Dalåbergs gård

28/05/2025

25/05/2025

Se you at Falsterbo Horseshow 5-13 July 🦄🤗

23/05/2025

You Can’t Teach What You Can’t Feel...

In the world of horsemanship, there’s a vital truth that separates a good rider from a great teacher: you can’t teach someone how to ride a horse if you can’t feel it for yourself. Horses are not machines—they are individuals, each with their own quirks, sensitivities, and rhythms. And while there are countless methods and theories, the heart of effective teaching lies in the ability to feel what’s happening beneath you and to translate that into guidance for your student.

Every horse responds differently. What works for one might do nothing for another. That’s why rigid instruction often falls flat. It’s not about drilling a technique into the rider but about discovering what works for this horse, in this moment. That discovery begins with feel.

A trainer who has developed this feel—through years of riding, trial, error, and listening—can interpret a horse’s subtle cues: the shift in weight, the tension in a shoulder, the hesitation in a transition. From there, they can guide the rider in using their legs, seat, hand, and voice to create harmony rather than conflict.

The lift of a rein, the softening of the seat, the timing of the leg aid—these are not just mechanical actions but pieces of a conversation with the horse. When a trainer has truly felt this connection, they can better show their students how to achieve it too. It’s not just about what to do, but when and how to do it—adjusting in real time, with sensitivity and awareness.

Ultimately, the most valuable thing a riding instructor can offer isn’t a long list of drills or textbook techniques. It’s empathy for the horse and clarity for the rider, both rooted in personal experience. Because when you can feel it, you can teach it—not just with words, but with wisdom.

13/05/2025

OBS!
Hade skrivit fel datum skall vara i juli 😅
12-13/7 planerar jag kurs här hos mig 😊.
Det är ett begränsa antal platser med häst men kommer även finnas möjlighet att vara med utan.
Mer info kommer men du kan redan nu intresse anmäla dig så du är garanterad en plats 😍.
Skicka ett meddelande här eller på min privata Fb Yvonne Jonsson ❣️
Skriv om du önskar ridplats eller utan.

02/05/2025

02/05/2025

Det var detta jag startade cavaletti gruppen med i onsdags 😊.

The biomechanics of Unity. We call the shared center of balance and movement between horse and rider Unity. This is when the horse and rider move as one being. It is one of those principles of horsemanship that is easier to describe than to accomplish.

The images show the location of a typical human's and a typical horse's center of balance with red dots. The bottom image shows how the two centers, human and horse, merge into a shared center of balance with the red circle around the white dot.

Simply stated, the rider must lower their center of balance while the horse raises theirs. This is the "easier said than done" part.

This shared balance requires that the horse be moving, and the rider deepens their seat such that their center of balance moves downward to meet the horse's center of balance. Henry Wynmalen tells us how to accomplish this with his brilliant comment, "Let the horse move you."

Likewise, the horse must raise its center of balance to meet and merge with the rider's, which is another "easier said than done". The best way to coax a horse into raising their center of balance is with collection. The rider must encourage their horse to collect by means of engaging the hind. This cannot be forced, although today many riders believe force will work but it does not.

The engaged hind of a horse reaches more powerfully under itself, thus shortening the distance between the hind and fore legs. That shortened distance causes the horse's back to rise in order to deal with the shortened distance of the legs. The horse's body mass must go somewhere because it cannot be compressed, so it rises into a bit of an arc, thus raising the horse's center of balance.

When the horse's center of balance rises through collection and at the same time the rider lowers their center of balance by deepening their seat, Unity is achieved. It is that simple, however developing the rider's body awareness and feel for the horse's center of balance during movement does not happen overnight. This is the work of horsemanship.

Unifying the horse's and rider's centers of balance, means establishing and maintaining it in both the longitudinal (hind to poll) and lateral (left to right) planes. This is why we don't lean in on the turns or lean back in the saddle more than 5 degrees or close our shoulders and lean too far forward.

In my opinion modern Dressage has hijacked the principle of Unity in horsemanship and perverted it. Today we see dressage riders forcing a horse into a frame of false collection, leaning back in the saddle using their body weight against their horse. We see rider's thighs jammed against huge knee rolls or thigh blocks to force the shortening of the distance between their horse's hind and fore legs in a facsimile of collection that is only a compressed neck. What gives away the falsehood of their misconception is in the horse's back. If the back is hollow or dished downward, it is wrong. If the back rises upward into an arc, it is correct and beautiful.

Many riders who have not been trained to achieve Unity have experienced it in moments. It's that exhilarating feeling of being one with your horse. These moments of Unity tend to be accidental, leaving the rider wanting more. Riders who work at this can have Unity whenever they want. It's addictive.

This post is for Bella.