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I don't understand this. First you say hovering gaits are a physical ride and then you say hovering gaits don't have as much power to manage. I think hovering gaits have a lot of power and are a physical ride. I like hovering gaits (airtime, amplitude, cadence). I do not like quick tempo and flat m...

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Ok, so I'll try to make this make sense. Caveats - these are things that have worked for me. Everyone processes imagery and words in a different manner. My coach and I recently had a conversation about different experiences and body types etc. She (from a very young age) was always an assistant to s...

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I'll post my other thoughts on the new thread, but in the meantime. Progress on Gala! IMG_2151.PNG FullSizeRender 24.jpg FullSizeRender 23.jpg And a few vids: This is doux passage. Gala has never had the best passage - and if you take her to a larger "grande" passage, she hollows in the ba...

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I've been following along with interest- will post a lengthy reply when I have some time to actually sit and think on it

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MC, you are of course forgiven, and I really appreciate your sentiments and way of thinking. I may be misunderstanding slightly because I think this balance issue is related to position... Or are you saying balance of the horse must be given priority? (If so, yes, I agree, even if my position is ver...

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I should clarify, I mean that each side rotates, which seems like it would create a much more dynamic feel for the horse as opposed to the bit that she was previously in.

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In this case, if given only the choice between bit A and bit B (assuming that physically horse is fine) she would choose to work with bit B, the one where the the horse was very light, but was lacking a connection. Because she felt that she could probably access the horse's body better to teach the ...

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So, I asked Andrea about what she would do if presented with this conundrum (knowing that she has never seen the horse and doesn't know the horse). Her response was that if the horse's tendency to be heavy (assuming training issue, not physical issue), she would be hard-pressed to abandon a simple b...

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MC I didn't think you meant anything offensive

Just thought it would add to the discussion to explain my journey.

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^The answer to that is no. I wouldn't be. But, what I did was take all those lessons and feelings from those nicely trained horses (not necessarily "nicer" horses) and apply those lessons to my own horses, and I made them nicer. But, in order to get to where I am right now, I needed to tak...

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I agree with the idea of "zooming out" to see your progress. When you are in it day to day, it's hard to see the incremental changes that are occurring. I keep a record of photos and videos so that I can see where I've come from. On FB, I wrote a post about my recent findings and one of th...

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Flight, I'm wishing for a speedy recovery for you. GH, I also think you are showing a lot of progress and lots to be proud of! So, for me, I mentioned that I was going to be taking part in a vaulting clinic that was being held at a friend's facilities. I'm so, so glad that I did. Not only was it a b...

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To me, it brings to mind a downhill balance, where all of the energy is escaping out front. In my mind, the reference of a chandelier hanging off the poll (DeKunffy said that, I believe) at least brings to mind softness and mobility.

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If it were up to me, I'd take the heavier contact with connection than the light, frozen feel with no connection. I feel that I would prefer to work on lightening the horse through the work (in hand, lateral work etc). Was very curious what others would say. It was a confusing feel to me and not one...

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So. I was pondering a theory question based on something that I felt in a friend's horse. Just to be clear, I'm not training the horse, nor do I have anything to do with training decisions. This is a friend that I visit once in a while and because I'll hop on anything that won't kill me, I've ridden...

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Ok. So, another few days of riding and learning. Turns out I went overboard on outside leg as I did not get great reviews on my last rides. Basically, I was masking a lack of give on the inside rein by driving around too much with the outside. I was told that first and foremost, the horse should sof...

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And! For something fun- 2 of my friends and I signed up for a vaulting clinic on the 21st! This could be a disaster lol

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I can try to go over who I'm riding, I'm keeping notes, but it's mostly on things I'm feeling and stuff I'm putting together as I'm working them. I'm definitely under no illusions that I'm helping to train anyone - they're all training me! So, Tito: he is an ex PSG horse, around 14 or 15 years old. ...

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You just can't catch a break with Deneb!! Glad the X-rays were clear, hope she recovers soon!!

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Flight, it's a huge learning experience for me, I'm so excited! Miro is doing well, I expect to slowly starting bringing him back into work soon - I haven't been in a rush since I'm riding at Andrea's so often. I hope that you heal well after your surgery!

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Chisamba, I think you're doing fantastic work with your horses and students. I hope that Deneb continues to show progress with the hormones!

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Alright, where to begin!! I don't have specific goals right now other than to take full advantage of an amazing opportunity and to learn as much as I humanly can from it. Work has been a bit slow for me - in my real life, I'm a senior art director in an advertising agency and every summer, before sc...

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I'm so sorry for your loss. Heartbreaking.

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MC, I agree that while FEELINGS are hard to convey (strength of an aid, timing, the desired response etc, I think that we can talk specifically about engaging certain muscles groups since while proportions are different, we do all share the same anatomy. Because that was a direct quote speaking spec...

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I have been taught to sit to the front or "crowd" the front of the saddle, especially in the canter work. The core and lats need to be engaged and for collection - on a horse that has been trained to follow the back, I bring my weight back a bit and the horse follows. But no tipping or bri...

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Finally a Miro update, he's been very slightly off for about 3 weeks, no discernible heat/swelling/digital pulse, but last week I asked the vet to come out and make sure that nothing insidious was happening under the surface. X-rays and ultrasounds showed a pristine leg and hoof with no sign of a lu...

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MC, yes, she bought the whole property, so that's her new home! The barn is relatively well organized, but her "house stuff" hasn't even begun to get unpacked. Nikki (the barn manager) is in the same boat. Horses first, organizing houses 2nd lol! And, as far as moving Miro, it's a bit far ...

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So, I'm not sure where this goes, but since it's progress - I'll put it here. The last few weeks I have been helping my coach, Andrea Velas, move into her own facilities. It's bitter sweet for me, since I loved the Pennsylvania Riding Academy from the moment that I took my first lesson there over 10...

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Ok, I'm finally back in front of a computer lol! Chisamba, I love the pics and glad that you both did well! So, regarding your question with Charm Dresseur, i am interested in your approach with charm, as I am always trying to produce safer riding horses for my clients. However i am not sure what yo...

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Tsavo, his major influencers were van Schaik and Oliveira. He does not look favorably on modern French, like PK. Hand and leg are used a hairs breadth apart- you are not ramming the horse into the hand with a constantly driving seat, nor are you doing hand only. I suppose you could make the argument...

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I'm not sure that I agree with that. If you have a horse that leans, or ducks, simply getting after the hind end for increased power or activity will not change the front unless some sort of action or parameter is set there. Otherwise, what is to stop that increased power or activity from continuing...

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Sorry, by not abrupt, I meant they aren't intended to be a huge movement - or knock a horse off balance... They are small, lightning quick movements - you can't hold onto the hh at all. So, I did not use the correct word. Also, I will say that the upward hh is about the hand AND the leg together. If...

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I can't speak for what JS said in regards to this, but from what I have been taught - you have to think of it in terms of changing the balance of the horse, so, form follows function here. If the poll is too low, you have to bring up the poll or any increased power drives the horse further onto the ...

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Makes sense, but I'm starting to wonder just how much of Jeremy's thinking is being influenced by Belasik. I don't know what Belasik is like now (Dressuer would know), but when I rode with him in 1999, he was fixated on having a poll high at the expense of throughness and suppleness. I still see th...

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For what it is worth (from taking thousands of photos) ground lines also have to do with where in the arena the photo is taken, a horse at a center line taken from the front, will have a ground line which appears tilted, but it is not. And actually making it horizontal will not tell the true story....

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Personally, I would ignore it. It's one person, and you have a rather large following with plenty of work and results out there that speak for itself. Just not worth it unless it's outright libel.

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Good to hear, Chisamba! Looking forward to a full report!

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MC, this is something that I think about often as well. It is quite possible to cherry pick the best of the very best moments of a ride and of a rider's position and create an impression of that pair that is very favorable. Or, I can go through, and pick the not great moments and create a very negat...

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Ok, so since M is down and out due to his clumsiness in the pasture (I'm just NOT seeing his military Andy lines - he looks like a barrel with legs everywhere when he tries to do laps with his OTTB buddy, whom with he shares an epic bromance.), I'll introduce you all to Charm. Charm is a 6 year old ...

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Well, bad news for me. M did something in the pasture- he's sound in straight lines on asphalt, slightly off on circle to the right- it's the same front leg he knocked so badly about a year ago. I can't find any heat or swelling- vet is scheduled for Tuesday unless he goes south. I'm giving this a m...

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That is awesome Chisamba!! Horses are very clever in training us to accommodate them in different ways

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Yea, I don't have a ton because USUALLY I don't have someone to video. But the ones I have, I don't mind posting... they are just a pita to upload lol.

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Love, love, love your horse! What a beautiful color. One thing, think about sitting to the front of your saddle, in this pic, your hip is behind you, which may be causing the tenseness because you feel as though you have to hold on.

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I'm making slow but steady progress with Gala. About 2 weeks after crying that I would never figure 2 tempis out, I am now able to *mostly* ride 2's. A huge reason for this change was a video that one of the working students took of me in a clinic on Miro - we were doing the counter canter, and I wa...

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This is a picture that everyone can agree is exemplary... He has brought his weight back a bit and the arm is slightly forward. https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/0c/16/d9/0c16d983ea3aca235aee36dbb63a317f.jpg Nuno - also in piaffe - arm slightly forward - shoulders back and down even as ...

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Yes, and they absolutely should be able to do that - that imo is the cornerstone of a rider who has good connection with the horse, it's fluid. I don't ride with that amount of back engagement at all times, but I need to be ready to absorb any resistance or loss of balance or whatever, and I do that...

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This is not necessarily the case And the last issue is if a horse pulls against the upper arms which are beside the body, the rider will only sit deeper, if the upper arms are out in front the rider will end up being destabilized. If your shoulders are not down and back, the horse can pull you out o...

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I try as much as possible to ride with my upper arm at the vertical, even on my green guy - to me, what is more important than upper arm position - is whether or not the shoulders are back and down - that is the deciding factor as to whether or not a rider can "hold" a horse to their back....

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^agree wholeheartedly. This is the single most important change that I have made over the past year that has led to my personal improvements.

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I agree very much with what Tsavo said about not having enough behind to create the lift through the withers and the shorter base. In any case, Chisamba, I just went through (am still going through) struggles with arm position. First I tried to bring my hand lower, that tipped me forward, then I sat...

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