You need to praise your horse a lot. It’s how the horse knows he did the right thing. Doing the right thing, so that others are happy with you is more then just a moral behavior. To a herd and prey animal, it’s survival. If you please the other members of your herd, they let you stay and protect you. If you don’t, they drive you away. You can watch horses teach this concept to bratty younger horses. Mares teach it to their foals in a no-nonsense way and older herd members teach the younger ones.

Many years ago while visiting the stable of the late Hector Carmona in New Jersey, I was intrigued by a sign in his indoor arena that boldly proclaimed, “The secret of riding is the outside rein”.

I soon discovered that the outside rein (AKA the rein of opposition) has many critical jobs:

I recall a time when not so long ago, there was basically no such thing as “natural horsemanship.” With marketing tycoons such as Pat Parelli the word ‘horsemanship’ has been forever revolutionized. Has good marketing replaced good horsemanship?

Riding ain’t easy. If you are planning on becoming a rider or training your own horse the sooner you come to terms with that phrase the better. Of course riding is magical and amazing, but riding and training is also painful and tough and can sometimes be downright dirty.

There seems to be many answers to this question. The answer I generally give most people who ask me is “it depends.” Everyone has their own rules and ideas, just like child rearing. Nowadays with all the training fads out there and some natural horsemanship stuff and child laws I see more and more spoiled whinny kids and spoiled rotten horses! What every happened to giving your child a solid foundation? That does not mean be nice and give them anything they want. What ever happened to working for it? My mom used to make me actually do something, clean my room, do the dishes, take out the trash before I got a reward. I was taught this at a young age. The same should go for our horses. Teach them to respect young and they will grow up to be well mannered horses.

In dressage, the seat is a very important aid. Learning to using your seat correctly creating an independent seat will open a whole new door to your riding. If you think of western riders particularly reiners, they do these amazing sliding stops right under their hind end. You don’t see them pulling on the reins, but rather ‘giving’ the reins into the stop. All too often especially with newer dressage rider they tend to ‘perch’ in the saddle much like a jumper rider. Dressage is about submission. How much the horse is engaged and through over its back is related to your seat and how you use it.

I am by definition a dressage rider, and I have been riding since I was 12. Having recently moved out to the country, I have begun to dabble in the western disciplines because out here western is far more prevalent then English. I have to say the western riders are way more fun! There are not too many rules, and they are not afraid to add a little bling. I have long been saying that in a previous life I was a barrel racer. Now instead of warmbloods I own 2 AQHA’s and I am embarking on the western world. When in Rome!

This could be one of the toughest concepts that I see riders struggling with. For some reason riders seem to have a very hard time grasping the importance of the outside rein even when pointed out. The key to dressage and all riding is balance. When you and you horse are in perfect balance you could say you are in perfect harmony making every movement look easy and effortless.

Showing can be stressful especially in a dressage test. The purpose of a dressage test is to ride certain movements in a sequence and get scored on how well they are executed. You can throw away easy marks by not knowing your test before hand. You can also gain extra points by carefully and strategically riding your test.

Owning a young horse can be a very rewarding and exciting adventure. It is a chance to start fresh and have a clean slate to bring up and train the way you want. However, like a young child, horses have their own minds and ideas and they are also a product of their environment. It is easy to make impressions on a young horse good or bad, and these impressions can last a lifetime.