Dressage Clinics Central Alberta

06/08/2022

When we talk about building confidence with a horse, we must realize that we bring at least fifty percent to this equation. We people tend to forget that.

Less confident riders require a horse who is willing to meet them more than half way. It takes a particular sort of horse who is calmly capable of filling in a rider's gaps, without taking advantage of unclear leadership.

Less confident horses require a rider who is able to meet them more than half way. Yes, the slight change in wording here is on purpose. Many a horse(wo)man would perhaps like to be braver but simply cannot!

Will an unsuitable horse 'make you a better rider'? He well might. That is, if he doesn't hurt you, first.

When we explain that our horse is spooky, or nervous, very often we’re saying that we, ourselves, are feeling unsure or afraid. Like a virus, the fear thing is easily spread. We must either put more training into the horse and also into ourselves… make the heavy promise that this horse will never be put into a position where he cannot cope with us… or allow the horse to go on to someone who can offer the stability of grounded courage.

I realize that saying these words aloud is heresy to some of you.

In this era of insisting upon ‘forever homes’ for all horses, the altruism of finding them their best match—should we not be the one—is something I urge you to think about. Without guilt, without beating yourself up, without fear of judgment from others. Forever ownership is not always the kindest or most loving option.

When a worried horse is held in tense or frightened hands, forever is a very long time. When the partnership is right and balanced, however—as so beautifully portrayed by my friends Tammy and CB—forever is not long enough.

09/30/2021

I notice something interesting when I teach people, especially women. When I pay attention to improvements and make a big deal of them, many people are often immediately suspicious.
The conversation might go something like this:
Me: “you rode that circle very nicely!”
Student: “well I still didn’t get a good rythm, my right leg is still too tight and my horse didn’t bend well.”
Me: “ok but it still is a really nice improvement”
Student : “well it could be better”

It sometimes seems that our brains are committed to focusing on the negative aspects of our work, that we aren’t allowed to be proud of our improvements. When I ask my students to tell me something they did well, they often look visibly uncomfortable, and if they can come up with something, they add conditions to it. “I got better at x, BUT I still didn’t do y and z.” I tell them often that a successful moment doesn’t need to be described with conditions. You can be aware of what needs improvement without needing to beat yourself over the head with it.

I also think people can get accustomed to the authoritarian type teacher who just hollers your every failure at you, until you accept you are never going to be as good as them. So a teacher who compliments their improvement and draws on their strengths draws suspicion - maybe the teacher doesn’t know anything if they think *I’m* good.

The thing is, I would never in a million years teach a horse the way some people have become used to being taught. Hanging your failures over your head puts too much emphasis on your shortcomings. Yes I can see what your leg is doing, but we’ll get to that. One thing at a time. When you ride with a laundry list of your own faults, you don’t reward yourself, or notice your accomplishments - and you don’t notice the horse’s either. You can’t help it. You think you’re being hard on yourself but you’re hard on the horse too.

You are allowed to be proud of your improvements. In fact, I highly recommend it.

05/25/2021

To get the feel of the horse reaching for the bit correctly…

Think of the base of the horse’s neck as one of those crinkly straws you sip a drink through. When properly reaching for the bit, it will reach up and out just like the last of the crinkles open on the straw. The horse is both stronger and more flexible when he is reaching and lifting at the base of his neck in this way. So think about that part of the neck instead of the horse’s mouth. —Eliza Sydnor Romm

Illustration by Sandy Rabinowitz.

03/09/2021

To keep from slumping or slouching while riding...

Imagine that you have an open parachute strapped to your back. The pull of the air in the parachute keeps your shoulder blades together and tall. This imagery will help you maintain your upper-body position as your horse moves underneath you.

—Janie Rentz

Illustration by Sandy Rabinowitz.

02/11/2021

04/20/2020

"Why love the renvers? It’s a tricky movement to ride well in and of itself: tricky to enter, tricky to exit and tricky to not end up wandering off the rail. It’s also deliciously tricky to transition into and out of the renvers from the shoulder-in. When you feel like you can go back and forth between these two movements at the trot, you’ll know your horse is really honest in his uphill and upright balance."

Click to read my latest training article for Practical Horseman Magazine!

📲 https://practicalhorsemanmag.com/training/the-renvers-haunches-out