Horse Listening

12 Riding Quick Tips – #10: How To Canter Instead Of Just Trot Faster

trot canter transition — Photo Credit: J. Boesveld

Does your horse just go faster faster when you ask for the canter? It happens often - the legs speed up, maybe the head goes higher, and it becomes more difficult to stay with the horse. Sometimes he falls to the forehand and maybe "roots" on the reins (pulls downward) instead of cantering at all.

There are many circumstances when this can happen - it's not reserved just for the beginner rider or novice horse. There can be miscommunication, confusion and/or imbalance between even the more advanced horse and rider combination. Don't worry if it happens. Just know what to do, and work through the situation to improve the transition in the long term.

What To Do

1. Slow the horse's legs down.

If you aid for the canter, and the horse just rushes faster, half-halt and re-establish a nice relaxed trot tempo. Chances are that your horse is excited and a little wound up, so just abort the canter mission for the moment. You won't give up on the canter, but you will first calm the horse, slow the legs and rebalance.

As soon as you feel you've contained the forward energy, and your horse seems more settled, go right back to asking for the canter. Often, you can get a great canter transition just after "bringing back" the trot energy.

2. Check your aids.

Make sure that you are using the correct aids for canter. Do a quick self-check:

inside leg at the girth?
weight on the inside seat bone?
outside leg "swishing" behind the girth (I think of it like a windshield wiper)?
reins short enough to help the horse balanced but not too tight?
upper body toned and strong so that you don't collapse during the transition?
are you using an established voice cue for canter?

3. Ride the canter yourself.

Many riders tend to freeze during and after the transition to canter. It is very important for your seat to actually change from the trot to the canter as the horse changes gait. If you stiffen your back or tighten your knees, you might be interfering with the horse's ability to take the canter step.

If your seat continues in the same manner as it was in the trot, it can also negate the canter aids. Although you can't actually canter in your seat until the horse takes that first step, you must be ready to change immediately as it happens. In fact, better trained horses may not take that transition if your seat feels tight or tense.

If one or more of these strategies works and you get the canter, ride in canter for a little while to let your horse know he's on the right track. Then take a walk break. Pet the horse. But don't stop there. Get a few more trot-canter transitions before you go on to something else. Make sure your horse has a chance to fully understand what you are asking for. Soon enough, you'll eliminate the trot faster routine and just go from a nice swinging trot straight to canter.

Finally! The Ultimate Rider-Centered Program!

Now is the time to re-evaluate your goals and path to riding success!

If you’d like a structured, but personal tool to set goals, take a look our Goal Setting for the Equestrian: A Personal Workbook. The pages are designed for you to set and keep track of your progress over the course of a year.

Included in the book:

design your overarching goals
long- and short-term planning,
debrief your special events such as clinics or shows
reflect on, plan and evaluate your goals
sample goals and pages

The Workbook is available for instant digital download so you can print the pages right off your computer. There is also the option of a paperback version if you’d rather have a professionally bound book to hold in your hands.

Click here for more information.

12 Riding Quick Tips – #9: How Long Does It Take To Learn To Ride A Horse?

This is a common question we all have at one time or another.

There are three very different, short answers.

First: it takes next to no time.

We know well about the people who get on a horse, learn to kick and steer, and for all intents and purposes, ride a horse. If you're lucky enough to find one of those golden horses, and you have some athleticism and coordination, you'll likely be able to go where you want and be able to stay somewhat securely on a horse in a matter of months. Of course, it does help to have a horse that is accommodating and compliant.

Second: it takes a lifetime.

We all know of lifelong riders who continue to have "lessons" after multiple decades of owning and riding horses. I think of the high performance riders that I've followed from the time they began their international riding careers at the highest dressage Grand Prix level, who improved tremendously after five to ten years.

Let's face it - the learning is really never done. In fact, this is one of the things that appeals to me most about horse riding. Just when you think you've got it all, something new appears magically out of the woodwork, showing you a path to even more effective or better or less active... you never know until you get there. And it happens with everything - even the most basic skills such as riding the walk (how difficult can it really get??) or striking off into a canter stride.

Third: it takes two years.

This last observation is my personal one. Over the years, as I went through my own learning curves and as I observed my students develop, I've discovered that the two-year average is a pretty good time period to aim for.

That is, it will likely take you two years to really master a (any) riding skill. Of course, the more often you ride, the faster the learning will come.

Let's say you want to learn shoulder-in. Even if you can achieve the shoulder-in position in a handful of lessons, and then you can do it at the trot and the canter... it likely won't be that great for a while. You'll likely go through several learning curves and plateaus until it has really and truly become second-nature to you - and your horse. Start with a new horse, and even while you can achieve it well, you will realize that the new horse will teach you something you didn't know. And that will take plenty of time to master all over again.

So the two-year rule is a good one to keep in mind. It is especially relevant for riding concepts such as "seat" or "swing" or "on the aids" or "bend" or "over the back." These are those fuzzy, difficult-to-describe, feel-based concepts that nobody but you can do something about.

Two years. That's a fair amount of time to become really good at a given riding skill. So, really. Get started!

I'd love to know what you think. Leave a comment below.

12 Quick Riding Tips – #8: A Transition Exercise To Jazz Up Your Riding Routine

Transitions!

Without them, where would we be?

Well, we'd be trotting the same direction ad infinitum. Cantering until both horse and rider are so out of breath that they have to stop. Posting in a repetitive motion that goes forever more... sure to develop ring sourness and boredom.

Enter transitions!

What are transitions?

change of gait
change of direction
change of pace
change of movements

Maybe that's why I'm crazy about transitions! They're all about change. They make the ride fun, challenging, and fresh. They develop both the horse and rider's balance, coordination, sense of space and communication.

Try this "simple" (but not necessarily "easy") transition exercise just to add a little pizzazz to your normal riding routine. Click the images below to enlarge.

It's all straight lines. Straight lines are actually not easy to maintain, and changing gait within a straight line is even harder. But it's a great way to check your accuracy!

In Part 1, you are riding on the rail to the right in trot. Negotiate each corner, go up the rail and transition to canter at B.
Go through the next corner, then turn down center line headed toward X (still in canter). BEFORE X, transition to walk (or trot if you are riding a young or less experienced horse). Take 3-5 walk strides, then transition back to canter, left lead. Do your best to stay straight through the canter transition and to the end of the ring!
Turn left at the rail, negotiate the corner in canter.
Trot at E.

This is the end of the pattern on this side.

Now you continue your trot around the rail until you go to B, at which point you canter, left lead. Everything will then flip around: you come off the rail at C, simple change through X, turn right at the rail and trot at E. I didn't draw out the flipped pattern to save time.

This is what I call a "running pattern." You can keep going several times through the pattern, and you will end up working on both reins (sides of the horse and rider). It's important to always mirror what you do on one side to the other side, so as to develop equal strength and suppleness on both sides.

If you like this sort of pattern work, join my Practice Sessions Premium Membership. The Practice Sessions are a complete program beginning with exercises like the one above, designed to improve specific aspects of the horse and rider. All set up and ready to go, all you have to do is watch the video, print off the pattern PDF and head to the barn!

But there's so much more! There's quality of movement exercises, theory "Mini-Classes" on specific aids and figures, a fantastic group of riders who motivate and encourage each other, and so much more! Click here to learn more.

Buy the book for many more riding tips! Horse Listening – The Book: Stepping Forward to Effective Riding

From the first book in the Horse Listening Collection: Horse Listening, The Book

"There are many reasons why we enjoy riding horses. Maybe one of the most appealing facets of riding is the sense of freedom: freedom from our own limitations, freedom from gravity, freedom to (literally) roam the Earth. Time stands still while we have the privilege of feeling movement from the back of our four-legged friend. Riding gives us the place to just be.

Of course, there are other purposes too. Some of us revel in the challenge of learning the skills required to becoming a good team member of this unlikely duo. Riding is like no other sport or recreational pursuit simply because of the equine partner that must not only carry us, but also do so effortlessly and gracefully. As we develop our specific skill sets, we also grow as human beings in character, emotional maturity and mental acuity.

But there is one other motivation that drives some of us to persevere in the never-ending learning process that is horseback riding: improving the horse. As your own skills develop, you begin to realize that not only can you meet your own needs through riding, but also that you can even become an instrument of benefit for the horse."

And so begins the book that reflects the most important learning I have had in all of my riding years: that I want to be the best rider I can be for the sake of my horses.

This book is geared toward the rider:

- the rider's motivations

- the essential skills for the rider

- some specific strategies

- solutions to common problems

- and the results: the great horsey moments we get to experience

Along the way, you will find chapters that discuss everything from the seat to the leg aids to the reins, discussions on half-halts, imbalance, halts, straightness and more!

Special in this book are the "In The Ring" sections that give specific suggestions based on the preceding chapters. Take these to the barn to try with your own horse!

Available as an eBook or paperback.

12 Riding Quick Tips – #7: Four Leg Yield Variations (Diagrams)

The leg yield is the first lateral movement taught to young horses or novice riders. In fact, it is so essential that it should be taught very early in a rider's career.

Early Stages

At the beginning, all we want is for the horse to step away from the rider's leg. It may be from the halt, or at the walk, or in the trot. It may happen on a circle or on a straight line. Essentially, if the rider applies some leg pressure, the horse should step away from the pressure.

This aid plays an important role in helping the horse learn to balance around turns. Horses commonly lean into a turn or circle, "falling" to the inside as they come around. The rider can use the leg aid to keep the rib cage "up" through the turn, which also encourages a deeper inside hind leg stride, which then results in a much better balanced turn. It also allows the rider to keep her own balance through turns and circles.

*Click on the diagrams to enlarge.

A) Leg Yield Facing The Rail

You can position your horse so that he is diagonally facing the rail. Then leg yield down the rail, keeping that position. This exercise may be helpful to teach your horse that the sideways movement is expected, because the rail itself will encourage your horse's sideways movement.

B) Leg Yield On a Line, From A Quarter Line to the Rail

Start on the rail, going right. As you pass A, come off the rail and head down the long side of the arena parallel to the rail - but off the rail - in a straight line. Use your inside leg to ask the horse to step away from your right leg (leg yield left), to the outside, until he is back on the rail.

The key to this leg yield is to keep your horse's body as straight as possible while the horse steps forward and sideways. The horse's head can be straight or flexed slightly to the right. You can increase the difficulty level by starting at the center line and heading to the rail, requiring more sideways movement.

C) Leg Yield On a Line, From The Rail to the Quarter Line

This leg yield is more difficult than the first. You start on the rail (on the long side of the arena) and step off it toward the first quarter line. You can continue to the center line to make it even more difficult. The horse's body should be straight and flexion can be straight or slightly to the outside.

D) Leg Yield On A Circle

The leg yield on a circle (or turn) can be the initial step toward achieving a head-to-tail bend. You can use it to expand the size of a circle, asking the horse to step sideways-out - which will encourage the inside hind leg to stride deeper underneath the body. This increased engagement of the inside hind leg will help maintain balance through the turn, and develop carrying power.

In all of the leg yield variations, you are trying to establish a forward-sideways movement. A leg yield can't be only forward, nor only sideways. It should have equal components of forward and sideways (hard to do). Both front and hind legs should cross over as the horse maintains a straight body. If you lose the forward inclination, stop asking for sideways and re-establish forward. Try for sideways when you have a fairly free and energetic gait on the straight line.

12 Riding Quick Tips – #6: Developing Impulsion

The thing about developing impulsion is that it rarely comes from more leg. The leg aids do play a role in increasing the energy of the horse, but they are not the only factor.

We often think that we should just kick the horse along. Without a doubt, the horse should move "off the leg" with increased energy and speed.

The novice horse might just move faster from the leg, and at that point, we don't want to stop him or discourage his enthusiastic response. Similarly, the novice rider needs to develop coordination of the leg aids (and overall body balance) so kicking at the outset is necessary for the rider to begin to control her legs. However, sooner than later, for both the horse and rider, we need to move away from the "kick" and more to the "aids."

True impulsion can only happen if the rider herself "has" impulsion. Let me explain.

If you don't have "impulsion" in your body, the best you can do is get exactly the opposite of impulsion: the horse just moves along at a faster rate (leg speed), hollows his back (hind legs our behind), falls to the forehand (loss of balance).... This happens because essentially, all you can do is chase the horse into speed. But impulsion isn't exactly speed.

It's more about energy. It's about buoyancy, it's about spending more time in the air than on the ground.

How can the rider encourage impulsion?

1. Lengthen the legs (by opening from the hips down) and "wrap" your legs around the horse's sides.
2. Squeeze your legs in rhythm with the horse's strides.
3. Lighten your seat as if to invite the horse's back UP to you.
4. Half-halt the resulting energy - don't let it just "go out the front," but redirect it so that the horse uses the energy to "bounce."
5. Keep control of the horse's leg speed with the half-halt as well. If the horse speeds up, half-halt to slow down and start again from step 1.
6. When the horse changes his movement from going faster to becoming more trampline-y, bounce right along with the horse, accentuating the off-the-ground moment of the stride.

It takes quite a lot of coordination and energy to be able to first create this type of energy, and then to maintain it. But as you practice, both you and your horse will be able to make this happen more easily and promptly. Invariably, the better you get at creating impulsion in your body, the better the horse will get.

Horse Listening Book Collection - beautiful paperbacks with all the excellence of the blog - in your hands!

From Horse Listening - The Book:

"But there is one other motivation that drives some of us to persevere in the never-ending learning process that is horseback riding: improving the horse. As your own skills develop, you begin to realize that not only can you meet your own needs through riding, but also that you can even become an instrument of benefit for the horse."

And so begins the book that reflects the most important learning I have had in all of my riding years: that I want to be the best rider I can be for the sake of my horses. Maybe you feel that way too?

This book is geared toward the rider:

- the rider's motivations

- the essential skills for the rider

- some specific strategies

- solutions to common problems

- and the results: the great horsey moments we get to experience

Along the way, you will find chapters that discuss everything from the seat to the leg aids to the reins, discussions on half-halts, imbalance, halts, straightness and more!

Special in this book are the "In The Ring" sections that give specific suggestions based on the preceding chapters. Take these to the barn to try with your own horse!

Click here for more information.

12 Riding Quick Tips – #5: How To Prevent An Upper Body Collapse During Transitions

align upper body horseback riding — A slight opening of the hips allows the seat to move with the horse. The upper body then has a chance to stay tall and in line with the hips through the transition. Photo Credit: J. Boesveld

Do you have a tendency to "fall", or collapse in the upper body, during transitions?

Sometimes, when we change gaits from walk to trot, or trot to canter - or even walk to canter - we tend to lean forward to get the new gait. It's as though we think that by leaning forward, we can encourage the horse to take that new gait. Or maybe we're trying to loosen the reins to allow the horse to have space to move into.

It happens the other way too. Many of us collapse as we ride through the downward transition. If the horse falls to the forehand, we hunch over the front of the saddle and collapse through our middle right along with the horse. Or we feel a pull on the reins and either let the reins out or get pulled slightly out of the saddle, which causes us to fall forward in the upper body into the new gait.

All of us have done this at some time or another, and it may take some serious reconfiguration of our muscle memory to change our physical reaction to the lurch that invariably comes with the upward or downward transition.

Try This

Rather than trying to fight the pull of gravity, work on aligning your upper body so that your position will keep you from collapsing.

Before the transition, line your hips up just slightly ahead of your shoulder line. In other words, open your hips enough so that you can scoot your seat toward the front of the saddle while staying straight in your back. Don't think that you're leaning back - in fact, an onlooker wouldn't be able to tell that you're doing anything in particular at all. Your shoulders will be where they should be - in line with your hips.

However, that slight scoot forward allows your seat to be forward just enough to be a little ahead of your body. Before the horse moves into the new gait, you can push your seat to the front of the saddle, line up your shoulders and let your seat absorb the jolting motion.

If you can allow your seat to be "in" the horse's movement, you will be able to keep a moving but stable upper body. There won't be as much stress on your abs trying to hold your torso up - it will happen without too much strength just because of the body alignment.

Once again, it is important to recognize that you are not actually leaning back. Instead, this fairly simple positional fix will actually keep you aligned like you should be. It's just that you may feel like you're leaning back to prevent the fall forward. Let your hips open enough to allow your seat to come ahead of the body and do the work of keeping your upper body vertical.

Your favorite Horse Listening training articles are compiled in this beautifully bound paperback (or digital) book. Click here to learn more.

Just as with all the Horse Listening Collection Books, this book is focused on helping the rider improve for the sake of the horse. But this book goes deeper into the best training articles from the blog - horse-centered theory, strategies and ideas you can try with your own horse.
The book begins with the horse's hind end (!), considers the horse's back, moves on to rider development, and fills it all in with the fundamentals of horse riding so your horse can be:
happier in his body
happier in his "work"
better balanced all-around
Available in digital or paperback format. Click here for more information.

12 Riding Quick Tips – #4: Go With The Flow

Horse Listening Just Go — Photo Credit: J. Boesveld. Doing my best to "just go" with his bold movement.

One of the best ways to give positive feedback to your horse is to "just go" with him.

There are three things we can communicate with our aids.

"Do"

We probably spend most of our time telling the horse what to do. Turn here, canter there, stop in the middle. We use "active" aids to communicate the messages to the horse - from our seat aids, to our legs, hands, upper body.... These aids are doing things to make the communication happen as seamlessly as possible.

"Don't Do"

Then we can communicate the exact opposite as well. We resist in order to stop the horse from doing what he is doing. For example, we may brace with the lower back and seat, and half-halt to ask the horse to stop. We may use our inside leg against the horse's side to stop him from "falling" to the inside of a circle. We might activate the seat bones to ask the horse to stop backing up.

"Yes!"

While the above two applications of our aids are most common, there is a third very distinct purpose to the aids. We can call these aids "passive", or "harmonizing". I usually tell people to "just go" with the horse.

You will find the "just go" aids to be a very powerful way to help your horse understand that he is on the right track. When you follow the horse's movement (assuming you can follow and stay in balance at the same time), the horse will suddenly feel your lightness and buoyancy. Think of the little child that can hold herself up on her parent's shoulders - so light and easy to carry. That's how we should feel to the horse as often as possible.

Of course, it can be a little more complicated on a horse's back, especially when you're in canter or some of the more challenging movements like shoulder-in or half-pass, where you have to keep your balance while the horse is moving laterally.

But it can certainly be done.

If you'd like more detail about how to do this, I've written about it in more detail here: The Need For "Yes" Speed - While You Ride Your Horse.

So, this week, see if you can be more aware of when you can "just go" with your horse and see what he has to say about it!

Now is the time to re-evaluate your goals and path to riding success!

Included in the book:

design your overarching goals
long- and short-term planning,
debrief your special events such as clinics or shows
reflect on, plan and evaluate your goals
sample goals and pages

Click here for more information.

12 Riding Quick Tips – #3: Work On Those Long “Wrapping” Legs

long wrapping rider's legs — Photo Credit: NBanaszak Photography

When we first learn to ride, we go through "leg learning" stages. At first, it's all we can do to keep our feet in the stirrups. Eventually, that becomes easier but then our lower legs flap forward and backward in the horse's movement. Sometimes, our legs pop off the horse's sides during posting trot. Other times, our legs are so tight that nothing can take them off the horse's sides! Then at some point, we "find" our legs, only to discover that we're now grabbing very tightly with our heels.

What to do?

Instead of going into complicated fixes for each scenario, try the exercise below. If you can work on this every time you ride, you will likely work through any of those problems. Over time, long, "wrapping" legs will become easier and easier to find, even while you use active leg aids.

The key to long legs, dropped heels and soft but "on the horse" knees is to develop the longest legs you can in the stirrup length you have. This can be used for both short jumping stirrups and longer dressage and western stirrups.

While the horse is standing still, stand up in your stirrups as high as you can, knees straight. Focus on straightening your legs - starting at the hip, then pushing your knees down and back (not too far back, just so your heels line up with your hips) and straight. The straighter you can get your legs, the more your hips will open, the better your knees will flatten along the horse's side, and the more heel you will suddenly have to drop below the stirrup. Then sit back down, lining your hips above your heels, keeping that long leg feeling as much as possible.

Of course, you won't end up with rigid straight legs once your horse starts moving. In fact, because you lengthened your legs, they should have gentle angles at the hip and the knee as a result. Your knees won't be able to grab on the horse's sides as strongly as before, and your heels should end up below the toes (or the toes above the heels, if you like thinking that way better) fairly naturally.

I know what you're going to say (it happens to me too)! It's not that easy to keep the legs long like this while the horse is moving!

No, it isn't. But it does make a huge difference - so it's worth the effort to keep at it. Here are some strategies.

In posting trot, push your legs down on the forward phase.

In canter, push your legs down on the down phase of the horse's stride.

You see, it's not that you have to have loose, dangling legs at all times. Quite the opposite, really. However, since most of us have some sort of gripping problem, finding moments of length will loosen the joints enough to keep our legs wrapped with tone, but not tightly, around our horse's side...

... which then will keep us better balanced and allow the seat to be freer and in sync with our horse - which is what we're aiming for anyway!

Horses. Riding. Life.

Author: Horse Listening

12 Riding Quick Tips – #10: How To Canter Instead Of Just Trot Faster

Finally! The Ultimate Rider-Centered Program!

Now is the time to re-evaluate your goals and path to riding success!

12 Riding Quick Tips – #9: How Long Does It Take To Learn To Ride A Horse?

12 Quick Riding Tips – #8: A Transition Exercise To Jazz Up Your Riding Routine

Buy the book for many more riding tips! Horse Listening – The Book: Stepping Forward to Effective Riding

12 Riding Quick Tips – #7: Four Leg Yield Variations (Diagrams)

2016 WAS OUR FIFTH ANNIVERSARY!

12 Riding Quick Tips – #6: Developing Impulsion

Horse Listening Book Collection - beautiful paperbacks with all the excellence of the blog - in your hands!

Click here for more information.

12 Riding Quick Tips – #5: How To Prevent An Upper Body Collapse During Transitions

Finally! The Ultimate Rider-Centered Program!

12 Riding Quick Tips – #4: Go With The Flow

Finally! The Ultimate Rider-Centered Program!

Now is the time to re-evaluate your goals and path to riding success!

12 Riding Quick Tips – #3: Work On Those Long “Wrapping” Legs