2012 NEDA Spring Symposium's Carol Lavell and Michael Poulin (Photo Courtesy of Carole MacDonald)

 

The New England Dressage Association (NEDA) continued to bring forward top educational opportunities for its members and dressage enthusiasts with their 2012 Spring Symposium taking place this past weekend. The Spring Symposium was held at Apple Knoll Farm in Millis, Massachusetts with Olympic Bronze Medalists…

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Perfect the Basics Clinic & Symposium Series with Olympian Belinda Trussell  

Final Date…

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Perfect the Basics Clinic & Symposium Series with Olympian Belinda Trussell returns

Saturday February 19, 2011!

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Perfect the Basics Clinic & Symposium #3…

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Perfect the Basics Clinic & Symposium Series with Olympian Belinda Trussell  …

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We had a clinic this past weekend with a very good clinician we've ridden with before. This week hasn't been all that great, Maggie dumping my trainer and all that, but, I expected a good ride. Now, we've been working on the trot with the girl, less on the canter. But, we were doing great, walk (quit moving so much), trot (softer and wait in the transition), and then the left lead canter, quite nice, developmental, but nice. Unfortunately, the right lead canter is not so good, so more right…

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Hello,

I have a 15-year old gelding – appaloosa/Clydesdale cross, Copper. My problem is that I am not confident enough to follow through with things that I ask him to do. This happens mainly when I ride him – he’s lazy and doesn’t want to go, or doesn’t want to go in the direction I want to go. That is partly because I don’t have a lot of experience with horses, but mostly because I saw Copper buck someone off that he didn’t like, and I don’t want that to happen to me! I know that he knows… Continue

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There was a… Continue

The Running Horse

A Bi-monthly Newsletter from Horse Play

Issue August-September 2010

Horse Play

EIN: 05-0506340

Website: www.hptrc.org

Email: horseplayri@msn.com

 

Message from Aidan – the Alpha Mare

Whew! Has it been hot, humid and buggy or what! Good weather for napping or just grazing – whichever. Haven’t been on the trail in…

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Does Your Horse’s Bit Fit Properly?





Dear Julie,

How do you know when a bit is properly sitting in the horse’s mouth? We have always heard that you look at the "wrinkles". However, this can be confusing to us.

Thank you,

Devonna



Devonna,

This is a confusing issue to lots of people and one that almost always comes up in my clinics. It’s an old-fashioned concept to say that the bit fits correctly when you see one or two wrinkles in the horse’s lips.… Continue

Hey all! Cool venue isn't it? Don't expect too much from me here... I will most likely update my own site. Later!

I am so excited to be involved in this premiere event for Canada! We are thrilled to be working with Heike under our 'Saddlefit4Life' system in Europe and have organized this weekend together with Jen Anstey of Horse Sport publications to afford interested riders in our area the opportunity to meet Heike and watch her teach. Here is the information Jen has published - we hope to see as many of you out at the reception and weekend as possible! For auditors it's free; for others it's $20. This is… Continue

We had a nice group at our clinic on April 11, 2009. As usual the day was fun and filled with lots of chatter and laughter. Gary enjoyed riding everyone's horses for them. We hope to see everyone out at more of our clinics over the next few months and hope to keep in touch.....

Thanks to everyone!

Hi,

The rider who submitted her photo and question for this weeks' blog has asked about a common issue I see quite a bit when doing clinics: getting a straighter back.



Depending on your physiology and your body's compensating patterns, your version of this problem might be completely different from your friends'. Even two people that look like they have the same posture in the saddle, might be that way for slightly different reasons. Of course, mounted posture takes into… Continue

Hello,

This weeks' participating rider sent in a very technical description of her question. You can see her description in the comments section of last weeks' blog. She gave me some excellent and specific information, but I wanted to hasten to encourage you that you don't have to be as technical. Just a description of what's happening when you ride that you'd like addressed with some unmounted suggestions, and a few photos suffices..even if you don't have a photo, we can still work with… Continue

Hi,

One of the discussion topics in the past week on this site has been around the problem of legs creeping forward when you ride. From what I see in clinics, this problem spans disciplines- it doesn't seem to matter whether you're in an English or Western saddle. Getting that heel more aligned under your hips is a challenge.

If you look at the past three weeks' worth of Ride… Continue

Hello, It's great to see how many people are practicing some off-horse fitness activity during the week to help their riding. You've posted some encouraging comments. If you recognize yourself in some of the photo examples- that's great! Don't be shy about sending in your photos or posting some video footage of your ride. I won't be analysing your riding overall...just providing feedback on things you can do… Continue

Hello,



Welcome to the second week of the Ride Better blog. We have had some encouraging comments, and one rider submitted photos for analysis and recommendations. While I CAN work with descriptions without photos, it is much better if you can send in photos. If you don't have the three postures such as we see in these first two examples, just some shots of you riding, and a side view or front or rear view would still be better than no photos at all.



And, once again, I'd just… Continue