Breeden Equine International

04/01/2023

Things your riding instructor wants you to know:
1. This sport is hard. You don't get to bypass the hard…..every good rider has gone through it. You make progress, then you don't, and then you make progress again. Your riding instructor can coach you through it, but they cannot make it easy.

2. You're going to ride horses you don't want to ride. If you're teachable, you will learn from every horse you ride. Each horse in the barn can teach you if you let them. IF YOU LET THEM. Which leads me to…

3. You MUST be teachable to succeed in this sport. You must be teachable to succeed at anything, but that is another conversation. Being teachable often means going back to basics time and time and time again. If you find basics boring, then your not looking at them as an opportunity to learn. Which brings me to…..

4. This sport is a COMMITMENT. Read that, then read it again. Every sport is a commitment, but in this sport your teammate weighs 1200 lbs and speaks a different language. Good riders don't get good by riding every once in awhile….they improve because they make riding a priority and give themsevles opportunity to practice.

5. EVERY RIDE IS AN OPPORTUNITY. Even the walk ones. Even the hard ones. Every. Single. Ride. Remember when you just wished someone would lead you around on a horse? Find the happiness in just being able to RIDE. If you make every ride about what your AREN'T doing, you take the fun out of the experience for yourself, your horse, and your instructor. Just enjoy the process. Which brings me to...

6. Riding should be fun. It is work. and work isn't always fun.....but if you (or your rider) are consistently choosing other activities or find yourself not looking forward to lessons, it's time to take a break. The horses already know you don't want to be here, and you set yourself up for failure if you are already dreading the lesson before you get here.

7. You'll learn more about horses from the ground than you ever will while riding. That's why ground lessons are important, too. If you're skipping ground lessons (or the part of your lesson that takes place on the ground), you're missing out on the most important parts of the lesson. You spend far more time on the ground with horses than you do in the saddle.

8. Ask questions and communicate. If you're wondering why your coach is having you ride a particular horse or do an exercise, ask them. Then listen to their answer and refer to #3 above.

9. We are human beings. We make decisions (some of them life and death ones) every day. We balance learning for students with workloads for horses and carry the bulk of this business on our shoulders. A little courtesy goes a long way.

Of all the sports your child will try through their school years, riding is one of 3 that they may continue regularly as adults (golf and skiing are the others). People who coach riding spend the better part of their free time and much of their disposable income trying to improve their own riding and caring for the horses who help teach your child. They love this sport and teaching others…..but they all have their limits. Not all good riders are good coaches, but all good coaches will tell you that the process to get good is not an easy one.

*thank you to whoever wrote this! Not my words, but certainly a shared sentiment!

03/26/2023

"Take your reins like a flower, not like a stone. Take your horse by your waist and by your seat, not by your hand and never by force. If you do it by force, it is not the art of riding, it is something else." ~ Nuno Oliveira

03/09/2023

Love this exercise! Love the focus on shoulder in vs leg yield- a much too often used exercise

𝗛𝗲𝗹𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗔 𝗛𝗼𝗿𝘀𝗲 𝗪𝗵𝗼 𝗛𝗼𝗹𝗱𝘀 𝗜𝘁𝘀 𝗕𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗵 - 𝗜𝗜

𝘞𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘣𝘺 𝘊𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘓𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘩, 𝘗𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘥𝘏𝘰𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴

Shoulder In-Out Moving out to the Track or Shoulder Fore Out Moving Out to the Track are exercises In-Hand and Dressage expert Manolo Mendez uses in-hand and under saddle.

This is one of Manolo’s favorite pattern to introduce Shoulder Fore and Shoulder-In but the movement also has a great built in benefit which is that it helps horses that are fearful or anxious and holding their breath, breathe better.

To purchase your streaming copy of the "In-Hand Lessons With Manolo Mendez: An Introduction to Working In-Hand" DVD go to:

https://vimeo.com/ondemand/inhandlessonswithmanolo

We have shown you how to do this movement in-hand in a video in another post. This is how to ride it.

Shoulder-In Out To The Track or the Candy Cane is an exercise Manolo uses daily and adapts to each horse he rides by modifying the size of the circle he starts with.

You would always start with a larger half circle (see below)
to make learning the movement easier for the horse.

Here is a description that was written by Monica Whitmer, a trainer, clinic participant and keen observer:

"Shoulder-In Moving Out To The Track is also known as the Candy Cane exercise.This Shoulder-In on the diagonal is a trademark pattern Manolo uses as soon as a horse is working with some balance. Manolo also calls it a Shoulder -In (moving) Out.

How to ride one:

If you are tracking right, you would ride a 15 meter (approximately) half circle right at H and then just before you complete the half circle, when the shoulders are pointed towards B, you would ride a shoulder in on that diagonal line.

It might SEEM like a leg yield but the main difference is that the horse is bent, not straight, the shoulders are leading, and the legs are crossing on 3 tracks.

The leg yield is on 4 tracks and in Manolo’s opinion 4 tracks disconnects the body.

In his opinion, the horse cannot really cross the hind legs without hitting himself, unless he rotates his pelvis backwards to make room – this then encourages a hollow back which is the antithesis of what he wants to develop in a young horse.

Shoulder Fore and Shoulder In are much better first lateral exercises.

You could try to just teach Shoulder-In along the rail, but then the young horse runs a risk of hitting the rails, and he is drawn to the rail, so you are fighting his natural tendencies.

By riding the Candy Cane, you cash in on the horse’s desire to get to the rail, since he already wants to move in that direction, you get to simply shape how he moves there.

With a very green or stiff horse, you might even start with an 18 meter circle, so you do just a few simple steps of the Shoulder In Moving Out.

As the horse understands the exercise, and develops his muscles, suppleness and balance, you can do a 12 meter half circle, and eventually even a 10 meter half circle.

It is important to ride this pattern correctly:

🔹 You do not ride the complete half circle, because then you would break the line of travel.

🔹 You come out of it early, so the horse can move on one steady bend.

🔹 It is also important that the riders sit towards the line of travel:

Too often a rider over works the inside leg and gets their body folded with their shoulders leaning away from where they want the horse to go.

🔹 It is also important that the inside leg be applied AT the girth. If the leg is placed further back, you move the hind quarters. Some horses already naturally run quicker in the back, so letting the leg slip back only worsens that.

🔹The hands lead the motion. For a shoulder in traveling to the left, as in the example above- the hands shift so that the right hand is near the withers, the right leg is close to the girth, and the riders body weight is to the left.

🔹 As you finish the movement the rider should soften their hands and look for the horse to offer to stretch down and out – opening the topline as you come onto a straight line making sure your hands are even and looking straight ahead.

🔹 You do not want to work at too steep an angle or the horse will lock up. Manolo says the shoulder in moving out is like breaking ground with a grader, it breaks the ground at an angle..."

🔹 It is extremely important that as the horse reaches the track the rider STRAIGHTEN THEMSELVES and the horse and rides the horse straight forward equally in two reins, encouraging the horse to lengthen and stretch its topline.

The most common mistake with this exercise is the rider forgetting to straighten themselves and the horse, and riding the shoulder in with too much contact so that the horse gets crooked instead of bent.

https://vimeo.com/ondemand/inhandlessonswithmanolo

02/20/2023

I always say, focus on the positive… with horses, with kids, with spouses…

01/29/2023

01/29/2023

Such a lovely picture that shows engagement and throughness.. and the message is spot on

This is fundamental advice regardless of the discipline in which you ride, I have built my method and career around all of this, if you
Study the greatest horsemen in the world you will see all of the points in action. This was said by one of the best modern horsemen bill steinkrause.

“No. 1. Get your tack and equipment just right, and then forget about it and concentrate on the horse.

No. 2. The horse is bigger than you are, and it should carry you. The quieter you sit, the easier this will be for the horse.

No. 3. The horse's engine is in the rear. Thus, you must ride your horse from behind, and not focus on the forehand simply because you can see it.

No. 4. It takes two to pull. Don't pull. Push.

No. 5. For your horse to be keen but submissive, it must be calm, straight and forward.

No. 6. When the horse isn`t straight, the hollow side is the difficult side.

No. 7. The inside rein controls the bending, the outside rein controls the speed.

No. 8. Never rest your hands on the horse's mouth. You make a contract with it: "You carry your head and I'll carry my hands."

No. 10. Once you've used an aid, put it back.

No. 11. You can exaggerate every virtue into a defect.

No. 12. Always carry a stick, then you will seldom need it.

No. 13. If you`ve given something a fair trial, and it still doesn't work, try something else—even the opposite.

No. 14. Know when to start and when to stop. Know when to resist and when to reward.

No. 15. If you're going to have a fight, you pick the time and place.

No. 16. What you can't accomplish in an hour should usually be put off until tomorrow.

No. 17. You can think your way out of many problems faster than you can ride your way out of them.

No. 18. When the horse jumps, you go with it, not the other way around.

No. 19. Don`t let over-jumping or dull routine erode the horse's desire to jump cleanly. It's hard to jump clear rounds if the horse isn't trying.

No. 20. Never give up until the rail hits the ground.

No. 21. Young horses are like children—give them a lot of love, but don't let them get away with anything.

No. 22. In practice, do things as perfectly as you can; in competition, do what you have to do.

No. 23. Never fight the oats.

No. 24. The harder you work, the luckier you get."

~Bill Steinkraus

01/27/2023

Thanku so much to Scarlett and kimber for giving me the opportunity to listen to this horse and develop a game plan for getting u guys back on track! Lovely TB, she has quite a future ahead!

01/27/2023

Absolute

Over the week we discussed the first three signs of incorrect riding. The false bend, the disturbed coordination in the gaits, and the false collection.

But when you ride your horse in an incorrect way, the risk of injuries will also increase.

Neck injuries, especially in the lower cervical area (the circle in the picture), like arthrosis, can occur due to overextension when the head-neck is lifted without lifting the withers.

Your horse can have this problem even without you noticing it in the riding.

But very often you see symptoms like an unsteady connection, difficulties with bending, collecting, and even your horse being lame.

That’s why this is an important subject to discuss.

If you're curious about the two other problem areas due to incorrect riding 👇
https://rsriding.com/dressage-games

Source Image: L. Theunissen

10/04/2022