Category: Training Tips
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Start light
START LIGHT – TO GET LIGHT If you never start light, you never give your horse a chance to be light. Horses hate surprises. Yet, riders often begin with too much force – pulling on the reins, dragging on the lead rope, or spurring for more forward. To the horse,…
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Position before Action
Position before Action – are you prepared? In our School of Lightness, Ecole de Légèreté, we emphasize the principle of “Position before Action,” rooted in François Baucher’s saying: “Position precedes the action.” Like the Scout motto “Be Prepared,” this idea applies to many situations. For me, it means not asking…
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Achieving Balance:
This article delves into the crucial role of hands in horse-rider communication, emphasizing the importance of achieving balance, relaxation, and contact for effective riding. It discusses the impact of lateral and longitudinal imbalances, and the key steps in establishing a reliable partnership. The hands play a vital role in guiding,…
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Opening the Poll
ON, IN FRONT OR BEHIND THE VERTICAL Often we see horses being ridden in a posture that is too ’round’, ‘curled under’ or ‘over-bent’. It may be due to lack of knowledge of how to work the horse correctly, or it can be the horse avoiding contact, trying to hide…
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More inside leg… or neck reins?
When a horse is ‘falling in’ on a circle or cutting corners, the common idea is: “more inside leg”. But often, this is not solving the problem, and can even make it worse, as horses tend to switch off to a constant nagging leg, and riders tend to ‘fall in’…
Classical Riding & Dressage - Susie Walker 