If your horse is ‘lazy’, ride a lot of transitions. Right?
Perhaps you’ve heard this phrase before: If your horse is ‘lazy’, then you have to ride a lot of transitions within the gait. Then he will react better to your leg aids and become more active. But is that really the case? Transitions within the gait means riding forward and also taking back the pace. […]
Learn how to ride your horse in his natural balance
IN THIS LESSON Rider: Nicole Horse: Kenzy (5 years old) Biggest challenge at the moment: “Ride my horse active/ in front of my leg” After the warm-up, Rien explains how he thinks that Nicole can improve her horse. The horse should move more in his natural balance. At the moment the head of Kenzy is […]
Most common mistakes when straightening your horse.
Got the idea that your horse is not entirely straight? That can be right! Because every horse is somehow crooked. Just like we are left- or right-handed, every horse has a preference for the right or left hand by nature. Therefore, we often speak of left-bent or right-bent horses. With a right-bent horse, the left […]
A tip to check whether you’ve got the right connection
When do you have the right connection? Is that when your horse walks in a certain position? And how does that differ between a young horse and a horse that competes at the highest level? Rien van der Schaft has a very handy check that applies to both a young horse and a horse that […]
Tempo and transitions: 3 tips for more collection
If you want to work towards collection, changes of tempo and transitions are very useful exercises. But… only if you perform them well. Only then your horse gets better from it and will place more weight on the hindquarter. But when do you perform a ‘transition’ or a ‘change of tempo’ well? Before you’re going […]
The Circle of Energy: how, what and why?
A good connection, that’s what we all want… but how do we accomplish this? What if your horse wants to curl up or keeps taking over the tempo? Or gets tense when you try to ride him towards the hand? Rien explains it according to the Circle of Energy. What is meant with the Circle […]
8 tips to warm up your horse in the right way
A successful training session starts with warming up your horse in the right way. If you warm up well, your horse will be supple and respond actively to your aids. Besides, warming up correctly is crucial if you want to prevent injuries! But what’s the right way to warm up your horse? Maybe you find […]
Riding from back to front with a loose rein, is that possible?
Riding from back to front with a loose rein, is that possible? There are a lot of different ways in which you can ride your horse from back to front. But they all have got one thing in common: a correct connection. But can you also ride a horse from back to front when you […]
From collected walk to collected trot: Rien van der Schaft gives advice
From collected walk to collected trot: Rien van der Schaft gives advice Going from collected walk to collected trot might sound easier said than done. Maybe your horse keeps going into canter or does he only make his movement bigger instead of more collected. So how can you correctly go into a collected trot? A […]
Create more impulsion within your horse using these tips
Did your protocol ever say ‘more impulsion’? It might be difficult to get more impulsion within your horse without rushing him forward. But you also want to keep the relaxation. Where do you draw the line and how do you create more impulsion? A member of Rien van der Schaft’s online training asked us that question during […]
