If your horse is not moving willing forward from your leg, you will have problems with steering, stopping, and nearly any other training problem you will encounter.
A horse generally lifts his head, do to not going forward. Trying to pull his head down will only cause stiffness and a hollow back and not allow him to become round and driving thru from behind.
If your plan was to work on lead changes, and during your warm-up you were having trouble moving your horses hip, you will never get a correct lead change during your training session. You will teach your horse more during a proper daily warm-up than you will ever teach during a training session.
It is fine if your Dressage horse can rope and drag, or if your Reiner will go trail ride. Remember horses like people need to have a change of pace and scenery. No one likes the same old grind, go see and experience the world, you will both be happier.
Only teach one thing per training session. If your horse understands it in 10 minutes QUIT! There is no time schedule for success.
Show/ teach them what you expect or want and then leave them alone to see if they truly understand. It is easy to fool ourselves into thinking are horses are broke, by micro-managing.
No trainer or person will always have the right answer. If you don’t believe you know what you’re doing, why should your horse?
Being healthy, flexible and at a good riding weight is the most simple and easy way to get a 10% (or more) improvement in your riding/ training. Plus, it’s FREE!
Training is a life long journey. Think of this: If we got a 1% improvement per day, in our training, we should have our horses trained in 100 days. Crazy, right? So remember that we only gain fractions of a percent on every ride, and our horses will never truly be finished. Both, horse and rider, should improve their entire lives.
Having fun was the main reason that we got into riding in the first place, never lose sight of that fact. We all have problems and struggles with our daily lives and training, but getting to ride your horse should be a HAPPY place, for the both of you.
As Always; Ride Hard, Be Safe, Have Fun. - Steve Kutie
