What's the best tip you have ever gotten?

[tbchick84]

Reward every try

[carolprudm]

Bend your elbows

[Manni01]

There is a training video with I. Werth which I love. In this video she and Dr.Schulten Baumer state several times that is very bad to let the horse pace while walking. Always stop it before it starts pacing until it finds it rythm and balance. This has been a very valuable advice to me. The steps of the horse will become bigger with more overreach when you simply keep it from running away.

[GucciCowgirl]

"Fix things going forward" and "add the movement to the gait, not the gait to the movement".

[RedHorses]

It was at a Walter Zettl clinic. He explained that we cannot influence a weight bearing leg, and so our move sideways aid must occur when the leg we wish to affect is in the air. This was in relation to leg yield and influencing the inside hind leg.

I went to the barn, tried it and

I then started to apply the idea to other things from lead changes to improving the quality of the gait. The idea of influencing the leg became part of the larger idea of timing of the aids. When I started to teach I incorporated the idea of timing and had my students do exercises to help them find the right point in time/in the stride to get the best response. Timing is something that many riders develop unconsciously and those who learn it often move it into the unconscious automatic action. Thus most cannot explain it to a student.

[JackSprats Mom]

Stay on :P

[allpurpose]

Toes up, NOT heels down. Makes all the difference in the world!

[J-Lu]

The most useful tip a fellow rider gave me was probably when a friend made me put my hands flat on a stool, she sat on my hands, and demonstrated how she used her seatbones for half-halts and various movements. She also had me put my hands on her back to feel the muscles she used for half-halts.

Another tip: "Go slow to go fast". In other words, take ones time to teach the lesson at hand - it's faster than re-teaching the lesson because you're rushing from the horse's perpective.

[tollertwins]

Worry about the body...the head will take care of itself.

[Beentheredonethat]

The most useful tip a fellow rider gave me was probably when a friend made me put my hands flat on a stool, she sat on my hands, and demonstrated how she used her seatbones for half-halts and various movements. She also had me put my hands on her back to feel the muscles she used for half-halts.

That's a good one. I was explaining to my students at school what dressage was and what I do, and that I could get a horse to go from walk to canter or do a flying changing by flexing my butt muscles, and I got a lot of unbelieving looks.

[Mukluk]

You will save a great deal of money if you select a different activity such as bowling.

[Dr. Doolittle]

You will save a great deal of money if you select a different activity such as bowling.

Okay, so when were you talking to my husband??

[JLR1]

In a clinic with Shannon Peters.."Your saddle isn't doing you any favors". I was riding in a Schleese Wave with a forward balance point and after the clinic bought a Custom Icon...no more fighting to maintain my position!

[EPat]

Your primary aids are your weight aids(seat). Or anything that Dietrich Von Hofgarten said in four years of lessons..

[Mike Matson]

Best tip ever gotten? $20 when working in restaurant.

[BetterOffRed]

best tips and show nerves

I have horrible show nerves...they start the minute the bell rings.
At a clinic with Gwen Poulin I talked to her about my nerves and she said to me, "you are the easiest competitor to beat" basically, my mindset already had me losing. I guess I didn't realize I had such a defeatist attitude. Anyway, I am going to start working on it.

Another thing she said, if it were easy (dressage) everyone would be making over 70%!

[rideastar]

For the downward transitions:
Pull your belly button in (engages your abs & lower back), lift your toes (pulls you deeper into the saddle), stop following the movement. Works wonders...

[purplnurpl]

for the walk:
need to have following hand
I haven't scored less than a 7 on the medium walks since.

for the canter:
the canter is only straight when it's ridden in shoulder fore.

[flypony74]

"Ride your horse, not your test"

[inne]

Go sideways.

I've been riding my own horse for so long that I have no idea if this is applicable to everyone, but for me, lateral movements fix most problems I have with my guy.