work against you. His neck stretched out in what must be an extremely uncomfortable way, his nose pointing skyward… And it seems that all your efforts to establish a correct contact are falling…
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.…
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…
