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

That competing costs a lot of money (actually did know that years ago).

Seriously have recently had some lunge lessons and have learnt far more about the interaction of my body on the horse than I have really given thought to before.

Echo the top tips about the black and white issue - had an interesting almost throw away point on that from someone a few years ago and it stuck with me.

And also echo someone else, don't compare yourself against people who are in entirely different situations just do the best you can.
 
These are fantastic. Not really got anything to add, other than remember animals don't understand what comforting is. If he's frightened, confidently ignore whatever it is. Being overly sympathetic just makes them feel as if there is something so be frightened of.

LEC - I am so trying that hip thing tomorrow when I ride!
 
"Those who mind don't matter and those that matter don't mind" is definitely a Baydale-ism, and a very valid one at that ;)

The best tip I can come up with is stop worrying what everyone else thinks. Everyone has a valid opinion, but doesn't mean you should share that opinion. Make your own goals, decide how you are going to get there, and stay focussed :)

Alongside that, when you find good friends, keep them close. They support you and can put things into perspective when you've lost all grasp of reality! ;) It's something I am not too great at, but need to get better at :)
 
humblepie said:
Seriously have recently had some lunge lessons and have learnt far more about the interaction of my body on the horse than I have really given thought to before.
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Ditto this. I've also recently had lunge lessons (after nearly 20 years...) and I wish I'd started with them when I got back into riding 3 years ago. It makes such a difference to now how to really use your seat correctly and everything else follows from that. A few choice pilates exercises make a big difference too.

Some great other tips on here, I also love the Baydale-ism!
 
"If your kids want to start riding start by going to the back garden and digging a hole. Proceed to throw in £50 notes. It'll be cheper than horses and a lot less hassle!"

A quote from my mother to a friend who's children had shown a vague interest in 4-leggeds!
 
Just some feedback to some of these ideas:

I used Kerelli's trick on getting a halt by swinging hips and it worked so well, I didn't need to use reins etc at all and as I got stressage on wednesday it will be put to good practice!

It also works from canter to trot! This is on a horse we use a kimblewick for jumping as he is so strong that by using the hip thing I can get him to come back to trot without any rein aids! I think today I'm going to practice using it to slow the canter down and speed the canter up as this will help a lot for jumping and I could put him back in a snaffle!

Also shaking the rein to get the horse off of leaning you works quite well as my horse only leans on my right hand so i just give it a bit of a shake (not enough to upset his mouth) and he won't lean on me again.

Some fantastic advice guys I would really put some of this into practice as it is just brilliant!
 
Halfstep said:
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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I love this advice!! So true yet so many people don't think of it.

I also love Lec's 'Don't be too nice' quote - I have been told time and time again that I need to be more dominant with Charisma and stop being such a softy! The quickest way for her to lose respect

Something I learned a while ago that's it's my siggie - every horse can teach you something. Said to numerous brats who only wanted to ride the fancy tbs/warmblood types instead of the lazy cobs, every single horse can teach you something about yourself or your riding and you should write any horse off completely.
 
lctrouble said:
Someone earlier posted about 'don't try to be too nice...'
I read a great interview with Mark Todd who said always ask for perfection - otherwise it's not fair on the horse. How does the horse know that yesterday you were out on a sloppy hack and it didn't matter but today is a competition and it DOES matter. You must be clear and decisive all the time.
It seems a very fair point to me.
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I share Charisma and I try and ride her so she works properly, obviously with breaks for stretching, but her other rider rides on the buckle end! :-/ Very confusing for C
 
lctrouble said:
Someone earlier posted about 'don't try to be too nice...'
I read a great interview with Mark Todd who said always ask for perfection - otherwise it's not fair on the horse. How does the horse know that yesterday you were out on a sloppy hack and it didn't matter but today is a competition and it DOES matter. You must be clear and decisive all the time.
It seems a very fair point to me.
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I share Charisma and I try and ride her so she works properly, obviously with breaks for stretching, but her other rider rides on the buckle end! :-/ Very confusing for C
 
I'm not a great rider or anything but things I wish I'd learnt sooner are.....

Pay attention to the horse, (hopefully) if you get it right they will.

Don't be afraid to try things out when the instructor isn't paying that much attention, they probably won't notice but the horse will and might end up going better!

Think far more about your body than your hands, to get horses working in an outline and from behind I have found that often it is to do with how I am sat - if I do odd things with the muscles in my bum/thighs and think of my heels aiming for the hocks many horses will come round almost straight away. No riding instructor has ever taught me how to do this or really mentioned it :(

If what you are doing isn't working try something different.

Think of your arms as part of your body, this helped stop me riding without a bend in my elbow and helped me think more about what my body is doing and less about my hands.
 
Never do something for a living that you enjoy as a hobby. Always have something else in your life besides the horses so you can keep your perspective when things go wrong.

The most helpful thing I've ever seen was watching my Dutch friend who had ridden some really sharp horses to international level dressage. She had the nicest softest hands I've ever seen and the horses just loved her - even the unrideable ones went well for her on the flat. What was also interesting was that my black horse, just off the track, was just as racehorse-y for her as for me but she simply repeated herself hundreds of times until he understood. That was fascinating - it wasn't about the calibre of the jockey (she is the best jockey I've seen on the flat), it was about the training and what made her a good rider was that she never lost her temper, she never yanked, she simply repeated herself with infinite patience until the horse got it.
 
-Throw your heart over, the horse will follow, and ride every fence as if you've already had a stop at it - these pieces of advice were given to me when I had a bugger of a horse to jump and taught me to ride each fence with some sure determination!
-Persuade a mare, ask a stallion :P
-If something doesn't work, step back and ask why? Keep an eye on the bigger picture all the time
 
Practical: To get your legs in the right place and keep them strong, get on the horse and stand in your stirrups as if you were stood on the flat ground with a slight bend in your knee (no grabbing the reins or leaning on the neck or pommel for balance), than sit down in the saddle slowly and in balance (no flopping back because you lost your balance), keeping the leg where it was when you were stood up. Repeat regularly to ensure leg has stayed in the right place - do in all paces once you can balance in halt.

General:
1) Trust your instincts - I have come out of a nice showjumping round on a number of occasions and thought 'that was great, maybe I should leave it at that' but because I have already entered another class I go in and do it and duly get eliminated. Now I actually listen to myself when I think this and quit while I'm ahead - to hell with the entry fee, there's always next weekend.

2) NEVER use the bit as punishment - I never have and never will and it makes my blood boil when people do it

3) If you can't do something consistently at home, you can't expect your horse to do it at a competition

4) Horses don't wake up on a morning and think 'I'm going to be horrible today' - we all have good and bad days but no horse starts the day with the intention of upsetting/annoying you

5) Always be consistent - e.g. don't let your horse walk off when you mount on one day, just because you're only going for a short hack, and punish it the next day when it wanders off when you get on for a schooling session

6) One good kick is better than constant niggling

7) There is always a reason (even if it doesn't seem reasonable!!).

8) Take lots of videos/photos so you can see your progress - don't get wrapped up in what you can't do on one day, just work through it, then go and watch a video of when the horse first arrived and see how far you've come

9) just because someone has been doing it longer, doesn't mean they know more. But equally the experiences of others can be invaluable. My rule of thumb - ASK the people you respect and trust, IGNORE the people who offer advice when you haven't asked them

ABOVE ALL......

ALWAYS appreciate what you've got. We are lucky, in the first place, to have horses/ponies when hundreds would kill for them. But my main reason for saying this is that I had the pony in a billion for 12 years and even people with their own said he was one in a billion - I knew this at the time but I never realised truly how special he was until I lost him. I'll never find a replacement but it did teach me - they may have days where you want to kill them, they may stamp on your toe and rub a face covered in molasses all over you, but they are yours and they are all special in their own right, so appreciate what you have!!

Soppy I know but so true!!
 
Get the canter right, and the fences come easy.

Stop thinking so hard about strides; they will come to you :)

Find your horses natural rhythm and jump out of that, everything will become SO much easier

if you are asking others if you are ready, then you are not.

Only you can be satisified with your work, why does it matter what everyone else thinks?

It dosent matter if your tack dosent match, only that you and your horse do.

Only you can create your luck

Ride the downwards transitions more than the upwards ones.
 
I love this thread. I particuarly like the one posted about 'if you have asked a question and get a response you don't expect, you have either asked the wrong question or asked it in the wrong way' (not the exact words, but you get the gist)

I once commented, in a moment of frustration, to a friend "arrgghh, if only they could talk", she replied "but if they talked, we may stop listening"

I always think of it when I lose sight of what I am trying to achive and it reminds me that, above all else, listen to what your horse is telling you without words.
 
I think that's either a Monty Roberts or a Pat Parelli quote, "if your horse says No, you either asked the wrong question, or asked the question wrong."
that reminds me of something else that I think's useful:
I went to a PP demo yonks ago, and one of the things he said that really stuck with me was that one should NEVER try to insist that a prey animal should STAND STILL, that sometimes fidgeting around, when they really want to flee, is not such a bad thing. I'd been taught to try to insist that a horse must stand still, to the point of yelling at them, hitting them, etc, occasionally... :( :( :( now i don't mind if they move their feet a bit as long as they're not barging at all, and they settle down really fast usually.
 
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