Enchanted Horse Dressage

08/24/2025

Therapeutic riding "…is that kind of training you do, where you take a handicapped horse, so to speak, and you improve this animal to such an extent that at the end of their training, it looks like a super horse, worth a million. You build muscles where there are none, you strengthen the weak parts of your horse, you change their temperament, and you transform the whole body and the mind. In short, you make the horse into something which it wasn't before. The entire training process has a healing effect on the animal, and this I consider the ultimate goal of horsemanship.”
- Karl Mikolka, Oberbereiter, Spanish Riding School

08/23/2025

Wow, I love how powerful yet simple this quote is:
“The hands receive the horse’s energy, they do not take it.” — Arthur Kottas-Heldenberg

This completely changes the way you think about contact 🙏🏽…

Most riders, at some point, have been told to “take a stronger feel” or “put the horse on the bit.” And our first instinct? Pull, shorten, contain.
But here’s the truth, real contact doesn’t come from taking. It comes from allowing!🤌🏼

When your horse pushes from the hind legs, that energy travels over the back, through the neck, and into your hands.
Your hands’ job? Receive it. Softly. Steadily. Like a conversation where you’re listening as much as speaking.

If you pull or lock, you block that flow.
The energy stops. The back hollows. The conversation ends.

💡 Next ride, try this:
1. Focus on riding forward from the hind end first.
2. Let your hands be elastic: following the movement, never fixing.
3. Imagine your reins as telephone wires: your seat sends the message, your hands let the reply come through.

The magic happens when the horse wants to carry themselves into your hands not because you’ve taken them there, but because you’ve invited them.

08/23/2025

It's on us.

If riding feels like hard work, it’s a sign that your aids are not truly effective.

Constantly kicking, pulling and nagging the horse only makes him duller to the aids.

The answer isn’t to push harder, it’s to improve yourself as a rider.

The aids should be well-timed, brief, clear, and then released, so the horse can respond freely and willingly.

It is our responsibility to refine our communication until it feels effortless to the horse!

08/19/2025

Dressage progress isn’t glamorous.
It’s circles, transitions, and quiet repetition.
It looks boring—until one day, it doesn’t.

08/14/2025

Social media makes it so easy to LOOK like a horse trainer.

The real work, though? That happens when no one sees it.

When it takes weeks or months teaching the horse a new skill. When you celebrate a tiny breakthrough that no one else would even notice.

The things you learn about yourself that change you forever.

Those moments never go viral. But they’re the ones that build true horsepeople.

08/14/2025

08/13/2025

Well explained.

08/06/2025

Don’t assume that every horse with a high poll is correct, and don’t assume that a horse that is low and round is incorrect. You have to look at the state of the horse’s *back* to truly judge how correct it is.

The horse’s back should be relaxed, swinging, and elevated under the saddle, rather than still and hollow. When the horse’s back is properly “up” (arched upwards under the rider’s seat,) he will be correctly seeking the connection. And this can be achieved with many different relative heights of the horse’s neck.

Never forget that it is equally as damaging to horses to ride them with a high head and neck with a *hollow back* as it is to ride a horse cranked down in Rollkur.

07/25/2025

This image shows how even slight misalignment in your seat, hands, or legs can send your horse off balance! 🚲

On the left: the rider treats the horse like a bicycle, steering with their hands and turning their body, causing crookedness and uneven pressure. Look how the horse’s body twists out of alignment as a result.

On the right: the rider is centred, balanced, and riding with even contact. Their aids are aligned with the horse’s body, leading to straightness, relaxation, and connection through the back.

💡 Your horse mirrors your position.
Ride in harmony not control. The goal isn’t to steer like handlebars, but to guide from your core and seat.

( image found off pinterest )