Dressage Today

23/11/2024

🐴"Retaining a bit of the beginner’s attitude is a wonderful thing. It allows you to approach instruction with an open, trusting mind that will absorb the material offered by your instructor in the best possible way. As any good rider will tell you, the learning curve is not smooth. It's not a steady staircase. Some parts take a very long time, such as acquiring excellent basics. Some parts move along surprisingly quickly."🐴
~ USEF “R” dressage judge Cindy Sydnor reflects on the rider's learning process and the importance of keeping an open mind

To read more about the beauty of beginner rider's attitude, click on the link below.

Cindy Sydnor reflects on the rider's learning process and the importance of an open mind.

22/11/2024

🐴 Boost your horse’s health and performance with the SmartPak Performance Essentials Giveaway! Enter for your chance to win a bundle packed with everything your equine partner needs to feel and perform his best! 🐴

One lucky winner will receive a bundle designed to support peak performance and recovery! Don’t miss out on this amazing opportunity—enter now by clicking on the link below.

SmartPak

21/11/2024

DRESSAGE SOLUTIONS: To help you stay stable in the saddle while still allowing for your horse’s movement …

When you sit on your horse, imagine that you are the center tower of a suspension bridge. You have cables that stretch both forward and backward to various points on your horse’s topline that allow for movement between you and the cables. This helps to create balance, self-carriage and collection in your horse while you remain stable in the saddle.
~ Stephany Fish Crossman

Crossman is a USDF bronze and silver medalist as well as one of only nine accredited coaches for Mary Wanless’ Ride With Your Mind Biomechanics System in the U.S. Currently is based in Okeechobee, Florida, Crossman also cohosts our Dressage Today Podcast.

🎨 Sandy Rabinowitz

19/11/2024

🐴“Taking time to feel good and relax is a not a luxury. It's a necessity. But the key to feeling good in our hyper-drive stressful lives is being intentional about it. Do not let it become negotiable. The good news is that it only takes a moment. Take a few deep breaths, listen to a favorite song, look at a picture or video of the horse you love. You can endure hours of stress if you have moments of feeling good as a relief peppered in.”🐴
~ Sports psychologist Jenny Susser, on how our bodies, minds and spirits need to feel good every day in order to flourish

Giving yourself time to rest and recover is crucial for managing stress and balancing work and family obligations with your horse life. But taking the time to destress often creeps to the bottom of our to-do lists. Especially with the holidays fast approaching, which can induce anxiety for many, be sure to prioritize reducing stress in your life. Your horse will thank you!

For more on Susser’s advice for managing mental stress in both horse and rider, click on the link below.

Sport Psychologist Jenny Susser shares her tips to minimize stress for you and your equine partner.

10/11/2024

In the latest Training Buzz, sponsored by Purina Horse Feed, hear from retired FEI 5* judge Axel Steiner as he challenges a clinic participant to ride without stirrups as she schools First and Second Level movements on a schoolmaster. He suggests practicing this skill to work on the rider’s position and help activate the rider’s core muscles during the training session. 💪

Click the link below to listen in or find us wherever you get your podcasts! 🔊

Retired FEI 5* judge Axel Steiner coaches challenges a clinic participant to ride without stirrups to work on her position and core muscles.

08/11/2024

🐴"We might say that the sitting posture in riding is a hybrid of sitting and standing, but either way, we must unlearn the innate human instinct to find the ground (therefore safety and balance) with our legs. We learn to optimally give our weight into the saddle through a correctly aligned seat, which includes a mobile pelvis and softly draping legs."🐴
~ Dave Thind on riding without stirrups during No Stirrup November to develop a more independent seat

To read more on Thind's month-long commitment to improve your seat WITH or WITHOUT stirrups and his top tips for going sans stirrups, click on the link below.

Try these tips by Dave Thind to develop a more independent seat.

05/11/2024

🐴 The Joys of Horse Ownership! 🐴

04/11/2024

🐴 As a certified Personal Performance Coach from the Human Performance Institute in Orlando, Florida, Barbra Schulte has been coaching riders to perform under pressure and develop mental toughness to maximize their potential for the last 30 years.🐴

Shulte became intrigued by sports psychology after reading a book on mental toughness for athletes. The cutting horse trainer, who operates out of Brenham, Texas, started utilizing the techniques to improve her own performance in show ring and after experiencing remarkable results, she was eager to share her newfound success with fellow riders. Even though her passion is in the cutting pen, Shulte coaches riders of all disciplines and levels.

For more tips on setting healthy riding goals, re-evaluating your views of success and how to develop mental fitness, click on the link in the Comments below.

03/11/2024

🐴"Correct fit is the most important safety aspect of any blanket. A poorly fitting blanket can cause as much or more damage than a bad saddle due to the potential for sores or the threat of tangling a leg in a loose strap. A blanket should be loose enough to avoid rubbing, but the straps should be snug enough to prevent a horse from catching its leg."🐴
~ Marta Grandstedt, DVM

With Jack Frost just around the corner (albeit the highs are still in the 90s in my homebase of Dallas), it’s time to evaluate your turnout sheets and blankets—as well as any stable blankets or coolers you use throughout the colder months. To brush up on your blanket smarts and ensure you're blanketing your horse appropriately, click on the link below.

Veterinarians from across the country give insight to help you keep your horse happy and healthy under his blanket this winter.

01/11/2024

🐴“Go freely forward! You need a reaction from your horse's hind leg into your hand, letting him grow up bigger in front of you. But hind-end engagement is not addressed in isolation. The horse needs relaxation, suppleness, strength and responsiveness to the aids to connect that engagement through the whole body."🐴
~ German Olympian Ingrid Klimke on her freely forward mentality for achieving hind-end engagement in the latest edition of our Dressage Today Extra

In this issue, Klimke shares her freely forward training philosophy and explains how this mentality can improve your dressage horse's hind-end propulsion. Plus, learn how to recognize the early signs of sacroiliac joint issues. This all-important joint is key to your horse’s movement. Click on the link below to read!

This Dressage Today Extra is brought to you by Cosequin Equine.

German Olympian Ingrid Klimke shares her “freely forward” mentality for better hind-end engagement. Plus, learn how to recognize the early signs of sacroiliac joint issues to keep your horse performing his best.

01/11/2024

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31/10/2024

🐴👻"Horses are flight animals and given the right conditions, any horse has the potential to spook. But you can 'de-spook' them to some degree. Horses' herd instinct can actually help riders overcome spooking. When training properly, you and your horse essentially become a herd of two. Hopefully, with time, he learns to trust you as his leader, which eventually will give him confidence in your ability to keep him safe in scary situations."👻🐴
~ USDF FEI Certified Instructor Cindi Wylie

🎃Happy Halloween to you and your equine BFF!🎃 For more on Wylie's strategies to help your horse keep his cool in spooky settings, click on the link below.

Cindi Wylie helps a reader understand her horse's spooky behavior and explains how time, patience and proper training can give him confidence in scary situations.

30/10/2024

🐴"Skin is the largest organ of a horse’s body and one of the most vulnerable as it protects against an array of external threats such as bacteria, environmental allergens, chemicals and extreme temperatures. But good grooming and management practices can help keep your horse's skin healthy."🐴
~ Rosanna Marsella, DVM, DACVD

To learn how to recognize, treat and prevent a variety of common equine skin conditions, click on the link below.

How to recognize, treat and prevent a variety of common skin conditions that affect horses.

29/10/2024

🐴DRESSAGE SOLUTIONS:🐴 To post more efficiently for forward motion …

Imagine your body as a box with hinges at the hips. Keep your box square as you rise freely in the posting trot. This “squareness” (no tipping left or right) will keep your horse’s body traveling straight and forward, too.

— Janice Dulak, dressage rider and pilates instructor

28/10/2024

In the latest Training Buzz episode, sponsored by Cosequin Equine, hear from FEI dressage rider and trainer Ashley Donadt of Donadt Dressage as she shares strategies for dealing with competition nerves. 😰 She discusses acknowledging the source of your nerves to help take away their power, looking at the physical effects nerves have on your body and thinking about how your nerves are affecting your horse.

Click the link below to listen in or find us wherever you get your podcasts! ⬇️

Welcome to the Training Buzz sponsored by Cosequin. Hear a bit from FEI dressage rider and trainer Ashley Donadt as she shares strategies for dealing with competition nerves. She discusses acknowledging the source of your nerves to help take away their power, looking at the physical effects nerves h...

25/10/2024

🐴"The crisp autumn air has arrived and so has new growth on your horse’s coat. Seasonal transitions can pose challenges for your horse. During this time, he might become itchy and uncomfortable, but you can maintain his comfort and health through the seasons by developing a seasonal grooming routine."🐴
~ Grooming pro Cat Hill

For Hill's top tips on how to transition your horse's coat for the changing seasons, click on the link below.

Grooming expert Cat Hill answers this reader question.

24/10/2024

🐴”I think breast cancer opened my mind in ways that never would have happened otherwise. I often just stop to appreciate the beauty and wonder in my life and rejoice daily in my ability to ride these wonderful horses. Prior to my diagnosis, I had always taken how my body worked for granted. That attitude has changed forever. My passion for horses helped me tremendously, and I truly hope these magical creatures can help others during their treatment and recovery."🐴
~ Grand Prix dressage trainer Shannon Dueck after riding through her breast-cancer diagnosis

In 2009, Dueck’s life forever changed when she, her mother and her aunt were all diagnosed with breast cancer. To read more on how horses and dressage helped the horsewoman through her physical and mental recovery, click on the link below.

PINK-RIBBON RIDERS: Do you have a barn friend who’s a breast cancer survivor or one undergoing treatment? Take the time to reach out and schedule a fun ride or lunch together or surprise her in a group lesson by planning an all-pink saddle pad and polo day. Or, just let her know you care by sending flowers or something unique and horse-related along with kind note.

Grand Prix dressage trainer Shannon Dueck discusses horses, happiness and how battling cancer transformed her attitude forever.

23/10/2024

🐴"Too-tight muscles in your legs combined with outside rotation will tense up your seat and hip muscles, making a deep seat impossible. Letting your knee point forward and keeping your heel out helps your whole leg and hip become supple, allowing a deeper contact with your seat bones in the saddle and more freedom of your pelvis to follow the horse’s movement."🐴
~ Equestrian biomechanics' expert Susanne von Dietze

Learn how to resolve tension in your legs to improve your seat with von Dietze's tips by clicking on the link below.

Susanne von Dietze critiques Sandy Vennemann on Boomer