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11/21/2025

When trainer Geoff Case watches riders flatting their horses, he sees a lot of the same thing: people lapping the ring, zoning out, and missing a huge opportunity. “It’s one of my biggest pet peeves,” Case said. “People just go around the outside, staring off into space. That’s not riding. That’s exercise.”

In Case’s eyes, flatwork isn’t just something to do when you’re not jumping—it’s where you actually become a better rider.

To Case, a good flat session should feel like a jumping round. “You should be riding lines, bending, adjusting your rhythm,” he said. “Every step is a chance to make something better.”

He encourages riders to ride patterns and turns with purpose. “Don’t just stay on the rail,” he said. “Use the whole ring. Make a circle, ride across the diagonal, do transitions in different places. Ride like you’re setting up for a jump.”

That kind of thinking builds skills that directly transfer to the show ring. “When you ride with that much attention, the horse gets sharper, you get straighter, and suddenly your distances show up easier,” he said.

The flat, he added, is where you learn timing, balance, and control without the distraction of fences. “If you can’t organize yourself between the jumps, you won’t do it over them either.”

For Case, good riding starts with details: straightness, rhythm, transitions, and connection. The riders who stand out to him in the warm-up ring are the ones who treat flatwork like an art form, not an afterthought.

“You can tell the difference between someone who’s just getting around and someone who’s actually training,” he said. “It’s in the way they ride their corners, how they prepare for a transition, how the horse looks in the bridle.”

That difference shows up in competition. “When you’re in the ring, it’s too late to be figuring those things out,” he said. “If you’ve already practiced being precise on the flat, it’s automatic when you’re showing.”

Case also pointed out that judges can spot the riders who do their homework. “Even in a jumping round, you can tell who spends time on the flat,” he said. “Their horses are balanced and adjustable. It’s obvious.”

Many riders, especially less experienced ones, rely on the rail for security or spacing. Case urges them to break that habit. “The rail becomes a crutch,” he said. “You stop steering, you stop thinking. You let the wall do the work for you.”

Instead, he suggests riding off the track, staying a few feet inside the rail to keep both you and your horse accountable. “When you come off the wall, suddenly you have to ride,” he said. “You’ve got to keep your line straight, keep the horse between your leg and hand, and make the turns yourself.”

At first, this can feel uncomfortable, but that’s exactly the point. “It’s supposed to feel different,” Case explained. “That’s how you know you’re actually doing something.”

📎 Continue reading this article at https://www.theplaidhorse.com/2025/11/15/get-off-the-rail-creativity-and-focus-in-flatwork/
📸 © The Plaid Horse

06/04/2025

Understanding the Stiff Side

Every horse has a stiff side—typically the side where they avoid bending or stepping under with the hind leg. This stiffness isn’t just about flexibility; it often reflects uneven strength, balance, and coordination.

On the stiff side, a horse may resist the bend, lean on the rein, push against the rider’s inside leg, or swing the haunches out. The goal is not to force the bend, but to patiently encourage suppleness through correct, consistent work. Exercises like shoulder-in, leg yield, and circles help build symmetry and unlock the horse’s body.

If a rider tries to force the bend, they often end up with a crooked neck and a back that remains stiff. Instead, focus on softening the horse to the leg and using gentle bend to unlock the back. This allows the horse to carry themselves without leaning on the rein or falling on the shoulder.

The stiff side requires time, patience, and thoughtful training—don’t fight it.

03/12/2025

Anxious or Calm? It starts off their backs.

I have watched thousands of humans deal with horses over the last 70 years. So much of how horses behave has to to with whether or not they are anxious or calm, and so much about whether the horse is anxious or calm depends upon how it is handled---I think---

Watch the way a good horse person catches a horse in a field, how they put the halter on, how they lead the horse, how they handle the horse on cross-ties, how they groom, how they tack up, how they mount, and then, after they are on the horse, how they warm up.

I don’t think with the better horse people you will see much drama. You won’t see yanking and snatching and slapping. You won’t hear lots of yelling. You will see quiet movement, almost deliberate handling, consistency, and when the horse gets tricky, like sticks its head way up to get bridled, there won’t be a big deal, lots of patience.

You won’t see the saddle getting slammed on the horse’s back, or the girth getting cranked tight, maybe the horse being kneed in the belly to “make him let out his breath.”
There just won’t be all that hassle and drama.

And once the rider IS on, you will see calm walking, no insta-contact, no feeling of rush or hurry, or frenzy.

All of this is not about riding skills or training while riding, but it is a prelude to that, and usually how you see a human deal with horses OFF their backs will give you a pretty good clue about what you will see when you watch them ride.

02/28/2025

“Horses regularly trained with ground work are more relaxed when ridden”

A recent study of dressage horses in Germany that looked at rein length and tension revealed a surprising finding: horses who were regularly trained in ground work/in-hand work had lower heart rates during ridden work than all of the other participating horses. This wasn’t what the researchers were investigating, but it was clear in the results. From this, the researchers concluded that, “Perhaps horses trained in ground work had more trust in their rider.”

So why would it be true that horses who regularly learn via ground work/in-hand work are more relaxed? There are a few possibilities.

1) Horses trained regularly with ground work are more relaxed because their trainers are more relaxed. It’s possible that humans who take the time to teach their horses from the ground are less goal oriented and more concerned with the process. They may be more relaxed in general and foster this same relaxation in their horses. As you are, so is your horse.

2) Horses trained regularly with ground work have trainers who are more educated about a horse’s balance.

Their horses learn to move in correct balance which allows them to be healthy and sound in their bodies and, therefore, more relaxed. Physical balance is emotional balance.

3) Horses trained regularly with ground work understand the trainer’s criteria better. They have mastered the response to an aid before the rider mounts and know the “right answer” already once under saddle. They don’t experience any conflict when the rider asks for a behavior because the neural pathway has already been installed. They are more relaxed about being ridden because it rarely has caused confusion for them.

For us highly visual humans I think that ground work is often a better way to begin exercises because we are much better at seeing our horse doing the right thing than feeling it from the saddle. Often, my feel in the saddle is enhanced by the fact that I have watched my horse perform an exercise over and over in our in-hand work. It feels how it looks. In-hand work is also a good way to teach our horses because our own bodies are often more in balance when we are walking beside our horses. With the ground under our feet we are able to be more relaxed if something goes wrong and less likely to be so busy wrapped up in our own balance that we give our horses conflicting or confusing aids. It’s a good place to figure things out. I am a huge fan of in-hand work.

I’m glad to learn research revealed ground work is good for horses. Horses with a low heart rate are relaxed and relaxed horses perform better and live longer. In this day and age of people starting horses under saddle in under an hour and increasing monetary rewards for the “young horse dressage program“, everything seems to be done in a hurry. The entire horse culture seems to privilege “getting up there and riding your horse”. But as one of my favorite writers and accomplished horsewoman, Teresa Tsimmu Martino writes, “In today’s horse culture there are clinics that brag about starting a c**t in a day, as if the quickness of it was the miracle. But old horse people know it takes years to create art. Horses as great masterpieces are not created in a day. An artist does not need to rush.” We need more scientific studies like this one to encourage us to slow down and take our time with our horses.

So why were the horses in the study more relaxed? Likely it was a combination of all three factors – a relaxed trainer, better overall balance and clear understanding of criteria.

These are things that matter to your horse, and yes, will allow him to trust you when you ride. Take some time to slow down and work from the ground, learn a bit more about equine balance and teach new things in-hand before asking for them under saddle. You can take your riding to a whole new level and help your horse become more healthy and relaxed in the process.” - from the article by Jen of Spellbound Horses https://spellboundhorses.com/2013/03/07/horses-regularly-trained-with-ground-work-are-more-relaxed-when-ridden/

02/06/2025

🛠🐎 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐅𝐢𝐱 𝐃𝐫𝐢𝐟𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐎𝐮𝐭𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐫 🐎🛠

🙋‍♀️ Are you having trouble turning? Is your horse drifting? Are you pulling on the inside rein with little success? You're not alone! 🐎 Many riders encounter this issue, and the more you pull on the inside rein, the more your horse over-bends and drifts to the outside. 🎥 In this video, we'll explore why this happens and share a simple, effective trick to regain control.

💪 Over-bending occurs when a rider relies too heavily on the inside rein to steer, neglecting the crucial role of the outside aids. While the inside rein creates flexion, it’s the outside rein, leg, and upper thigh that turn your horse's body and maintain balance. 💯 When these aids are forgotten, your horse may turn its head inward but the body will drift outward, disrupting the circle or line of travel. 🫣

😬 This not only throws your horse off balance but also places them on the forehand, making steering and maintaining a rhythm more challenging.

If your horse starts to over-bend and drift to the outside, try this simple exercise 👇:

⭕️ 𝐒𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐂𝐢𝐫𝐜𝐥𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐭 - If you feel like you can’t turn left, first redirect your horse to the right and ride a small circle to reestablish control over the right rein and right leg.

↩️ 𝐑𝐞𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐞𝐟𝐭 - After completing the small circle, guide your horse back to the left, but avoid over-bending. Focus on keeping your horse slightly straighter or even a subtle counter-flexion...𝒘𝒉𝒐𝒐𝒑𝒔! 🫣 𝑰 𝒎𝒂𝒙𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒅 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒕! ✨ Comment "bend" below and I'll send you the link to watch the video and read the full post where I go more in-depth about the bending aids.

Happy Riding! 🥳
Amelia

💖 P.S. Just a friendly reminder that today is the LAST day Amelia’s Ultimate Groundwork Superpack is being offered. 🔥🔥 This is TWO masterclasses in one and includes an awesome bonus of a two-month free trial in Strides with Amelia! 👇 Check the link in the comments to learn more and join the course.

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