Top Tips, or Things You Wish You'd Learnt Years Ago

kerilli

kerilli

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I posted a couple of things on this thread
http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?p=8815126&posted=1#post8815126
which i've been taught by brilliant experienced horsepeople, and which make a big difference in my riding and training, and seem to work with everyone else's horses (so far...!)
just wondered whether anyone else had any great tips or ideas that they know, that they wish they'd known years before...?
The other thing i'd add is:
There's only ONE expert on saddle fitting, and it isn't the Master Saddler, or the back person, it's the horse. If I'd known this years ago, it would have saved me literally thousands of pounds, and made my horses a lot comfier and happier a lot sooner...
Any others, please?
 
To trust my gut instinct, (and to act on it) whether it is to do with the health of my horses, or my family, would have saved £1000's on horses and may have saved my son from a liver transplant! Would now rather look a like foolish and be wrong than to see the suffering I have been witness too.
 
that if someone keeps telling you something, and it doesn't help, try another way
for years I have been told, sit up, stop tipping forwards, and for years I have tipped forwards. Get new instructor who says, pick your hands up, and sit up. When my hands drop I tip forwards but nobody had ever spotted it. Now if I concentrate on carrying my hands, I never lean forwards
 
Um, its a silly one, but if you have a horse that won't dry off after being washed down after work or breaks out all the time- make sure his ears are totally dry, Towel 'em, put gloves on 'em , any way you can Dry Those Ears. Sounds utterly stupid but saved me hours of grazing with a still- damp -round -the -edges horse and finding a hot and flustered one last thing at night when we should all be getting some sleep!
 
Moving your hips forwards moves your shoulders back. So simple but would have saved me years of errant shoulders being in front of the horse.

Everything is easier when you are confident and confidence points need to be banked regularly and not cashed in too often.

Stop being too nice to your horse. It gets you nowhere. Everything needs to be black and white and that you can never forget this anytime you are riding. Its why professionals are so good as they are just naturally black and white all the time.
 
Whenever you're schooling your horse do it as though you have all the time in the world, take your time to perfect each thing, never rush.
 
LEC said:
Stop being too nice to your horse. It gets you nowhere. Everything needs to be black and white and that you can never forget this anytime you are riding. Its why professionals are so good as they are just naturally black and white all the time.
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Very true and I would add to that professionals don't consider being clear being "not nice". There's nothing "nice" about being indecisive. I only say that because I find the "being nice" bit is the sticking point for a lot of people and if they think about it differently it's a whole lot easier to take the emotion out of it and be clear. Think of it like work - you wouldn't think it was very nice if your boss kept changing his/her mind, not explaining things fully, not telling you when you met certain markers or completed tasks appropriately. You'd just consider it annoying and confusing. :) So be a good, fair boss to your horse.
 
Patience, that just because a celebrity rider uses it it does not mean it is right for you, and horses dont give a dam how much you spend on rugs.
 
1.) Don't let a person, even if they're the owner, influence your gut feelings about a horse. My first taste of my own horse - horse had started to not feel right, especially in canter and my gut feeling said something was out.

That conversation ended very badly, I gave up the share almost instantly and it left my confidence in tatters which took a good two years to get back. I've never felt so stamped on, even though I later heard on the grapevine that his back had been out by a mile which explained a lot. The owner was adamant it was my riding causing the issues.

2.) The importance of assessing the ground that you're riding on. Guess that's something you learn as you get older though.

3.) Rolling your shoulders doesn't allow you to bend your elbows properly. Assessing and dealing with the reason for the hunched shoulders (ie: nerves/tension and why the nerves) will automatically sort not just the shoulders but the elbows and hands. 10 years of riding and my best mate was the first person to actually ask WHY I was nervous & tense.
 
If you want a quiet life don't choose a TB :D other than that someone once said to me that the horse is the best judge of what you are doing . It has struck a chord with more than once over my time with the current horse - when being ridden i was being told by a now previous instructor to ride him on a long contact,hes a big horse,he needs the space etc . I attended a clinic with a well known dressage rider who more than halved my rein length and after 5 mins or so I suddenly had a horse I could ride and place where I wanted,with these all of a sudden off the ground,elastic paces - slight lightbulb moment :D We also have a farrier who basically did our whole yard - was always told that current horse his feet will always be prone to chipping,cracking,losing shoes etc ,nothing he could do etc etc etc and I always felt that there was more to him but somehow he couldn't quite connect it altogether. I changed farriers and his feet look amazing even though I am going some times 2 extra weeks on top of my shoeing time and combined with the riding advice I have been given above - no forging,better placement of his feet and a much less choppy stride. Sorry that turned into a bit of an essay :D
 
I wish i'd read the following statement on HHO years ago:

"Those who mind don't matter and those that matter don't mind"

It really spoke to me and has become a bit of a mantra! :D So thanks to whoever posted it, I can't remember now i'm afraid :o
 
Ride every day as if you're at a competition and ride at a competition as if you're at home.

Don't look down at him - he hasn't changed colour, so there's no need to check.

A thin bed is false economy.
 
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If a horse is leaning on your hands too much, literally 'shake' them off with your inside rein - creates self carrige, and teaches them to carry themself rather than relying on your hands :)

get a dressage saddle!! :p makes life so much easier and helps you sit so much more correctly
 
LEC said:
I think its a Tarr Steps mantra!
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Eek!:eek: Baydale is going to kill me - she leaves the country for a week and I'm (inadvertently) taking credit for her good sense. ;)

I'll admit I'm a strong source of random ramblings but that particularly apt piece of advice is, I believe, technically a Mummy Baydale offering.

I will add, though . .

"Plan for it to take an hour and it will take five minutes, assume it will take five minutes and you'll be lucky not to still be there in an hour."

And, in keeping with the point of the thread, "Experience is what you get five minutes after your need it."

"Success is the sum of good decisions."

I'd also say, top overarching lesson I've learned, think before you act. So often with horses, we just go along, not really thinking what we want and how we want to achieve it and, because they're animals not machines, horses fill in just enough to let us keep going that way. If you sit down and work out what you're going to ask, how you're going to ask it, and how you expect the horse to answer, you'll be miles ahead. Don't try harder, try easier. ;)

Okay, I'm off to Twitter now, I think that's a better format for me! (Except for the whole 140 characters thing. . . ;) )
 
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Some really great ones there, but with my current horse my lovely mare its dont fight or get angry beacause u will lose, and if she reacts in the school its because im doing something wrong for example if my legs go too far back in canter she puts her ears back if I dont correct it she bucks.

Also I agree with the listen to your horse
 
Tarrsteps,

I've just printed off the one about planning to put on my sons bedroom wall. That's the son who has had 4 weeks to clean his comp bridle, who didn't work Weds, Thurs or Friday & left it until yesterday when he also had to course walk, take his bike to be MOTd & play cricket!
 
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LEC said:
Stop being too nice to your horse. It gets you nowhere. Everything needs to be black and white and that you can never forget this anytime you are riding. Its why professionals are so good as they are just naturally black and white all the time.
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This ^^^ and also to always ride the better/easier/more pleasant horse first when you have more to ride, as your habits carry forward to the next horse.
 
Being XC warm up steward is less stressful than making sure son is in the right place at the right time, but somehow he manages to get there (& you get a bacon buttie thrown in!)
 
Solve the right problem. I always had a problem with my lower leg flying back whilst jumping. The real problem actually was that I was throwing myself too far forward, which made my legs fly backwards. When I stopped going up his ears, my legs stayed still (which also stopped me from throwing myself too far forward!)

Buy some Pikeur sticky bum breeches. They really help.

And some Roekl gloves. They also really help.

Basically, stick everything to the saddle and keep still :D

Don't get carried away enjoying getting placed and jump yourself out of British Novice before you're happy doing Newcomers.

And don't drink any alcohol whatsoever the day before you jump. It makes your stride eye disappear.
 
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Correct contact from inside leg into the outside rein is the key to pretty much everything, have this right and the rest will fall into place.

So long as you have the basics right: saddle that fits, bridle that fits, basic bit that fits, and a sound healthy horse, everything else can be sorted by improving your riding skills. Don't waste money on gagets, different bits, saddlepads, chiropractors, crystals or mind readers. Have some good lessons from a good trainer instead!

If the horse makes a mistake, correct it immediately. If you make a mistake, apologise to the horse and have some more lessons!!! :o:o
 
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