Thank you for your great content and useful tips. We have a 7-year-old saddlebred who is faster than average in speed. Extremely hard to control and requires so many aids for trot and canter just to keep him in the arena! We have been working with him for a year and he is starting to find more mental peace, which means a bit slower pace. However, he is still too fast. Most of the suggestions we can not implement (yet), but he did so well with the backing up exercise. Didn't have to use any aids except lean back a bit as directed. Not even verbal aids! That was such a milestone for us! Thank you again for the tips.
Thank you for the video content! I am a horse trainer myself and these are all things I've been learning myself with the help of mentors the last few years and have been trying to impart onto my students. The way you explain things is great! Thank you
One of my biggest goals through these videos is to help fellow professionals cause the better we are as pros, the better we can serve our students. Appreciate you watching and glad you’re getting something out of them.
I certainly appreciate your direction to help those of us with bad habits hindering our goals. I know I have a terrible habit of Leaning when I need to side pass. All stemming from over-exaggeration of a "certain program". I myself would love to see you work with someone else's horse that has some of these issues. My Appaloosa gelding is one of those Wiggly horses from the program and we have to work very diligently to be straighter. I recently acquired a new horse that has lots of buttons and has lots of straightness and impulsion but he's also impulsive because of some baggage that came along with him. My old fixes were Wiggly horse triggers now.😂 Could you show some exercises that helps with the horse that has baggage from impulsion? ,( he did a short stint as a barrel racer. So he worries more in speed) I'm hesitant to do some of my past patterns to help him. So I would love to see something like that and how you address it.
I've noticed that some people when backing their horse actually start leaning forward as the horse steps backwards. I think it is so they can pull their core back and make room for their hands to come further back. That's just a guess though. Along the lines of staying balanced, people tend to get way out of position when asking their horse for transitions. This causes the horse to transition in an awkward manner. Just some thoughts!
This has been an interesting video, as an English trained rider I’m very aware of how my weight influences the horse, can I ask when you’re opening your seat for lateral are you taking the whole leg off to invite them towards that direction? I feel that’s what I try to do but when they resist I feel like if I’m not careful I can end up getting tight too. I suppose I should reset and just try again? I’m riding a horse who has got into a habit of bracing through his inside shoulder and becoming very overbent, I have managed to get his neck out and he’s now taking the contact and relaxing into the bend but he still finds moving laterally quite a challenge. He can do it but I struggle to keep the relaxation with it. I have taught him to rein back from both legs behind the girth with no weight in the rein. Started by asking one leg at a time but he now gets it from both legs and reins back nicely 🎉 I try for little wins each ride. Love your content ❤
Ik kom uit Nederland mijn paard is in de bak super goed op de stop, maar met een buitenrit is hij niet aanwezig hij is bezig om zo snel mogelijk weer naar huis te lopen al laat ik dat niet toe.
My horse is a 12yo gelding, i do groundwork several times a week, mostly lunges and flexing. He lunges ok keeping the speed i ask for, but pins his ears back, and he's flexible, really good lateral on the ground! But, when riding, he gapes at the bit (correction bit) and is stiff, doesn't flex as well when riding, and wants to "crow hop" when change speed! Question: Is my groundwork wrong, or do I need more riding time?
One of the best ways I’ve found to develop a better seat is riding in the round pen. Get the horse moving forward and just focus on your seat and getting in time with the horse. That could mean you get the horse moving out or you have someone on the ground. But when that horse frees up in the round pen and you’re not having to steer, you can really get in time with the horse and develop a much better seat. I do think riding bareback can help develop a better seat but not necessarily functional equitation. For myself and my students it’s way more practical and a much better use of time & energy to focus on the fundamentals that need to be improved while riding in the saddle. Situations like losing balance in the saddle is no big deal cause you can still remain atop the horse and regain your balance and keep going while riding bareback one could very well end up falling off and it create unnecessary training scenarios or even get hurt.
Creating softness with a harder horse. Do you suggest one or both legs ? And on the. circle opposite rein opposite leg and also reverse arc for softness and the release is to follow through giving back with hands legs off and completing the figure riding out into the direction of the arc?
Hey Tracy I don’t fully understand what you’re asking here but I will answer what I am clear on. When a horse gets stiff, I want to feel for where that stiffness is in the horse’s body. I want to identify that spot as specifically as possible and then I’ll use my aids to isolate that area. That could mean putting my leg on that exact spot to bring the horse’s focus to that place of tension because I want my horses to think “Focus -> Relax -> Understanding -> Balance” when it comes to me using my aids. That’s the thought process I want them to think through. So when I bring their attention to a tight spot, their focus comes, then they can relax and then we can tap into or establish understanding of what needs to happen next. For green horses (age doesn’t matter) oftentimes it’s one leg at a time. Yet also on a green horse we oftentimes have forward motion at the forefront and I’ll use two legs to reinforce my request for them to follow my seat forward. What I don’t want to do is trap a horse up which could be done my too much rein or leg. On a more experienced horse I may go to 2 legs if they already have the understanding and they are at a point where I can put more responsibility on them to do their job without me being required to hold their hand the whole time. A big important piece is how the leg is used and that the horse should find relief within the maneuvers not just after the maneuver is complete. If a horse can’t find peace within the exercise then they’ll always be a level of tension.
Thank you for your great content and useful tips. We have a 7-year-old saddlebred who is faster than average in speed. Extremely hard to control and requires so many aids for trot and canter just to keep him in the arena! We have been working with him for a year and he is starting to find more mental peace, which means a bit slower pace. However, he is still too fast. Most of the suggestions we can not implement (yet), but he did so well with the backing up exercise. Didn't have to use any aids except lean back a bit as directed. Not even verbal aids! That was such a milestone for us! Thank you again for the tips.
Good on you for taking what’s taught and putting the work in! Appreciate you watching & taking time to comment.
Thank you for the video content! I am a horse trainer myself and these are all things I've been learning myself with the help of mentors the last few years and have been trying to impart onto my students. The way you explain things is great! Thank you
One of my biggest goals through these videos is to help fellow professionals cause the better we are as pros, the better we can serve our students. Appreciate you watching and glad you’re getting something out of them.
Great tips that you explain well. I'd love more on contact and balance. Also, I found the background music a tad busy and distracting. Thanks!
Geweldige film. Duidelijke uitleg. Hier kan ik wat mee. Dank je wel.
You’re welcome!
I certainly appreciate your direction to help those of us with bad habits hindering our goals. I know I have a terrible habit of Leaning when I need to side pass. All stemming from over-exaggeration of a "certain program".
I myself would love to see you work with someone else's horse that has some of these issues.
My Appaloosa gelding is one of those Wiggly horses from the program and we have to work very diligently to be straighter. I recently acquired a new horse that has lots of buttons and has lots of straightness and impulsion but he's also impulsive because of some baggage that came along with him. My old fixes were Wiggly horse triggers now.😂
Could you show some exercises that helps with the horse that has baggage from impulsion? ,( he did a short stint as a barrel racer. So he worries more in speed)
I'm hesitant to do some of my past patterns to help him. So I would love to see something like that and how you address it.
I've noticed that some people when backing their horse actually start leaning forward as the horse steps backwards. I think it is so they can pull their core back and make room for their hands to come further back. That's just a guess though. Along the lines of staying balanced, people tend to get way out of position when asking their horse for transitions. This causes the horse to transition in an awkward manner. Just some thoughts!
Nice video my biggest problem is not staying centered. What you say tells me to work on that.
This has been an interesting video, as an English trained rider I’m very aware of how my weight influences the horse, can I ask when you’re opening your seat for lateral are you taking the whole leg off to invite them towards that direction? I feel that’s what I try to do but when they resist I feel like if I’m not careful I can end up getting tight too. I suppose I should reset and just try again? I’m riding a horse who has got into a habit of bracing through his inside shoulder and becoming very overbent, I have managed to get his neck out and he’s now taking the contact and relaxing into the bend but he still finds moving laterally quite a challenge. He can do it but I struggle to keep the relaxation with it. I have taught him to rein back from both legs behind the girth with no weight in the rein. Started by asking one leg at a time but he now gets it from both legs and reins back nicely 🎉 I try for little wins each ride. Love your content ❤
...very good and informative, thanks. but please without the backround music 😊
👍🏻👌🏻
Ik kom uit Nederland mijn paard is in de bak super goed op de stop, maar met een buitenrit is hij niet aanwezig hij is bezig om zo snel mogelijk weer naar huis te lopen al laat ik dat niet toe.
Im a new sub and i do like your content, but the background music is unnecessary in my opinion. Its distracting. Sorry 😢
Second this ! It’s awfully distracting when listening to spoken content 🙄 so I‘m out 🤷♀️
My horse is a 12yo gelding, i do groundwork several times a week, mostly lunges and flexing. He lunges ok keeping the speed i ask for, but pins his ears back, and he's flexible, really good lateral on the ground! But, when riding, he gapes at the bit (correction bit) and is stiff, doesn't flex as well when riding, and wants to "crow hop" when change speed! Question: Is my groundwork wrong, or do I need more riding time?
Can you obtain a better balance / contact by riding bare back ? Thank you
One of the best ways I’ve found to develop a better seat is riding in the round pen. Get the horse moving forward and just focus on your seat and getting in time with the horse. That could mean you get the horse moving out or you have someone on the ground. But when that horse frees up in the round pen and you’re not having to steer, you can really get in time with the horse and develop a much better seat.
I do think riding bareback can help develop a better seat but not necessarily functional equitation. For myself and my students it’s way more practical and a much better use of time & energy to focus on the fundamentals that need to be improved while riding in the saddle. Situations like losing balance in the saddle is no big deal cause you can still remain atop the horse and regain your balance and keep going while riding bareback one could very well end up falling off and it create unnecessary training scenarios or even get hurt.
Creating softness with a harder horse. Do you suggest one or both legs ? And on the. circle opposite rein opposite leg and also reverse arc for softness and the release is to follow through giving back with hands legs off and completing the figure riding out into the direction of the arc?
Hey Tracy I don’t fully understand what you’re asking here but I will answer what I am clear on.
When a horse gets stiff, I want to feel for where that stiffness is in the horse’s body. I want to identify that spot as specifically as possible and then I’ll use my aids to isolate that area. That could mean putting my leg on that exact spot to bring the horse’s focus to that place of tension because I want my horses to think “Focus -> Relax -> Understanding -> Balance” when it comes to me using my aids. That’s the thought process I want them to think through. So when I bring their attention to a tight spot, their focus comes, then they can relax and then we can tap into or establish understanding of what needs to happen next.
For green horses (age doesn’t matter) oftentimes it’s one leg at a time. Yet also on a green horse we oftentimes have forward motion at the forefront and I’ll use two legs to reinforce my request for them to follow my seat forward.
What I don’t want to do is trap a horse up which could be done my too much rein or leg.
On a more experienced horse I may go to 2 legs if they already have the understanding and they are at a point where I can put more responsibility on them to do their job without me being required to hold their hand the whole time.
A big important piece is how the leg is used and that the horse should find relief within the maneuvers not just after the maneuver is complete. If a horse can’t find peace within the exercise then they’ll always be a level of tension.