Fox Dressage
879 Kangaroo Rd V9C 4E2 Metchosin, BC, Canada

so much fun to watch

Diese Geschichte gehört allen Reiter.

Ingrid Klimke has the last word on stretching - with a quote from Reiner Klimke: He stretches from the wither, really down, and makes his neck really long, and... the nose forward, that is important. Some horses crawl behind the vertical, holding their nose very tight to their chest, then you feel that the back is still tight the stretching must be from the hindleg over a swinging loose back, and then stretch really down. You see how long his neck is and he is still saying,I know the way is free. My father always said, ‘think of stretching the nose to the sand’. https://www.horsemagazine.com//brilliant-basics-with-ingr/ See more

If you have trouble establishing bend at the start of the shoulder-in ... "It is useful to ride a 10-meter circle in the corner before starting down the long si...de. The circle establishes the bend and the balance between the inside leg and outside rein, which are then kept as you start down the long side." Walter Zettl Illustration by Sandy Rabinowitz

MIss this fella

With the new restrictions in place all riders are required to wear a mask in the barn. Family and friends please remain in your vehicles. Let's stay healthy!

This Remembrance Sunday, we're remembering the men, women and animals of war. This beautifully moving painting is called 'Goodbye Old Man' and shows a British s...oldier saying farewell to his dying horse. Painted by artist Fortunino Matania, it was commissioned by The Blue Cross Fund in 1916 to raise money to help relieve the suffering of horses on active service in Europe. Over one million horses saw service with the British Army during World War and we treated thousands. See more

After the time spent in Germany over the last couple of years immersing myself in classical dressage, and then the loss of our beloved Fox I have decided to rename the business Fox Dressage in that little red pony's memory.

A friend just up the road from the barn

To improve your horse’s balance on your chosen line of travel "Imagine that your eyes project a thin, thread-like cobweb connecting your horse to your destina...tion. When you glance down at your handseven for a split secondthis fragile cobweb gets cut and your horse loses his orientation and, therefore, his balance." Susanne von Dietze Illustration by Sandy Rabinowitz

So true your weight trumps your leg and hand aids at all times. So if you are unconsciously giving conflicting aids with your weight/seat and your legs or hands, you will usually not do what you expect him to do.

The term "soft mouth" is actually misleading, because it implies that horses slow down or stop as a result of pressure on the mouth, as if horses without bridl...es could not slow down or stop---Which they obviously can, even from a full tilt gallop, down a hill. The bit doesn't stop the horse. The bit transmits a signal to the horse's brain which puts in motion the mechanics of the body and legs that slow or stop forward motion. So the bit's action, when the training has been correct, transmits a conditioned response signal, which leads to a stop. The reason a hard galloping horse, like one out fox hunting or going upper level cross country, may need "more bit" is because the excitement of the gallop tends to shut off the ability to "read" the signal. It is not always possible to gallop safely without having better brakes, but the problem arises when the bigger brakes are used when the horse is calm enough or slow enough not to need them. Then all that stopping power creates a horse that gets scared of the hands, and pretty soon that conditioned response has been lost, and we say that the horse has gotten "hard in the mouth." He isn't actually hard in the mouth. He is too nervous or scared or deadened to be able to read and react to more subtle and gentle cues, so he FEELS dead in his mouth. Which leads to stronger and harsher stopping methods, and there you go----

This is the way youngsters should grow up.

I was scared today. I was scared to get on, scared to walk out the yard because I had a bad ride the day before. One bad ride, and it made me scared. I didn’t... know why. I’ve had 1000 bad rides. I’ve had 1000 falls. I’ve broken bones and bruised my pride on countless occasions, but today I was scared. Why? Because confidence is fragile. It takes months and years to build and seconds to lose and yet we are so careless with it. When we get on a horse, we wear a hat to protect our head. We wear body protectors, gloves, boots... We pay so much attention to protecting ourselves physically, we forget that our minds are not invincible, and our confidence certainly is not. Your bank of confidence needs regular deposits, not just from others... but from you. Self confidence is the most valuable currency in life. When you go to get on, and you hesitate, you falter and you start to ask yourself can I do this?, chances are, your account is almost empty. Every time you laugh and say oh no, I’m no good or so and so is 10x better than me, you make a withdrawal from that account, and before you know it, your account is empty and you’re scared to get on. But every time you say I’m really pleased with how that went or I think I rode that really well, your balance increases. We need to learn to give ourselves a break, pat ourselves on the back and allow ourselves to feel proud of where we are - after all, most of the time we’ve worked bloody hard to get there! Recognising your strengths is just as important as recognising your weaknesses. Never allow yourself or anyone else to empty that account. Confidence is valuable, don’t bankrupt yourself.

I've been reading some posts lately that essentially read: "I only trail ride, so I don't need any of that 'fancy' dressage stuff." Well, today, I had an experi...ence that I feel is relevant to that particular statement. There aren't any trails accessible from the barn where I board Ruger, so I've been taking him out on the open roads for some "trail riding." He's been an absolute prince, walking quietly past barking dogs, screaming kids, roofers, cars and delivery trucks, even trash cans blowing in the wind. It's been a great experience for him, and relaxing for both of us. Today, however, we rode past a field with some horses turned out in it. Upon seeing him, said horses came galloping, bucking, farting, toward him. It was a little much, and he tried to leave town. Now, I'll be brutally honest here: I'm not the rider that I once was. Injury, age, extra pounds, and a heightened sense of self-preservation as a mother, have made me much more vulnerable as a rider. Such is life. In that moment, atop my fleeing pony, I thought, "That road is gonna HURT if I fall off." He initially spooked left, and in an attempt to face the charging horses, he started to turn right, HARD. I felt myself slipping left, and in that moment I put my left leg on and straightened him into my right rein. He followed my direction, and came back to me quickly. Afterwards, I thought to myself, "Thank goodness he leg yields! Thank goodness he understands forward! Thank goodness he's light and on the aids!" Because, well, if he weren't, I'd probably be writing a MUCH different post. There's nothing "fancy" about learning how to get your horse on your aids. There's nothing "fancy" about getting your horse light. There's nothing "fancy" about learning the biomechanics of a horses' movement, and how your body interacts with that movement. Quite simply, it's SCIENCE. Do your damned dressage.

How incredible are these braids?! Photo: The Cheshire Horse - Anita Jaffe

What absolute pieces of garbage! The way this pony was treated is horrendous.

EQUINE BACK MOTION A lot of people have been asking on the earlier saddle post today about how much the horses back moves during exercise. There are a fair numb...er of papers now published on this but visuals are always good. Here is a short video of a horse walking and trotting on a treadmill viewed from above with painted markers along the spine and IMU's (orange) to record motion. Replayed at half normal speed Copyright Dr David Marlin 2020.

Please share with your horsey friends!

An insight into my French patisserie obsession and how I maintain this figure in spite of it. P.S. I lyk croissants

The amazing Simone Pearce, she’s come a long way, share her journey: When I first moved to Europe, the first thing my first boss said was look at her legs! She... cannot possibly be a professional with legs like that! That’s the first thing I heard when I’d just got off the plane from Australia, so it was a real struggle for me in the first twelve months a real struggle to get my legs still. https://www.horsemagazine.com//simone-pearce-shares-the-s/ See more