Do you dream that you could come from a full gallop to a walk by only using your seat? It is all very possible by practicing subtle cues in your training sessions. Here we will start from a walk and build up to stopping the horse from your seat at faster gaits. Continue reading Downward Transitions Part 1
Now that you can confidently stop your horse with your seat from the walk on a loose rein, it’s time to advance to stopping from the trot and canter. Continue reading Downward Transitions Part 2
Imagine a dressage rider sitting the trot so well that she appears to be apart of the horse, or a show jumper quietly transitioning his horse from a standstill into a collected canter. Both these riders have put a lot of time and effort into riding their horses correctly. They also have worked with trainers every day and that’s not always possible to do. Here I’ll give you some tips on how you can make big improvements in a small amount of time. Continue reading Connected Riding
Lots of riders have trouble keeping their lower leg in the correct place. They also have difficulties with posting, falling forward, or having the leg swing. Here I’ll give you some exercises to help secure your position in the saddle at each gait. Continue reading Improve Your Leg Position
Training for a cross country course can be challenging, but its rewards far outweigh its difficulty. Cross country jumping exercises will directly improve hunter and jumper horses by exposing them to new obstacles and approaches to obstacles that will help them when on course. These lessons can be beneficial cross training exercises to horses of other disciplines as well. Continue reading Cross Country Lessons
Imagine getting on a horse and riding for the first time. If you have never ridden before this is may be only a fantasy, or you may have been riding for years and the first time you sat in the saddle is a fond memory. Horseback riding can be a wonderful experience with the right coaching and guidance, but much too often a new rider’s first few experiences on horseback don’t go so well. Many new riders get scared and confused without the proper instruction and they quit riding before they have really gotten a chance to enjoy it. I want to help change that by educating new riders in an easy, effective way that progresses their riding skills quickly. In this series I will be teaching beginning riding for those of you whom may have just gotten into horses or want to start riding soon. Continue reading The Beginning of Horsemanship
Blazing fast times don’t come by simply running the pattern at full speed. Fast times require attention to every step the horse takes. Control is extremely important, as the difference between first and second place come down to fractions of a second. Here are a few exercises to help improve your control during a run and overall improve your times. Continue reading Body Control For Better Barrel Racing
Every hour you spend in the saddle practicing two point or riding without irons is preparing you for jumping courses. The rewards greatly outweigh all the hard work as the payback of being able to experience the joy of flying over a fence on the back of a horse. If you are a hunter or jumper rider than you may be wondering at what point in your training should you start raising the fence height, or even moving up a level. Continue reading Are You Ready To Jump Bigger Fences?
Does your horse stop when you say “Whoa.” or does he push through the bridle and continue on? Maybe he stops when you give him a rein cue but you would like to refine your cues. If either of these situations sound familiar this lesson will help you teach the horse to stop on your seat and voice cues alone from any gait. Continue reading Refine The Stop
Dressage is the heart of all riding activities and disciplines. Dressage is training the mind and body of the horse to learn the basics for any discipline, all the way to advancing him to preform high level movements. Continue reading Beginning Dressage