lessons/training – Page 16

The #1 Rider Problem of the Year: The Leg Aid

"Kick harrdddeeerrr!"

How often have you heard that before?

It might come from a well-meaning friend. It might be what you feel is necessary at the moment. It might even be the determined coach who sees the need for impulsion and translates it to being a lack of leg aids.

But you probably know from experience - kicking the horse along often does not get the response you really want. Your horse might:

- continue along in his meandering way, oblivious that you were "talking" to him

- pin his ears, swish his tail... and continue along in his meandering way

- hollow his back, become heavier in the bridle, and go faster, faster, faster

- pin his ears, look at you from the corner of his eye and STOP!

Of course, there are many other variations of responses clearly explaining to you - if only you listened - that kicking him in the sides simply will not achieve the purpose you had in mind.

And you wonder: what else can I do?

Let's go to the experts for some advice:

"What is essential is not to tighten the legs during the dressage training, but rather to use them without effort while allowing them to hang softly near the horse's sides." - Nuno Oliviera, Reflections on Equestrian Art, p. 117

"The greatest hindrance to driving the horse properly comes from riders stiffening their legs.... The horse cannot monitor tight legs as aids and will sour to the pressure, which he will interpret as a meaningless second girth." - Charles de Kunffy, Training Strategies for Dressage Riders, p.163

"Do not put your leg in one fixed point - let them loose to free the upper body. If you want a lazy horse and to exhaust yourself, squeeze with your legs. If you want a brilliant horse, active and relaxed, let go with your legs, forget your leg muscles while staying reactive, attentive and relaxed." Arthur Kottas-Heldenberg, Kottas On Dressage, p. 22

We can gather from these three brief quotes that strong, harsh leg aids are about as helpful as screaming louder to a person who doesn't understand your language. So what are leg aids for?

1) Impulsion

The legs in fact are the primary "natural" aids we have to encourage the horse to move forward with more energy. Ideally, using pressure in the rhythm of the horse's movement should be the way we communicate that the horse should reach further underneath the body and engage the hind legs.

2) Bend

The legs help to initiate a bend in the horse's body - the bend that should follow the arc of the circle or turn that the horse is moving through.

3) Roundness

The legs can even encourage the horse to lift his back by encouraging the hind end to reach under further so the topline can become lighter and rounder.

In horseback riding, the problem with the leg aid is that it's not just about the legs!

Unfortunately, the legs are not able to do all this alone. Life would be so easy if that were the case!

In each above scenario, all the other aids must accompany the leg aids in order to fully support the horse in the desired movement.

The seat must be another main actor - whether for impulsion, bend or roundness. The seat acts as an initiator as well as assistant in the horse's ability to "swing" his back - the final result of impulsion, bend and roundness. If the seat interferes at the wrong moment, or fails to enhance the horse's offering, all the leg in the world will be ineffective.

The hands are also as necessary and responsible as the other aids. What they do may alternately restrict or encourage the hind legs in their action.

So really, in the end, the leg aid is only part of the whole! Of course, this is all just the beginning of developing better coordination and timing in your aids. Without a good instructor, and consistent practice, the muscle memory that is essential will be out of reach and difficult to achieve on your own.

The next time you find yourself with flailing legs and resistant horse, stop and reconsider: are you using all your aids in unison?

If you liked this article, and would like to download a free pdf eBook of all the #1 Rider Problem series, click here for more information.

Riding Straight Through the Turn

Do you have trouble with your turns? Does your horse flatten out in the corners, falling in rather than going deep into the turn?

Maybe your horse "pops" a shoulder to the inside or outside?

On a circle, do you find yourself drifting out at times, falling in to the middle of the circle at other times or even doing both from stride to stride?

If so, then it is important to focus on straightening your horse through the turns.

Go straight in a turn

Although it sounds like an oxymoron, travelling straight through a turn is essential in maintaining the balance of the horse. Moving straight allows the hind end to step underneath the horse and bear the weight correctly, rather than falling heavily to the front legs.

A straight-moving horse negotiates a turn effortlessly. He can keep his round outline and move boldly into the next strides simply because his able to use his body in an efficient way.

There are many ways to work on straightening, including stepping out and other techniques. In this article, we will focus on one aid to help keep the shoulders stay centered so that the horse's stride can reach forward and through the body rather than fall to the inside or outside.

Keep in mind that this is just one small aspect of the whole aiding process - but a missing rein aid could be just the part that is permitting the lack of straightness.

Keeping the shoulders in the body

1. Lower your hand to wither height.

2. Keep the contact short enough so the horse feels your aid, but not so short that it interferes with the horse's movement.

3. Steady the rein momentarily as the horse begins to fall to the inside or outside. Use a direct rein pressure (rather than indirect). DO NOT PULL BACKWARD!

4. Release the rein aid as soon as the horse's shoulder is stepping forward and through the body.

The trick is to redirect the energy

The idea is to take the same energy that the horse is going to use to step sideways, and redirect it forward and straight. You can think of it as a "bounce" - as in, bounce the shoulder away from the rein toward the center of the body.

As always, the key is in the release of the rein. Remember that this is a correction. As with all corrections, you only use it during the moment that it is needed, and no longer.

If the rein is held too long, the corresponding hind leg may be blocked from reaching underneath the body, and the effect will be directly counterproductive to what you are trying to achieve. So you have to feel for the moment, apply the aid, and then release it as soon as possible in order to allow the free movement forward.

You can use this rein aid on the inside rein or the outside rein, depending on what is happening with the movement. You could even use them consecutively. If the horse is falling in, use the inside shoulder block, and before the horse falls through the outside shoulder (a common reaction), apply the outside shoulder block.

Theoretically, the outside rein should be the rein that provides stability for the horse anyway, so it should be active through the correction.

So there we have it! In real time, this aid takes less than a second and should be used in conjunction with the usual seat and leg aids. As with most corrections, be sure to encourage impulsion at the end of the correction, since without energy forward, there is no point to anything!

Your horse will let you know that you are on the right track if he seems to move freer, swings through the body better (releases tension), rounds and/or gives you a hearty snort!

What other tips do you have for straightening the horse?

Buy the book for many more riding tips!

Personally signed books available! Give the best gift for the horse lover in your life (or for yourself! ). Send me a message for more information.

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.

Stepping Out of the Rein Lameness

Some people call it "rein lame".

Some people blame everything under the sun.

But we know that it is often caused by incorrect riding.

You know what I'm talking about - it is the kind of riding that allows the horse to move crookedly. It's about the riding that does not acknowledge (recognize?) that the horse is constantly travelling on the forehand, pounding the front legs into the sand day after day with no improvement.

It ends up being demonstrated by the horse with a shuffling or running gait, the pinned ears, the tense body - even though his legs move and the "buttons" work (sometimes), even the non-horsey onlooker can pick up on the horse's misery.

Most of all, the problems are obvious in the horse's movement. A judge might call it "losing rhythm" or "uneven". A coach might notice that the horse limps when on circles or turns. Although it is easy to overlook the inconsistencies, a careful observer might be able to see bad steps. On the horse's back, you feel the horse taking limping steps, although it is difficult to identify which leg or where the limping comes from. The vet sees the tightness and tension but further diagnosis identifies nothing wrong at all.

Often, problems caused by riding can be fixed with riding. It is just a matter of knowing what to do in order to counteract the problems.

(Click to tweet that if you agree.)

What to do?

1. Step out (weight to the outside shoulder). This "step" can be one step or several steps. For a younger or less experienced horse, you can actually allow the horse to drift out into an almost leg-yield. The step out can be done both on a circle or on a straight line. Regardless of where the horse is positioned, the step must be initiated by the inside hind leg. Use your inside seat and leg to initiate the step to the outside.

2. Create a bend. Stiffness and crookedness are the main reasons for allowing a build-up of tension. The inside seat and leg also help to develop a bend in the horse's body. However, you can regulate the amount of bend - it can be fairly shallow especially for the stiffest horse. You can work your way up to a deeper bend as the tension falls away.

3. Use the outside leg behind the girth to capture the horse's hip and to prevent him from swinging it out. There always has to be an outside leg to create a "wall" to help the horse know just how far to step out.

4. Use the outside rein to prevent the neck from swinging to the inside. Of course you must use the outside rein! A floppy outside rein will encourage the crookedness that is probably already plaguing your horse. If there is nothing to provide an outside "wall" for the bend, there will be no bend! Let the horse curve into the outside rein. That outside rein is also going to govern just how far you want the horse to step out (#1).

5. Use the inside rein to maintain flexion to prevent stiffness all the way from the jaw to the tail. The inside rein has only one job: to maintain a soft flexion. Keep the horse looking to the inside of the bend (circle) by using a light (on/off) contact. Do not let the nose point to the outside, but also avoid pulling the horse into the bend or circle with just the inside rein. There should always be mini-releases when the inside rein is being applied, or you will block the inside hind leg from having a chance to reach under the body.

6. Finish with impulsion. Once the horse has stepped out and because of the movement, loosened up and released some tension, ask for a bit more of a step underneath from the hind legs. Remember to always finish any lateral work with an increase in stride length and energy.

_____

How often you use the "step out" depends on how stiff the horse is and how often the bad steps occur.

The key is to catch the bad steps early, and then work with the bend and shift of weight to the outside to get the horse to release his tightness and tension.

The Results

If you notice a wider lateral step through the shoulder (to the outside), and less of a limping feeling, then you know you are on the right track.

If the horse becomes calmer/stronger/bouncier/rounder, you know this is the way to go.

If the horse gives you a snort, a chew on the bit, and soft ears, you know you've hit the jackpot!

Essentially, you are looking for the release of tension that allows the horse to use his muscles to bear weight and produce the locomotion. You are seeking a condition that allows the horse to NOT put excess strain on the joints, tendons, ligaments and skeleton.

Ideally, you are doing your best to put the horse into his happy place, so he can enjoy his work and develop in a positive manner.

There are likely many other exercises that can address the same problem.

P.S. Can you achieve the same results with a step (or steps) to the inside? YES! All the same ideas apply - then, you can "play" to the inside AND the outside of the circle/bend on a straight line and develop both sides of the horse's body!

Have you used any exercises to help with rein lameness? Please comment below.

Don’t miss a single issue of Horse Listening! If you like what you are reading, become a subscriber and receive updates when new Horse Listening articles are published! Your email address will not be used on any other distribution list. Subscribe to Horse Listening by Email

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

Available as an eBook or paperback.

If you found this post helpful, you might also want to read:

Top 10 Ways to Reward Your Horse: A happy horse is a willing partner, and many horses will give everything they have if they feel your acknowledgement and generosity of spirit.

Demystifying “Contact” in Horseback Riding: Does “contact” have other-wordly connotations? Here is why effective contact is within reach of the average rider.

From a Whisper to a Scream: How Loud Should Our Aids Really Be? Should we be “loud” in our aids, or should we be working as softly as we can in hopes that our horse can respond to lighter and more refined aids?

Do You Make This Timing Mistake When Riding Your Horse? Have you ever given your horse an aid and got nothing in return? There could be one other variable that you might not have considered…

Drawing a Circle (in Sand)

One of the most fundamental exercises in most riding disciplines is the circle. As a newcomer to horseback riding, you will likely meet the circle early on in your career, as it is beneficial in many ways to both the horse and the rider. As a veteran rider, you are all-too-familiar with the smooth curves and rounding suppleness that results in your horse after a series of various sized circles.

But what really is a circle? What does it look like when completed correctly and what figures can be classified as NOT circles?

Moving straight but not really...

It is true that riding round and round the ring on the fence line (or rail) is one of the easiest things you can be doing on horseback. The second easiest thing to do (not necessarily well) is to ride a straight line from end to end of the ring. Just point the horse's nose and hang on!

What is perhaps less well known is that moving along a straight line is in fact one of the most difficult movements a horse has to learn. Although moving along a straight path is an easily completed "figure", moving straight correctly is rarely achieved. Watch carefully and you will notice the horse's hind end pointing toward the inside of the ring, or the hind footprints not falling over the front footprints.

Enter the circle!

Just like people, horses have a preferred side and tend to want to bear more weight to that side. They are just as uneven as we are. Becoming more ambidextrous is as long of a process for them as it is for us to learn to use both sides of our bodies. And perhaps ironically, one of the most effective ways to develop better straight lines is to ride a circle.

Why should you even bother with a circle?

The primary intention of riding a circle is to help your horse loosen in the muscles and develop suppleness in his movement. It evens out the horse's ability to bear weight in the hind end and stretches both sides of the horse.

If you feel the horse stiffening on a long line, change course and head into a circle.

If you find your horse is distracted or spooking at something outside the arena, the circle is a tried-and-true method to bring his attention back to the (boring) center of the ring.

If you find your horse being uneven in his striding, or leaning in/drifting out, or moving in an otherwise "crooked" manner, then the circle is just right to help him straighten out through his body.

If your horse is a runner and speeds up with increasing tension, put him on a circle and allow him to slow down thanks to the increased weight bearing of the inside hind leg.

What does a circle look like?

A correctly ridden circle is even and round. I know - that must sound obvious! However, unless you have spent hours on perfecting the circle, you will agree with me that it is easier said than done!

Regardless of where you position the circle in the arena, it should be evenly spaced and round. You must end the circle where you began it, and the diameters should be even - if it is a 20 meter circle, there should be twenty meters from end to end regardless of where you are currently positioned.

The "NOT" Circle

The "NOT circle" isn't quite nearly as useful as the "NOT Canter"!

There are many variations of the not circle - and all of them are not circles!

A - This circle is one of the most common not circles mainly because of its pseudo-roundness. While you are riding the figure, you are quite sure that you have completed a round figure. That is, until you either look at the footprints in the sand or listen to your instructor's feedback! This circle does not start nor end at the same place and isn't quite evenly round. The horse probably fell in to the middle shortly after the beginning of the circle.

B - This is another common not circle because it is so easy to lose sight of the second half of the circle. Riders often start with good intentions (staying round through the first two quadrants of the circle), and through various inaccuracies - maybe the horse falls in to the middle, or the rider pulls on the inside rein too strongly - the circle ends in an abrupt straight line.

C - Here is another common error - the circle that follows the rail. In the end, you discover that you made a rectangle that basically left one rail and headed straight to another. This figure completely negates the purpose of the circle as the horse doesn't bend through the body. On the other hand, a well-ridden square - OFF the rail - is an extremely beneficial exercise although not at all what we are discussing here.

D - Despite the fact that this final not circle is ever so close to being true, it is not even through the quadrants and therefore ends up becoming more of an oval than a circle. Once again, the horse can avoid bending on the long sides and likely uses the rail as a guideline on where to go.

Parting Thoughts

"The intended effect of working on circles can be achieved only on condition that the correct line of the circle is followed as accurately as possible, but it is difficult to convince riders of the importance of accuracy. Many want quick and easy results and soon lose heart when they discover that riding a correct circle is not as simple a matter as it seems." - Alfred Knophart, Dressage: A Guidebook for the Road to Success (p. 31)

So get out in the ring and be the rider who practices circles to perfection. Work on developing your horse's suppleness and bend, and help him learn to carry more weight on his inside hind leg. Learn the circle aids well and soon enough, "drawing" round, even circles in the sand will become (almost!) second nature!

Rarely Considered, Often Neglected: Lunging to Develop the Riding Seat

Warning: This post will discuss all things about a region we seldom talk about, never mind actually analyze! So grab a "seat" and come along for the ride...

The Seat

Riding is all about the use of the seat.

No matter how effective you think your seat is, you will likely continue to find a better/more balanced/more sophisticated way to use your seat as you develop your riding skills.

Having said that, you can start "finding" your seat right from the get-go. Before you have even learned to control the horse, you could be developing a secure seat through lunging lessons from a good instructor.

Why Bother With the Seat?

You could argue that you can give all your aids (or cues) to a horse through your hands and legs. You would of course be right - most horses could get by with a basic level of performance by listening to your intentions through your appendages. However, you would always have a sense that something is missing - something more profound and difficult to describe, because the horse will always have moments of disconnection that you won't be able to eliminate in your riding.

You might even catch a horse off-guard and have to overuse your hands to get a downward transition, turn or other maneuver.

Once you discover the true harmony that an effective seat can produce, you may agree that the seat can truly be distinguished as the core of all riding.

If you can free up your hands and legs from creating and maintaining movement, you'll uncover a source of freedom and harmony difficult to describe in words.

Developing a well-balanced and independent riding seat is the task of a lifetime.

Do You Walk, Trot and Canter With Your Seat?

When mounted on the horse, your seat bones effectively become your legs. In other words, your seat bones will do on the horse's back what your legs normally would do on the ground.

If the horse is walking, so too should your seat mirror the movement. Your inside and outside seat bones can walk along with the horse's footfalls, in rhythm, at the same time as the horse's side swings.

In trot and canter, your seat bones move together to follow the arc of the movement of the horse. The better you can release and contract your lower back and seat muscles, the easier it will be for you to follow the horse's back without bouncing against the movement.

On the Lunge

Riding on the lunge is the best way to begin the search for the effective seat. Your instructor controls the horse so you can focus on your balance and coordination. The learning is not mental - in fact, it is purely physical. If you can allow your body to move with the horse's movements, the muscle memory will develop on its own through the repetitive motion of the horse.

Don't get me wrong - it's not like you are going to sit there and let the horse do all the work! That is far from the truth.

Instead, you will be doing your best to allow the horse's movements through your body. You will quickly discover that you must tense and release your muscles, all the way from the top of your head down to your heels, in rhythm, while maintaining enough balance to not fall too far forward or too far backward! It sounds easier than it feels!

However, since you do not have to control the horse, you are free to use your hands to hold on to the pommel of the and pull yourself deeply into the front of the saddle so you can help your core muscles maintain the strength needed for a balanced posture. You can also move the arms and legs into various positions to deepen the looseness in your muscles, stretching your sides one at a time, and creating a deeper seat by moving the positions of the legs.

More advanced lunging can be accomplished through riding without stirrups.Your instructor can teach your body how to deal with sudden lurches from the horse, and even provide opportunities for non-progressive transitions such as walk to canter, where the body has to give through the lower back and seat deeply enough to allow the horse's movements to go seamlessly through you.

There is no other way to finding an effective seat than through lunging, and you will develop an independent seat much quicker than if you have to control the horse on your own. Sadly, there are few instructors who have a suitable horse (a truly steady and reliable lunging horse takes time to develop) and enough marketing clout (to talk beginning riders into going round and round in circles) for the sake of muscle memory.

But lunging is simply the most effective short-cut to becoming the best rider you can be.

Off the Lunge Line

Once off the lunge, you need to learn to control the horse with all your aids. However, thanks to all the work you did developing your muscle memory, your seat will already be willing and able to maintain your balance so you can have better control of your appendages. Because you've already ridden at the walk/trot/canter and handled the non-progressive transitions, there is little left to surprise you when the horse suddenly heads in a different direction or stops without warning. Your seat will take care of any surprises.

Time and again, you can revisit riding on the lunge to maintain or develop an ever deeper and more effective seat. The time you invest on the lunge will be recovered ten-fold through your riding career.

In fact, once you've started working on the lunge, you'll wonder why you didn't do it in the first place.

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

Horse Listening – The Book: Stepping Forward to Effective Riding

Personally signed books available! Give the best gift for the horse lover in your life (or for yourself! ). Send me a message for more information.

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

Riding gives us the place to just be.

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

Available as an eBook or paperback.

Interpreting the Half-Halt

We call it the half-halt in the english disciplines, or it is also called the "check" in western riding (I will use "half-halt" in this article to mean both terms). In some ways, the terms are awkward misnomers. We don't really want a half of a halt, although many people characterize it as such. What we really mean by the term is that we want the horse to create or maintain the balance needed to negotiate the next movement.

It is said that the half-halt has different meanings to different people. Certainly, if you ask different instructors to explain how to do a half-halt, you are likely to get several answers that may or may not have much in common.

We all agree on the fact that a half-halt is intended to (re)balance the horse. It helps to maintain a gait, change gaits, change directions and change paces within a gait. We should place half-halts strategically through our movements, and essentially ride "half-halt to half-halt". The more half-halts we include in our ride, the easier the horse can negotiate changes of gait, weight and balance.

What the half-halt is:

- a rebalancing of the horse, promoting a rounder outline and deeper hind leg stride

- a "heads up" moment to let the horse know that a change is coming

- an opportunity to maintain an open communication line with the horse: "Are you still with me?"

What a half-halt is not:

- a pull by the hand that affects the horse's mouth

- a shove forward by the seat and legs that causes the horse to become heavier on the forehand

The aids for the half-halt usually transpire almost invisibly between the horse and the rider. In general, the results of the half-halt are apparent to the onlooker.

Developing your half-halt

Learning to half-halt is one of the skills in horseback riding that will take years to develop. Just when you think you have the hang of it, you will find yet another "level" of understanding that will challenge you to progress to a deeper and more refined aid.

First steps

As they say, some kind of half-halt is better than no half-halt. Very likely, your first half-halts are going to be through your hands and not much through your other aids. You will enjoy the feel of your new skill because your horse will probably slow his feet down and shift some weight backward. He will probably lighten on the bit and regulate his strides.

But beware: what you are feeling at this stage is not a true half-halt, but more of an extinguishing of energy. Any aid that includes a pull backward with the hands will result in a disengagement of the hocks. So even if the horse feels lighter and slower, what you are really feeling is the stoppage of energy. The horse might also hollow his back and raise his head carriage. This change of frame should be your first clue that the aids are not as effective as they could be.

Gaining a better understanding

The next stage is when you will begin to realize that the half-halt is a whole-body endeavour. The hands become less of an aiding influence, and your seat and legs begin to take on a more prominent role. At this point, you will have adequate body control and balance to be able to use your legs to ask the horse to lift his rib cage. The lightening of your seat will encourage the horse to step deeper with the hind legs, and the result will enable you to physically re-balance his entire body.

The outward picture will look like the horse has tilted his hind end and lifted through the back. The body will be rounder and the strides bigger. Often, the horse will snort or breathe audibly, indicating the strength he is putting into carrying your weight more correctly.

If you can negotiate several half-halts within a series of movements, your horse will be better able to "dance" through the requests, remaining light, balanced and round in the outline through all the changes of direction or gait.

If you feel a floating sensation, noticing that the horse's foot falls sound lighter and the gaits are becoming more flowing and easier to ride, you know you are on the right track!

The "forward" half-halt

At some point, you will progress even beyond your finest achievements to realize that the half-halt is actually a forward movement. You will relinquish the need for the hand aids (other than to support your driving aids) in preference for the surge of energy coming from the hind end thanks to your seat, weight and leg aids. You will discover the true meaning of balance through your seat and relish in the bounce, enthusiasm and sheer power the horse will offer to you, movement to movement.

Onlookers will be able to recognize the result of the half-halts because the horse will appear to flow effortlessly from one movement to the next, seemingly reading your mind, the two of you floating as one. Some may accuse you of doing nothing. Your horse will move with enthusiasm, showing off flip-floppy ears and gleaming muscles that roll under the skin like jello.

Most importantly, when your horse approves of your riding skills, and seems to connect with you even more after you get off, you will have all the reward you need!

How do you explain the term, "half-halt"?

Buy the book for many more riding tips! Horse Listening Book 2 - Forward And Round To Training Success

Stop printing off the articles! Your favorite training articles are compiled in this beautifully bound paperback book. Have everything at your fingertips - this book can be taken to the barn as a quick refresher or leisurely read at home.

Signed Author Copies available - they are perfect gifts for the horse rider in your life!

From the book:

"Regardless of discipline, what would be the most significant effect a rider would want to have on her horse?

We all want our horses to improve in their athletic

development, skill acquisition and connectedness. Much of our rider development and training efforts go into working toward our show or personal goals....

But the best riders aspire to do one essential thing each and every day, regardless of goals and lesson plans: they work hard to improve their horse’s way of going.

Because proper balance and weight carriage is essential to a horse’s longevity. Each and every minute of each and every ride has the potential to contribute to your horse’s health and well-being.

Or not."

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 as an eBook or paperback.

Do A “Forward” Back-Up

How do you get a horse to back up lightly, energetically and rhythmically?

Do it "forward"!

It sounds like an oxymoron, but it's the truth. You MUST make the back-up into a forward movement. That is the only way the horse can move his legs efficiently and diagonally.

The back-up is a very important part of the correct training of the horse. It is the beginning of teaching the horse to tilt his hind end and carry more weight on his haunches. It is the preparatory step for a good walk-canter departure and for many of the upper-level movements. But first, you must teach the horse to step backward without creating tension and sticky steps.

How NOT to back up

You will often see people pulling on their horse's mouth and kicking. The horse might open his mouth, tighten and raise the neck, and step back stiff-legged like his legs are stuck in quicksand.

The first thing to keep in mind is to NEVER pull backward on the reins (not for any other movements either, but especially not for the back-up).

4 steps to a good back-up

1. Shorten the reins so you have contact. How much contact depends on the level of understanding of your horse. If this is a new movement, you might need more contact. If the horse is far enough along, you could get away with a "whisper" of a contact! This is what we are all aiming for. But in the interest of being clear with our aids, we might need to use more pressure at first so there is no guess work for the horse.

However, please note that contact does not mean a pull-back. Although you make the reins short enough to put some pressure on the horse's mouth, the reins are not actively moving backward toward your body.

2. Start with a gentle squeeze of your legs. Do not kick unless you absolutely have to. You might need to kick only if the horse gives no response. Otherwise, a squeeze should activate the hind legs enough to almost take a step forward.

3. As the horse takes that forward step, he leans into the pressure of the contact and realizes that he cannot step ahead. The legs then begin the backward movement. At the same time, lighten your seat slightly to the front of the saddle. The weight shift should be so small that it is not visible - only the horse and you know that you shifted your seat. This frees up the back under the saddle so that the horse can lift his hind legs and tilt the haunches.

4. Once the backward motion has started, lighten the contact (don't throw it all away!) in order to give the horse a release. Stay light in the seat while the horse takes the steps. You stop the backward motion by sitting back into a normal seat. Your seat, followed by light leg aids, then drive your horse forward into the same light contact. The difference is that this time, you walk forward.

Always walk forward out of a back-up. You want to regularly instill a "forward attitude" into the horse, especially after a back-up.

Possible corrections

Beginning horses often resist taking the backward steps as the shift of weight back is unusual for horses to do on their own. Just be patient through the initial stages and insist that the horse moves his legs backward before you stop your aids.

Wait through the confusion of the horse even if he throws his head sideways or up. The legs might drag backwards or you might get one step, then another, then a stop. It doesn't matter; just keep at it until you think he has understood.

It might take several sessions before the horse lightens and begins to understand what you are understanding for. Keep the energy level up, look for diagonal pairs of legs moving together, and work toward keeping a soft neck and poll through the movement. Find the balance between trying again and knowing when it is time to stop.

He will get better with time.

How do you teach your horse to back up? If you tried any of this, let us know how it went in the comment section.

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

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.

Three Ways to Use Your Seat in Horseback Riding

Just about everyone and their grandmother talks about the seat in riding. Do this with your seat; do THAT with your seat. Why the fixation on the riding seat?

The "seat" in horseback riding is not limited to the area of the "derriere" that comes into contact with the saddle. Some people include much more than that - all the way from the lower abdominals and waist to above the knees.

Essentially, the seat is THE most effective aid we have to influence our horse's movements.

The balanced seat is what allows us to develop independent hands, good riding posture and loose, supple legs that can aid at a moment's notice. The seat is also the prime factor in our ability to stay on the horse during the "bobbles" that invariably happen from time to time.

The Passive Seat

In general, beginning riders are taught the passive seat. As the name implies, you simply follow the horse's movements with your seat. If the horse offers a gait, your seat matches the movement in stride and depth. The idea here is to not interfere with the horse's movements. You let the horse lead, and you follow.

Don't get the wrong idea. The passive seat is not as easy to perform as it sounds. It takes hours and hours of riding practice to develop a strong enough core and a loose, supple lower back. Then you need to and coordinate your upper legs to tighten and release as needed to make following look easy.

You know you're on the right track when you stop bouncing, or having air-time, during the canter or trot. Another good checkpoint is to see if you can let the horse's energy float right through the saddle area and up toward the neck and head. If there is no restriction of energy (i.e. the horse doesn't quit, stumble, lean, toss the head or lose rhythm), you know you are following effectively enough to NOT interfere with the movement.

Advantages:

- allows the horse to move freely, almost as if without a rider on his back

- develops confidence and trust in the horse

- gives the horse a "yes!" answer - the following feels good and is rewarding to the horse

The Restricting Seat

Sometimes, you may not want to follow the horse's movements. The restricting seat helps in achieving better uphill balance in the horse. It gives the horse a "heads up" that a transition is about to happen. It lets the horse know that he should slow the tempo or lighten the forehand.

You restrict the movement in the seat by pausing in your lower back (and maybe even the upper legs) even while the horse is still moving. In the middle of the canter stride, at the exact right time, you hold back the seat. You resist the movement, and yes, the horse will feel it right through the saddle.

Be careful to restrict diligently, over a very short period of time so that you continue to allow the flow of the energy of the movement toward the front of the horse. Too much restricting seat can result in shutting down the horse's forward impulsion, or worse, cause a stumble if the horse was not prepared correctly.

Advantages:

- this is the central component to the half-halt

- allows you to control rhythm and tempo from the middle of the horse rather than from the front

- aids in rebalancing and straightening the horse

- makes for a very powerful downward transition

The Driving Seat

Use this type of seat to ask for more from your horse - more stride, more strength, more impulsion, even more rhythm. To "drive" you use your seat in a forward motion, at the moment the inside front leg comes back (inside hind leg is off the ground and therefore able to be influenced).

It feels almost like you want to push the saddle over the horse's withers and neck. This way, you can use your seat in conjunction with your legs, which results in quieter, calmer legs that don't have to kick and demand at all times.

Advantages:

- less reliant on legs, allowing softer, more subtle leg aids

- helps to draw up the hind end of the horse, encouraging a longer hind leg stride deeper underneath the body

- aids in the development of engagement and impulsion

There are many other ways to use the seat, but these three form the basis of all other variations. Using the seat doesn't have to be for the few and far between - work with a good instructor and practice regularly, and you will be amazed at the progress you can make. The added bonus is that your horse learns to respond to the subtle changes of your seat and communication becomes invisible.

THEN, you can be one of those who look like they aren't doing anything while riding!

*******

Buy the book! Horse Listening – Book 2: Forward and Round to Training Success

Signed Author Copies available - perfect gifts!

From the book:

"Regardless of discipline, what would be the most significant effect a rider would want to have on her horse?

We all want our horses to improve in their athletic development, skill acquisition and connectedness. Much of our rider development and training efforts go into working toward our show or personal goals....

But the best riders aspire to do one essential thing each and every day, regardless of goals and lesson plans: they work hard to improve their horse’s way of going.

Because proper balance and weight carriage is essential to a horse’s longevity. Each and every minute of each and every ride has the potential to contribute to your horse’s health and well-being.

Or not."

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 as an eBook or paperback.

Finally! The Ultimate Rider-Centered Program!

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

Recent Posts:

Go straight in a turn

Keeping the shoulders in the body

The trick is to redirect the energy

Finally! The Ultimate Rider-Centered Program!

Buy the book for many more riding tips!

What to do?

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

Moving straight but not really...

Why should you even bother with a circle?

What does a circle look like?

The "NOT" Circle

Parting Thoughts

Finally! The Ultimate Rider-Centered Program!

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

Why Bother With the Seat?

Do You Walk, Trot and Canter With Your Seat?

On the Lunge

Off the Lunge Line

Finally! The Ultimate Rider-Centered Program!

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

What the half-halt is:

What a half-halt is not:

Developing your half-halt

Finally! The Ultimate Rider-Centered Program!

Buy the book for many more riding tips! Horse Listening Book 2 - Forward And Round To Training Success

How NOT to back up

4 steps to a good back-up

Possible corrections

Finally! The Ultimate Rider-Centered Program!

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

The Passive Seat

The Restricting Seat

The Driving Seat

Finally! The Ultimate Rider-Centered Program!

Buy the book! Horse Listening – Book 2: Forward and Round to Training Success