Warneyswhip by Sarah Warne-Wetterau Equestrian Centre

Warneyswhip by Sarah Warne-Wetterau Equestrian Centre Dressage rider and Equestrian journalist, Sarah Warne (me), grew up on horseback, and quickly inherited her mother’s passion for dressage.

Based at Wetterau Equestrian Centre in Victoria Australia.

15/09/2026

Some really interesting Lusitanos I have come across in Portugal recently…pyro free

A 4 year old stallion with a super character and great movement. Bay.

An 8 year old lusitano gelding buckskin, bomb proof, great character, suitable for any rider

An international quality grand prix lusitano, 8 year old stallion.

For info send me a message 🙂🙏

15/09/2026

A strong core will not make you a better rider.

I know that’s controversial.

When I was competing internationally, I had a strong core. Like many dressage riders, I believed that was the key to good riding.

But a strong core is just one piece of the puzzle.

I had a strong core and a dysfunctional body.

All the focus was on strengthening my midsection, but my body wasn’t receiving or transmitting force efficiently through the entire kinetic chain. The system wasn’t working together.

The truth is that riding isn’t about having one strong area.

It’s about having a body that functions as a whole.

You are only as strong as your weakest link.

If you lack:

* Scapular stability and activation,
* Cross-body fascial strength,
* Hip mobility,
* Thoracic mobility,
* Foot and ankle function,

then the more you ask of your body, the more those weaknesses will reveal themselves.

The horse doesn’t care how many planks you can hold.

The horse feels how well your entire body can organize, absorb, and transmit movement.

A truly effective rider isn’t just “core strong.”

They are functionally strong.

And that’s a completely different thing.

Strong core ≠ functional rider.

Integrated body = functional rider.

ALM - Pilates, Movement, Fascial for training me mind and body ❤️🙏

13/09/2026

No, you should not sit on the horse.

Here is a lovely photo of me sitting on a horse. Like a tourist.

Tourists sit on horses.

Riders adopt a posture somewhere between sitting and standing. Their weight is distributed between the saddle and the stirrups.

So let me ask you:

Do you have half your weight in the saddle and half in the stirrups?

Richard Weis talks about the horse-rider stance in Tai Chi, a posture defined by stability. The goal is to be rooted without becoming rigid and relaxed without collapsing.

In the Tai Chi classics it is described as:

“Rooted in the feet,

generated from the legs,

controlled by the waist,

and expressed through the fingers.”

Hmm… sounds familiar. 🧐Good riders are not sitting on the horse. They are adopting a horse-rider stance on horseback.

They are relating to the ground through the stirrups. Neither sitting nor standing.

Relaxed but organised. Stable but mobile.

Carrying themselves. Because the moment you stop carrying yourself and start hanging on the horse, the horse has to carry more than just your weight.

It has to carry your imbalance too.

Follow us on instagram .educated.horse

Credit Richard Weis and Mum

13/09/2026

Walk squares.

Want better pirouettes?

This simple exercise improves rhythm, balance, straightness and control of the outside shoulder. Ride the corners like quarter pirouettes and the straight lines like a straightness test.

If your horse can stay balanced here, the advanced work becomes much easier.

Dressage is often just simple things done exceptionally well.

equestrian horseeducation dressagelife

08/09/2026

Classical Training: The Rider, the Hypocrite, the Saint. Article on the Eurodressage website. Link in comments

05/09/2026

FEl rules state that “the movement of the fore and hind legs should reach equally forward in the moment of extension.”

The first photo therefore IS NOT CORRECT! It’s me so l am not offending anyone

Equine biomechanics expert Hilary Clayton
explains. “The photo with the more extravagant front leg and slower hind leg the movements of the fore and hind legs are no longer synchronised and the parallel relationship between the hind cannon and the forearm has been lost.
“For me this makes the gait somewhat impure because the diagonal limbs are not rotating synchronously.

The second photo? “I really like the photo (Photo 😎 where the hind cannons are parallel with the forearms which indicates that the movements of the diagonal limb pairs are correctly synchronised - in other words swinging forward (protracting) and swinging backward (retracting) synchronously,” Hilary explained. “Also the hind leg is stepping nicely forward. The horse is clearly in an uphill frame so I would anticipate that the hind hoof will contact the ground slightly before the diagonal front hoof (hind-first diagonal dissociation).

Full article here on eurodressage
https://eurodressage.com/2016/03/30/classical-training-what-correct

04/09/2026

It’s Time! 🤣🐴🥳

04/09/2026

What happens during your canter strike off?

For me there are obviously many elements involved in establishing a good canter seat, but it begins with one moment, and that moment must be repeated perfectly with each stride...
The canter strike off is fundamental in establishing a good quality canter, one that jumps off the ground into an open and elastic front. And a riders ability to create this perfect canter strike off is how they lay the foundations for a good canter seat.
Below are demonstrations of the simple change. Watch that the connection to the horses mouth, Al’s neck position, and the rein elasticity, remain constant throughout. This is how you establish a good canter seat, by learning how to follow the horses mouth into and out of the canter and then allowing your position to follow the natural energy of the horse. Learning how to create the perfect canter strike off, and then repeating that lovely circle of energy from back to front and into an elastic hand, with every stride.

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Ballarat Central, VIC

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