As riders, we can often have a very negative association with tension. Yet, without it, neither you nor your horse would remain upright! Take away the tension and both of you will go limp and become a ‘dead weight’ immediately. So, instead of seeing tension as the enemy – it’s key to begin reshaping your understanding and your ‘practice’ of…
Your hands are an aid in your riding. So understanding why the way you hold your reins and how to judge the height of your hands when riding is important. And realizing how much your hand aids are impacting and affecting your riding can change everything. As riders, one of the first things we learn is how to ‘hold’ the…
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,…
It’s a big question, and it’s a question that so many riders wonder about. “Can I train my horse, alone?”. For many riders, they will answer this question with another one; “An I a ‘good enough’ rider?”. There are millions of riders all over the world, all with different combinations of skills and talents; being a ‘good’ rider is relative!…
![[Training Scale Series] Part 3 – Contact in Your Riding](https://stridesforsuccess.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Copy-of-training-scale-i_jpg-2-770x433.jpg)
Contact and connection; hot topics for many riders. This is often because they can feel quite elusive. There is confusion regarding what needs to happen in order for contact to occur. And, how can you tell if the contact is correct and ‘good’? This post and episode are the third in a series about the training scale. We have already…
![[Training Scale Series] 2. Suppleness in Your Horse](https://stridesforsuccess.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/DAILY-STRIDES-PODCAST-3_jpg-2-770x433.jpg)
What if I was to say that suppleness is less about being ‘bendy’ and more about how energy flows in you and your horse… Would that challenge you a little? Or is this something which, if you think of yoga, makes sense? If you sometimes struggle to maintain that lovely ‘loosey gooseyness’ in your horse, is it possible that you…
