horseback riding – Page 4 – Horse Listening

The Roundup: Top 10 Horse Listening Articles of 2012

The end of the year is a good time to take stock of the old, and analyze where we've been so we can know where to go in the near future.

Taking a look back, I'm glad to notice that Horse Listening has grown this year into a more "all-rounder" type of blog since last January.

- New Archives pages reflect the topics of the articles, making it easier for readers to find specific articles.

- A new Listening Corner page collates the Listening Corner articles that are posted.

- Better quality, higher resolution pictures were made available by Natalie, a rider herself and a fantastic photographer with a great eye for capturing horses at their best. This is enabling me to use personally owned pictures (even if the subjects are not "pros"!), keeping the blog well within copyright regulations.

- A new email subscription service sends readers letters "With love, from your horse"! Be sure to join if you haven't done so already!

- Most recently, the new Horse Listening merchandise store features awesome Horse Listening items that you can use or wear at home!

With over 5,000 hits per month, and new readers subscribing daily to the blog, to our Facebook page, and to our Twitter channel, Horse Listening is trotting into the new year with something for everyone in the New Year!

Finally, here is a pictorial year end article roundup, based on most views since Jan. 1, 2012. Click on the picture to go to the article.

#10 . How Do You Develop 'Feel' in Horseback riding?

Developing ‘feel’ in horseback riding doesn’t have to be an impossible dream! If you can ride with feel, you will be able to respond immediately to your horse’s needs.

: Finding feel

.#9. Horseback Riders Do Nothing Anyway!

Well, at least, that’s what “they” say. But we know differently, don’t we?

.#8. 6 Ways to Unleash the Power of Your Riding Seat

As you become more subtle in the aiding process, you will begin to discover just how powerful the seat can be in guiding the horse without disturbing and interfering in his movement.

: Everything Starts With the Seat

.#7. Top 10 Ways to Reward Your Horse

This is our most popular post by far. What do great riders have in common that makes them appealing to watch, steadily develop their riding skills and become role models for others to aspire to emulate? A happy horse is a willing partner, and many horses will give everything they have if they feel your acknowledgement and generosity of spirit.

.#6. Top 10 Annoying Riding Habits

Enjoy this tongue-in-cheek list coming from the opposite perspective – things NOT to do while riding!

.#5. Do You Make This Timing Mistake When Riding Your Horse?

Have you ever given your horse an aid and got nothing in return? There could be one other variable that you might not have considered…

.#4. How the "Not Canter" Can Drastically Improve Your Transitions

Every time you ask (with the correct aids), the horse resists. The situation becomes ugly – you have a hard enough time just sitting the bounciness, never mind getting the transition. What to do? This article remains one of our most popular posts of all-time.

.#3. Demystifying "Contact" in Horseback Riding

Does “contact” have other-wordly connotations? Here is why effective contact is within reach of the average rider.

: Handshake by Aidan Jones

.#2. The #1 Rider Problem of the Year (2011): The Outside Rein!

The outside rein is the most underused and poorly understood of all the aids, and here’s why.

.#1. Ten Habits of Competent Riders

5 Life Lessons From Horses

If we can learn anything from horses, it is that many concepts hold true as clearly in life as they do in the world of horses.

If you listen carefully, you can find answers to your questions from every interaction with the horses.

There are many important insights we learn from horses that can serve to guide us as we live life and develop, learn and grow. Here are just five:

5. Keep Finding Your "Edge"

In riding, you are always evaluating where you are with your horse. You try to ask your horse to bend a little deeper, step a little stronger, swing a little bouncier. You work on aiding a little softer, sitting a little deeper, developing a more consistent contact. Whenever you have achieved a level of mastery in a skill, you assess where you're at and look for the next step. Riding is an act of constant learning, improving and discovery.

The concept of finding your "edge" is about knowing where you are at the moment, and pushing yourself that one bit further toward either a new level of understanding/ability, or toward an entirely new skill.

Day-to-day life can be that way too.

Socrates was the first to identify the paradox of learning: The more you know, the more you realize you know nothing.

There are so many levels of understanding in any one thing. Just as you can learn a riding skill deeper, stronger, looser or better, so can you develop your skills and understanding in all aspects of life. So get out there, learn, do, and keep on finding your edge! Becoming a lifelong learner is not just a nice-sounding cliché - it is a way of life!

4. It's All About Finding the Right Balance

Gravity sucks the same way for everyone!

Learning to find a useful, correct balance in horseback riding takes time and perseverance. However, once you have achieved even a basic level of balance, things flow more smoothly, riding becomes easier, and your horse becomes happier!

Similarly, when you can find balance in your life - the balance between work, play, studying, and doing something for your self, things somehow seem to go smoother, easier, and you might even find yourself becoming happier!

3. Find Your Happy Place!

Help a horse find his happy place, and he will be enthusiastic, cooperative and confident in his work. He will be loose, forward-thinking and perky-eared.

Find your happy place in life, and you will be the same! 🙂

2. Never Get Bored

From the outside, it looks like the horse and rider are going round and round and round in circles. From the inside, you are so focused on the process of developing so many things WHILE you go around those circles, that you never have a chance to get bored! The same goes for the horse - keep the training varied and comfortable, and the horse will rarely sour from the work. Anything that feels good, whether on circles or on a trail, can be enjoyable for the horse and keep him mentally coming back for more.

Finding the things you love to do in life will leave you satisfied and content. Finding a sense of purpose and reaching for that ultimate goal will make a mystery out of the mundane, keeping things fresh and challenging for years to come.

1.Learn to Listen

Anyone who has spent time with horses could agree that listening is key - no, CRITICAL - to experiencing the best our equines have to give. Regardless of whether you are riding or on the ground, there is a constant communication occurring between you and your horse. Even if you don't know it, or can't interpret the communication, it is happening and your horse is picking up signals from your (in)actions. As you develop your horse "speak", you will realize how much you can read from your horse's behavior and subtle communications.

The same goes with life. If you can listen carefully enough, you can "hear" so many critical messages that are sent your way daily! More importantly, the concept of listening to our fellow humans, from a personal level to a global level, is critical to the development of humankind. Communication is key in all aspects - from making friends as children, to learning skills at school, to maintaining personal relationships, to holding jobs and securing business deals - life is communication. And the most critical step in communicating is listening.

What life lessons have you learned from your horses? Let us know in the comments below.

Cultivating Your Multiple (Riding) Personalities

In daily life, assuming different personalities might be frowned upon. However, if you can can channel several different personas while riding, you might actually be doing your horse a favor!

beauty — Photo Credit: NBanaszak Photography

The reason?

Horses, just like people, have different personalities and needs. If you are lucky enough to ride multiple horses, you will quickly realize that what you do for one horse may not be useful for another. If you have the ability to respond quickly and effectively to each horse, you will be well on your way to achieving riding success!

Even if you ride just one horse, you know that you may not meet the same horse every ride. Just like the rest of us, horses have good days and bad days. They have excited days, lazy days, scaredy-cat days and even not-feeling-well days. In order to be the best riding partner you can be, you might need to alter your feel and mood to meet your horse's needs.

The best riders cultivate their ability to switch from one riding "personality" to another, in order to meet their horse's requirements, each time they ride.

The Sensitive Horse

Be gentle and kind to the horse that works hard and tries his best all the time. This is the horse that can hear you whisper if you can be quiet enough. In time, you might even be lucky enough to develop your communication skills so well that it feels like the horse can read your mind. You can use the lightest of aids and he will respond with enthusiasm and internal motivation.

However, his perfectionist nature might cause some difficulties. This horse will likely be the overachiever - you put your leg on, and he explodes into the next gait. You lean a little to the left, and he leans even farther and cuts the corner. You ask for a canter, and although he isn't balanced in the trot, he scrambles, hollows his back and still changes his legs to the three-beat gait. Over time, this horse might be the one that becomes resistant, reluctant and anxious.

Meet this horse with light and gentle aids, and you will develop a lasting friendship. Be kind, release your aids quickly and give this horse the benefit of the doubt. Assume that his "misbehaviours" are not caused by a lack of desire, but from trying too hard. This horse may need you to wait for a response rather than reinforce immediately. Let this horse take the initiative at times and help him develop his confidence by accepting his attempts even if they are not exactly what you wanted. Ideally, you should always be calm, quiet and poised.

The Uninspired Horse

At the other end of the spectrum, you might come across a horse that is simply not inspired to work. This horse might present as being quiet and calm, and might even be the horse that you would choose for a beginner rider. He likely won't be particularly spooky, and he would be the horse that seems content to stand around in the riding ring while you chat enthusiastically with your friends.

Unfortunately, his laid-back nature could lead this horse to regularly resist responding to aids. He might be the one that meets your forward request with pinned ears and swishing tail. He could feel like he's stuck in quicksand, moving only after several nagging aids. You might feel exhausted within the first ten minutes of the ride because you really are doing more work than he is!

To be an effective rider for this horse, you would have to do a complete turn-around compared to the last horse. You might need to be assertive, black and white in your aids, and be prepared to follow-up instantly. It could be fine to challenge this horse more than you would with the last horse, because he will need more external motivation to be responsible for his part of the work.

Go Ahead - Switch Personalities!

Of course, we all know that there are as many variations in personality as there are horses (ain't it the same with people?). In our examples above, riding the "lazy" horse the way you would ride the "sensitive" horse might lead to more problems that you can imagine. The key to riding effectively (and keeping the horses working correctly and happily) lies in your ability to discern the horse's needs.

Then, if you can be prepared to meet those needs, you are well on your way to developing a wonderful riding partnership!

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If you enjoyed the above article, you will find many more relevant tips and concepts in Horse Listening – The Book: Stepping Forward to Effective Riding

Available as an eBook or paperback.

Dark Room Doors and Dressage: A metaphor for the learning process.

Horseback Riding the Yoga Way – Practice! Find a balance between achieving and letting go. How to include the concept of “practicing” in your riding.

Riding is Simple, But Not Easy! Let’s face it – all we want is for the horse to do what we want, when we want, where we want, with suppleness and strength!

Take the Credit, Bad AND Good: In our quest for balance (not just on the kind on the back of the horse), it is essential for us to look at our achievements from both angles.

10 Ways on How NOT to Buy Your Dream Horse!

Tongue-in-cheek, just-for-fun!

(OK admit it - how many of these have we all done at one time or another??)

dream horse — Photo credit: NBanaszak Photography

Buy your friend's (unridden-for-the-last-few-years) horse -

that she never could ride and can no longer afford to keep.

Buy at a local auction.

Breed your unrideable mare.

Breed your mare to the neighbour's super-friendly-sweet-as-pie

(but when was he ridden the last time??) stallion.

Take the neighbour's (or anyone's) free hand-me-down horse

that hasn't been ridden in two years.

Buy your super horse sight unseen from a picture on the Internet.

Buy him after your rode him once under the best circumstances.

Listen to the now-your-best-friend coach (horse dealer) that you met last week.

Listen to the big-name-trainer who really just wants you to buy a horse for himself!

Find an ad on Craig'slist.

Do you have any other recommendations??!!

*****

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Browse through our other articles just for fun!

14 Reasons to Love Horseback Riding: There must be hundreds of reasons why people enjoy horses and horseback riding. Here are fourteen.

Top 10 Annoying Riding Habits: Enjoy this tongue-in-cheek list coming from the opposite perspective – things NOT to do while riding!

Horseback Riders Do Nothing Anyway! Well, at least, that’s what “they” say. But we know differently, don’t we?

A Song and My Very Own Chestnut Mare: You will find me bristling at the suggestion that chestnut mares are unworthy.

Breaking the Cycle: It Might Not Be What You DID Do…

... but rather what you didn't do.

Steps — Photo credit: NBanaszak Photography

Time and again, we find ourselves having the same problem with our horses. We have worked repeatedly on a particular skill only to be faced with the identical issue once more. We try to resolve the situation using tools we already know but to no avail; the same result is obtained, and it isn't the one we are looking for.

We blame ourselves.

We blame the horse.

We try harder.

We get emotional. Surely, the horse would do what you want if he wanted to please... right?

Why is he not responding?

And then, we do it all over again. We use the same aids, go through the same exercises, approach the problem from the same angle(s).

Need a Change-Up?

To modify the situation, we need to alter our perspective. The unfortunate part is that often, the change that is needed is not easily accessible or acquired. Sometimes, no matter how hard we try, we simply cannot adjust ourselves in the manner required by the horse, simply due to inexperience or lack of skill.

But that does not alter the fact that the horse needs something we might not be able to give him.

The Essential Instructor

There are so many possible ways to approach a riding problem. Unless we have the opportunity to ride many horses under good instruction for many years, we may not be aware of the approach that is needed for the particular situation our horse is facing. Finding an accurate solution may in fact be impossible for us to reach on your own, especially if the problem is something we have not experienced to date.

Enter the essential instructor: there simply is no other way.

What our horse might need is a completely new perspective. Perhaps we have to learn something new that we would never be able to dream about without the help of an informed instructor.

Practice and Time

Don't kid yourself - new riding skills take time to develop. The necessary change-up may require numerous repetitions until we become proficient and effective enough to be able to change our horse's performance. We need to be content knowing that we are on the right path and that walking the path may take longer than we originally anticipated.

Changing the Rules... Again

Finally, we need to recognize that in changing our own responses to the problem, we are also expecting the horse to change his behavior. Not only will we need to master the new skill, but we also must de-program our horse's responses that WE blueprinted into him, and replace them with new ones. Although we usually find horses to be extraordinarily forgiving and patient, it will nevertheless take time to explain the new rules clearly enough to make changes in his responses.

Listen to Horses

We will know our goals are being achieved by being sensitive to our horse's reactions. If we uncover more tension, insecurity, lamenesses, tail swishing and/or pinned ears, we know we are not quite on the path we are seeking. In contrast, if our horse gives us snorts, bolder, more confident forward strides, strength and roundness and/or soft expressive eyes and ears, we know we are on the right track.

So the next time you get stuck in a rut and don't know what to do, think of what you didn't do, and give that a try!

The Dreaded “Rein Lame”: A Mystery

You know the scene: it is virtually impossible for you to figure out what is wrong. The horse has a mild gimp in his movement, but you cannot pinpoint where it is. He does not appear to be lame, but he isn't sound either.

Your friends watch you ride and they can see it - there is that mild head bobble, the lack of stride in the hind end. But no one agrees on one verdict. One friend says it is the left hind leg, another thinks it is the front right. While you ride, you think it is somewhere front and back but it really is hard to tell.

You go through all the tried and true solutions. You even bring the vet out, and she sees nothing. On the lunge line, your horse presents even striding and no head bob.

But you know it's there.

Or maybe, your vet does see something. After extensive (and expensive) radiographs, there is nothing to be found. There is no swelling, no irritation, no injury. You give your horse some time off (while he runs around the pasture in circles at a gallop, showing no sign of discomfort) but as soon as you start your regular riding routine again, the mystery lameness resurfaces.

Does this scenario have a familiar ring to it?

If so, you are not alone.

Mystery lamenesses come in all shapes and sizes, but the most common characteristic they share is that they are hard to identify, diagnose and pinpoint. They may come and go, or they may linger for weeks on end. The key is that the "lameness" is mild and generally unidentifiable.

First we must check every other possibility to ensure that all the bases are covered.

Then, it is time to consider the one thing we often fail to recognize as a possible source of discomfort for the horse: our own riding technique. It stands to reason that horses will reflect any stressors that are put on their bodies - and riding can be one factor that is demanding enough to become detrimental to the horse over time.

Common Symptoms

Most mystery lamenesses can be blamed on unreleased tension in the horse's body. This might occur during riding, while the rider is mounted. Often, the lameness is not evident when the horse is moving around freely in the paddock.

Some horses tighten behind the saddle in the lumbosacral region, where the lumbar vertebrae stop and the sacrum begins. This area tends to be a weak zone and prolonged tension in the area can translate into uneven steps and lame-like symptoms in either the front end or the hind end. Hip problems can also be connected to the l-s joint.

When you ride circles, does your horse have a habit of making small circles in one direction and large ones in the other direction? The size difference is likely due to shoulder tension (which goes hand-in-hand with lack of hind end engagement - see below). This type of front-end lameness comes and goes but is usually present in turns and corners (less obvious on straight lines). The root of this problem is that horses generally travel in a crooked manner. If action is not taken to address the crookedness in their movement, ligaments and tendons in the shoulders may become affected.

Finally, another type of mystery lameness can be due to lack of engagement of the hind end. If a horse is not taught early in his riding career to reach underneath the body with a deep, strong stride, the hind end development may suffer. Without a strong hind end action to support the weight of the horse and rider, you may find the horse falling heavily to the forehand. You might notice heavy sounding footfalls, tripping, inconsistent stride lengths, heavy contact, and a generally unhappy and unwilling attitude. Eventually, the wear and tear on the horse's front legs can lead to ligament and tendon damage that appears in the form of an on-again, off-again lameness.

Most of the time, regardless of how the lameness appears, the horse is not "forward" enough in all the gaits.

What to do?

1. Become very aware of tension during riding.

Some horses truck along calmly, willingly riding along even with tight muscular tension. It is easy to overlook the tightness of movement because of the horse's generous character. Learn how to spot the tension, or better yet, how to feel it. Identify where the horse is blocking the energy so that you can take steps to address it.

Find a good instructor who can teach you how to help the horse release tension - whether it is mental or physical - as much as possible during every ride. You can imagine that if the horse is moving in tension almost all the time, there will inevitably be painful repercussions in the long run. Finding techniques to release the topline of the horse and encourage strong, bold movement will help your horse let go of the blocks that are holding him back from completing his strides.

2. Check in to your own body.

If you are tense, your horse will likely be tense in exactly the same place! Invest in lessons, or get an educated eye on the ground to help identify your areas of tension and how to release (not "relax") the tightness out of your body. It is very common for riders to grip steadily through the reins to help maintain their own balance, ride with unforgiving elbows, or hold a tight lower back even while the horse is moving. The good thing about being the source of the problem is that you can fix yourself!

3. Keep your horse moving straight, even on circles and bends.

A horse can move crooked on a straight line or even on a circle. Often, a horse prefers one side to another, putting too much weight on one shoulder. It is the task of the rider to identify the strong (and tight) side of the horse and develop stretching techniques to encourage even development of the horse's muscling.

4. Help your horse find his "happy place" as often as possible through the ride.

As mentioned in this article, it is possible for a rider to teach her horse to enjoy being ridden. The better you know your horse, the more you will be able to "play" while you work. Horses that enjoy their rides are generally more willing, giving and supple in their movements.

5. Start with and end the ride with a balanced, rhythmical stretchy trot, canter and finally walk.

There is no replacement to the stretchy walk, trot and canter. It is a great way to loosen the horse during the warm-up, and the best way to wrap up the day's lessons. When the horse lifts his back and reaches down and out with the nose, the top line muscles have an opportunity to stretch and release. Since the neck is attached to the withers, and the withers to the large muscles over the top of the back, the stretch can reach far back toward the hips.

Once horses know how to stretch, they look forward to the release and often announce their pleasure through snorts and licking an chewing. The stretch is a way to consolidate all that was done during the ride and is an excellent way to come to a calm and relaxing end.

*****

There are likely many more ways to teach a horse suppleness and release of the muscles. The key point is to become aware of the tension and learn how to address it. As you improve your riding skill, and learn more techniques (and "tools") to draw from, you will be able to pinpoint the cause of the lameness and then the solution.

If you want a more specific suggestion on how to improve rein lameness through riding, here is an exercise: Stepping Out of the Rein Lameness.

Do you have any other techniques to help the horse work with less tension?

Read the following for more information:

https://www.horselistening.com2012/03/11/the-dynamic-dependency-of-horseback-riding/

https://www.horselistening.com2012/02/26/when-do-you-start-riding-your-horse/

https://www.horselistening.com2012/02/24/how-to-be-an-active-horseback-rider-a-k-a-riding-with-intention/

https://www.horselistening.com2012/01/29/when-good-enough-just-isnt-good-enough-in-horseback-riding/

https://www.horselistening.com2018/12/04/its-one-thing-to-know-what-it-should-look-like/

Rarely Considered, Often Neglected: Lunging to Develop the Riding Seat

Warning: This post will discuss all things about a region we seldom talk about, never mind actually analyze! So grab a "seat" and come along for the ride...

The Seat

Riding is all about the use of the seat.

No matter how effective you think your seat is, you will likely continue to find a better/more balanced/more sophisticated way to use your seat as you develop your riding skills.

Having said that, you can start "finding" your seat right from the get-go. Before you have even learned to control the horse, you could be developing a secure seat through lunging lessons from a good instructor.

Why Bother With the Seat?

You could argue that you can give all your aids (or cues) to a horse through your hands and legs. You would of course be right - most horses could get by with a basic level of performance by listening to your intentions through your appendages. However, you would always have a sense that something is missing - something more profound and difficult to describe, because the horse will always have moments of disconnection that you won't be able to eliminate in your riding.

You might even catch a horse off-guard and have to overuse your hands to get a downward transition, turn or other maneuver.

Once you discover the true harmony that an effective seat can produce, you may agree that the seat can truly be distinguished as the core of all riding.

If you can free up your hands and legs from creating and maintaining movement, you'll uncover a source of freedom and harmony difficult to describe in words.

Developing a well-balanced and independent riding seat is the task of a lifetime.

Do You Walk, Trot and Canter With Your Seat?

When mounted on the horse, your seat bones effectively become your legs. In other words, your seat bones will do on the horse's back what your legs normally would do on the ground.

If the horse is walking, so too should your seat mirror the movement. Your inside and outside seat bones can walk along with the horse's footfalls, in rhythm, at the same time as the horse's side swings.

In trot and canter, your seat bones move together to follow the arc of the movement of the horse. The better you can release and contract your lower back and seat muscles, the easier it will be for you to follow the horse's back without bouncing against the movement.

On the Lunge

Riding on the lunge is the best way to begin the search for the effective seat. Your instructor controls the horse so you can focus on your balance and coordination. The learning is not mental - in fact, it is purely physical. If you can allow your body to move with the horse's movements, the muscle memory will develop on its own through the repetitive motion of the horse.

Don't get me wrong - it's not like you are going to sit there and let the horse do all the work! That is far from the truth.

Instead, you will be doing your best to allow the horse's movements through your body. You will quickly discover that you must tense and release your muscles, all the way from the top of your head down to your heels, in rhythm, while maintaining enough balance to not fall too far forward or too far backward! It sounds easier than it feels!

However, since you do not have to control the horse, you are free to use your hands to hold on to the pommel of the and pull yourself deeply into the front of the saddle so you can help your core muscles maintain the strength needed for a balanced posture. You can also move the arms and legs into various positions to deepen the looseness in your muscles, stretching your sides one at a time, and creating a deeper seat by moving the positions of the legs.

More advanced lunging can be accomplished through riding without stirrups.Your instructor can teach your body how to deal with sudden lurches from the horse, and even provide opportunities for non-progressive transitions such as walk to canter, where the body has to give through the lower back and seat deeply enough to allow the horse's movements to go seamlessly through you.

There is no other way to finding an effective seat than through lunging, and you will develop an independent seat much quicker than if you have to control the horse on your own. Sadly, there are few instructors who have a suitable horse (a truly steady and reliable lunging horse takes time to develop) and enough marketing clout (to talk beginning riders into going round and round in circles) for the sake of muscle memory.

But lunging is simply the most effective short-cut to becoming the best rider you can be.

Off the Lunge Line

Once off the lunge, you need to learn to control the horse with all your aids. However, thanks to all the work you did developing your muscle memory, your seat will already be willing and able to maintain your balance so you can have better control of your appendages. Because you've already ridden at the walk/trot/canter and handled the non-progressive transitions, there is little left to surprise you when the horse suddenly heads in a different direction or stops without warning. Your seat will take care of any surprises.

Time and again, you can revisit riding on the lunge to maintain or develop an ever deeper and more effective seat. The time you invest on the lunge will be recovered ten-fold through your riding career.

In fact, once you've started working on the lunge, you'll wonder why you didn't do it in the first place.

Buy the book for many more riding tips! Horse Listening – The Book: Stepping Forward to Effective Riding

Horse Listening – The Book: Stepping Forward to Effective Riding

Personally signed books available! Give the best gift for the horse lover in your life (or for yourself! ). Send me a message for more information.

From the first book in the Horse Listening Collection: Horse Listening, The Book

"There are many reasons why we enjoy riding horses. Maybe one of the most appealing facets of riding is the sense of freedom: freedom from our own limitations, freedom from gravity, freedom to (literally) roam the Earth. Time stands still while we have the privilege of feeling movement from the back of our four-legged friend.

Riding gives us the place to just be.

Of course, there are other purposes too. Some of us revel in the challenge of learning the skills required to becoming a good team member of this unlikely duo. Riding is like no other sport or recreational pursuit simply because of the equine partner that must not only carry us, but also do so effortlessly and gracefully. As we develop our specific skill sets, we also grow as human beings in character, emotional maturity and mental acuity.

But there is one other motivation that drives some of us to persevere in the never-ending learning process that is horseback riding: improving the horse. As your own skills develop, you begin to realize that not only can you meet your own needs through riding, but also that you can even become an instrument of benefit for the horse."

And so begins the book that reflects the most important learning I have had in all of my riding years: that I want to be the best rider I can be for the sake of my horses.

This book is geared toward the rider:

- the rider's motivations

- the essential skills for the rider

- some specific strategies

- solutions to common problems

- and the results: the great horsey moments we get to experience

Available as an eBook or paperback.

The Pinnacle of Horseback Riding

Riding toward the ultimate release - this is the stuff riders dream of.

leg yield — There is more to movement than just movement!

Not the release of the aids - that is a given requirement during all facets of the ride. We ought to regularly create moments of praise/encouragement to the horse during movement through a variety of types of release. We can reward the horse by small gives of the reins, softening the lower back through a movement, lightening of the leg aids or even just harmonizing through the entire body with the horse's motion.

But there is more to the overall scheme of riding than just the take and release that is required to communicate with the horse.

As you develop in riding, you will come to realize that there is more behind any movement than just the movement itself.

(Click here to tweet that if you like the idea.)

For example, developing a true leg yield can be a task in itself at the beginning. The horse is asked to not only travel straight ahead with a good reach from the hind legs, but then is required to cross the legs over each other while travelling somewhat sideways (but not completely sideways) with that same clear hind end stride. THEN the body must also stay straight - the shoulders cannot lead excessively nor can the hind end.

When we have all these things fall together at the same time, the feeling can be close to euphoric (for both the horse and rider).

However, if we practice leg yields on a regular basis, maintaining the basic correct technique throughout, one day we will be rewarded with a release from the horse.

This release is not the one where the horse lightens his pull on your aids, or leans less (although both are by-products). That type of release may happen on a fairly regular basis just through moments of obedience from the horse.

The release I'm talking about is the one where the horse lets go in his body. The best words that describe it are probably "looseness" and "swing". In effect, the horse releases his tightness within his body (not just the legs). We feel this sudden buoyancy that makes us feel like you are bouncing on a trampoline.

The strides seem to take longer, reach higher and farther. The bounce in the movement (whichever gait) amplifies, possibly making it more difficult for us to sit through if we are somewhat stiff through our body and joints. The movement becomes fluid, expressive, easy.

This is when we get into the "quality of the gait" of the horse. It's not just about the figure at hand; it's about how the horse moves during that figure!

Usually, the horse gives a good snort at this moment, confidently moving forward with enthusiasm but also in balance. Often, we will discover soft, even perhaps floppy ears as the horse finds his "happy place".

As the human partners, we revel in this feel that the horse so generously shares with us. The release of the movement of the horse INSIDE his body gives us a sense of freedom and floating against gravity.

And this is the pinnacle of riding that brings us back time and again.

How do you describe the feel of the horse's "let go" in a movement?

5. Keep Finding Your "Edge"

4. It's All About Finding the Right Balance

3. Find Your Happy Place!

2. Never Get Bored

1.Learn to Listen

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Finally! The Ultimate Rider-Centered Program!

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