Written by Wendy Murdoch This article originally appeared in Eclectic Horseman Issue No.38 In the past several articles, I have given you some practical exercises to improve mobility in your hip joints (EH #35), find even weight distribution on your two seat bones using a physioball (EH#36) and how to use a blood pressure cuff […]
Written by Wendy Murdoch Have you ever heard the term half-halt and wondered what it meant? Have you wondered how to ride a half-halt? Maybe you have never heard of this term at all, but you are looking for a way to control your horse without using your hands. In this article I am going […]
Written by Terry Church This article originally appeared in Eclectic Horseman Issue No.41 The idea for the “Pyramid of Training,” or training scale, was first conceived in Europe by a General von Redwitz and a Colonel Hans von Heydebreck in 1912, and was later included in the official German training manual after W.W.II. Today in […]
Written by Wendy Murdoch This article originally appeared in Eclectic Horseman Issue No.33 Recently I have come across a number of students who think that the seat is all that is required to make their horse go forward. This is an admirable goal and can be seen with a finished horse, one that has had […]
Written by Wendy Murdoch This article originally appeared in Eclectic Horseman Issue No.31 – Subscribe today! Contact – A Defining Quality How many times do you end a conversation by shaking someone’s hand, giving him or her a hug or saying “keep in touch”? Isn’t it interesting that we end verbal conversations with physically orientated acts […]
Written by Wendy Murdoch The time has come in this ongoing series of articles on lateral work to talk about the rider’s aids. In the last two articles I discussed the importance of riding accurate circles to improve your horse’s suppleness and begin lateral bending. I have intentionally given you exercises that did not require […]
Written by Bettina Drummond This article originally appeared in Eclectic Horseman Issue No.29 Baucherist balance and contact The title photo illustrates the descente de main and the use of the seat in a circular, kinetic pattern. This Piaffe is used to develop roundness to the hand by releasing both ends of the horse simultaneously into […]
Written by Wendy Murdoch This article originally appeared in Eclectic Horseman Issue No.28 “We cannot monitor the horse’s understanding of our communications, we cannot evaluate his physical progress in balance and suppleness or engagement and collection without moving on precisely defined patterns…. Of all the patterns available, none is more important than the circle when riding on […]
This article originally appeared in Eclectic Horseman Issue No.27 Written by Wendy Murdoch Many riders struggle to apply their weight aids correctly. While your dressage instructor may clearly tell you where to have your weight for a variety of movements including canter departs, shoulder-in, haunches-in and half-pass, your attempts may not yield the results that […]
Written by Wendy Murdoch Previously I have discussed a simplified model of looking at the rider’s and the horse’s skeleton using the analogy of a bowling ball (the head), a flexible straw (the spine), a bowl (the pelvis) and one or two pairs of stilts (human or horse, respectively). In Eclectic Horseman Issue No.14 I […]