Hill Haven Stable

03/10/2025

My favourite exercise.

🐴 Spiral In and Out on a Circle

Spiral in and out on a circle is a FABULOUS exercise for horse and rider. Spiral in tests the rider's ability to control the outside shoulder of the horse, and to keep forward impulsion in the horse while directing them into a smaller circle. If ridden correctly, it increases the engagement of the outside hind leg, and can help bring the horse into collection. Spiral out tests the rider's ability to engage the horse's inside hind leg while controlling the outside shoulder to keep the horse straight in the body. It also teaches horse and rider the concept of riding from the inside leg to the outside hand. Done correctly, it's a great suppling exercise.

Click on the link below to learn how to do it! 👇👇👇

https://www.myvirtualeventingcoach.com/articles/spiral_in_and_out_on_a_circle

02/11/2025

Jokers Hill was a huge horse facility near Toronto back in 1973 when we took House Guest to compete in an advanced 3 day event there.

The high reach device in the background was where Robert Heath, the announcer, was stationed. From that vantage point he could see most of the cross country course, and there was a loud speaker system that boomed out over that entire property.

In those days, before so many northern riders went south for the winter, the eventing season was short in North America, but of high quality, and Canada was in many ways more of a leader in promoting the fledgling sport than was the USA.

Both countries had access then to good Thoroughbred horses, and both countries had gold medal winning teams in international competition during the 1970s.

Both countries rolled over, though, when the FEI changed the sport to one which favored warmbloods, and in recent times both countries have struggled.

02/01/2025

01/19/2025

If you are taking jumping lessons, and have progressed past the basic stages, but you have not yet been taught how to walk distances, ask your teacher to show you how to do this basic piece of the jumping puzzle.

Very often the rails that we use are exactly 12 feet long, which happens to be approximately the same length as the normal canter stride between jumps. So you can use them to walk along to see if you can nail it in 4 of your strides.

Most course designers go on the assumption that a horse takes off about six feet in front of a jump and lands about six feet beyond the jump, and takes 12 foot strides as he canters/gallops.

That’s how we get those “normal” distances. A one stride will be 6 feet for the landing, 12 feet for the one stride, 6 feet for the takeoff. So, 6 plus 12 plus 6 equals 24. And so on for longer distances, just add another 12 feet for each new stride.

(Distances in trotting gymnastic lines will be shorter, and over very small jumps, and for ponies, more to learn.)

If math confuses you, ask your teacher to simplify this You HAVE TO learn this stuff.

01/03/2025

There are probably quite a few riders who consistently have great posture every ride, every time, but if so, I have never been one of them.

I have to actively think about staying upright, chin up, shoulders back and down. Now, for sure, I could drag out a litany of excuses, that I spend long hours hacking, that I’ve had various injuries, lots of wear and tear over many decades, you know the drill.

But nobody cares about the Excuse Train, because that’s a train to Nowhere Land.

If you/I/we/they want good posture, the Sit-Up-Tall fairy doesn’t generally come floating down from the sky with her magic wand, one tap on our slouched shoulders and we are transformed.

Being tall and open and looking up is a habit, just as having rounded shoulders and looking down is a habit. So maybe try to make THIS effort---When you are actually schooling, and where your balance counts more, make a special effort that for those minutes you’ll temporarily hop off the Excuse Train.

It can’t do any harm to try----.

12/20/2024

DRESSAGE SOLUTIONS: To encourage your horse to seek the connection and reach into both reins when asking him to stretch forward and down …

Close your leg and give your reins forward, thinking of the reins as telephone lines where the messages can be sent and received only if the circuit is not broken or loopy.
~ Karen Adams

Karen Adams is s a retired U.S. Equestrian Federation “R” dressage judge, instructor and coach in Keedysville, Maryland. Previously, she was the head instructor at Linda Zang’s Idlewilde Farm and competed through Prix St. Georges.

🎨 Sandy Rabinowitz

08/17/2024

Carl Hester tells us:
“Self-carriage is really easy to see. It’s that tension into the hand that we were talking about with Valegro, the first place you see it is through the whole of the top line of the horse. The best thing you can do for self-carriage is the give and re-take of the reins. It is amazing how you forget to do that when you ride on your own. That constant giving the hand, taking, giving, taking, making sure that the outline is stable, the mouth is soft. You only have to look at the mouth to know how it is working, the horse is carrying its own head and neck. People that ride on their own, it can be something that they forget they are doing, people put in too much power and that’s why they find self-carriage difficult, and I always think you’ve got to create balance and then put power in, that way around.”
https://www.horsemagazine.com/thm/2021/02/balance-self-carriage-and-the-importance-of-rider-position/

07/05/2024

To avoid overriding your horse… Use your aids only when you feel the horse is beginning to disrespect them. You can compare this to a kick-sled—when it has picked up the desired speed, you stop pushing it and only push it again when it starts to slow down.—Kyra Kyrklund

Kyra Kyrklund represented Finland at the 1990, 1994, 1998 and 2006 World Equestrian Games. This solution originally appeared in her book, Dressage
with Kyra.

06/28/2024

Things your riding instructor wants you to know:
1. This sport is hard. You don't get to bypass the hard…..every good rider has gone through it. You make progress, then you don't, and then you make progress again. Your riding instructor can coach you through it, but they cannot make it easy.

2. You're going to ride horses you don't want to ride. If you're teachable, you will learn from every horse you ride. Each horse in the barn can teach you if you let them. IF YOU LET THEM. Which leads me to…

3. You MUST be teachable to succeed in this sport. You must be teachable to succeed at anything, but that is another conversation. Being teachable often means going back to basics time and time and time again. If you find basics boring, then your not looking at them as an opportunity to learn. Which brings me to…..

4. This sport is a COMMITMENT. Read that, then read it again. Every sport is a commitment, but in this sport your teammate weighs 1200 lbs and speaks a different language. Good riders don't get good by riding every once in awhile….they improve because they make riding a priority and give themsevles opportunity to practice.

5. EVERY RIDE IS AN OPPORTUNITY. Even the walk ones. Even the hard ones. Every. Single. Ride. Remember when you just wished someone would lead you around on a horse? Find the happiness in just being able to RIDE. If you make every ride about what your AREN'T doing, you take the fun out of the experience for yourself, your horse, and your instructor. Just enjoy the process. Which brings me to...

6. Riding should be fun. It is work. and work isn't always fun.....but if you (or your rider) are consistently choosing other activities or find yourself not looking forward to lessons, it's time to take a break. The horses already know you don't want to be here, and you set yourself up for failure if you are already dreading the lesson before you get here.

7. You'll learn more about horses from the ground than you ever will while riding. That's why ground lessons are important, too. If you're skipping ground lessons (or the part of your lesson that takes place on the ground), you're missing out on the most important parts of the lesson. You spend far more time on the ground with horses than you do in the saddle.

8. Ask questions and communicate. If you're wondering why your coach is having you ride a particular horse or do an exercise, ask them. Then listen to their answer and refer to #3 above.

9. We are human beings. We make decisions (some of them life and death ones) every day. We balance learning for students with workloads for horses and carry the bulk of this business on our shoulders. A little courtesy goes a long way.

Of all the sports your child will try through their school years, riding is one of 3 that they may continue regularly as adults (golf and skiing are the others). People who coach riding spend the better part of their free time and much of their disposable income trying to improve their own riding and caring for the horses who help teach your child. They love this sport and teaching others…..but they all have their limits. Not all good riders are good coaches, but all good coaches will tell you that the process to get good is not an easy one.

📝 Kimberley Reynolds

📸 Max & Maxwell: Equestrian Photography

06/17/2024

Just hanging out. The newest member of the Hill Haven Team. Tanner!

05/04/2024

It’s that time of year again to focus on our own riding fitness. Abbey Road Fitness once again is offering a program on Wednesday evenings at 5:30 at Hill Haven for a group of riders looking to improve their own fitness. PM for more information if interested.

04/26/2024

More words from the wise- RS Training
Today I want to address something that can be quite a challenge for many riders...

The flying changes.

One horse has it completely under control, while another struggles greatly with it.

Some riders keep trying endlessly to execute a correct change.

But it's important to realize that in most cases, the issue does not lie with executing the change itself.

Because almost always, the cause of problems with flying changes is something else.

Namely, the quality of the canter.

One of the things that becomes apparent is that it ultimately comes down to your horse's balance.

To what extent is your horse balanced when riding the diagonal and does he stay balanced as you prepare for the flying change?

Do you notice your horse starting to push more onto the forehand and feel an increase in rein pressure? Do you notice your horse beginning to fall apart a bit in the canter?

These are all signs that are not conducive to executing a good flying change.

Because a horse that canters with too much weight on the forehand can never execute a nice change.

People often want to think about riding certain lines or exercises to improve flying changes. That there might be a handy trick.

I certainly talk about this and that in the Grand Prix Course, and there are definitely tricks that can help, but the most important thing is the quality of the canter.

So focus primarily on that if you want to improve flying changes.

Pay attention to the 'front-back' balance and the 'right-left' balance.

To prepare your horse for the change, you can move sideways a few steps in canter, making your horse a bit more 'hollow' towards the side he needs to change towards.

This creates shoulder freedom that your horse needs to execute a good change.

Do this first without immediately attempting a change, as you may lose some balance or notice your horse becoming a bit tense.

Only when the canter remains good can you attempt the change.

04/20/2024

Copied from RS Training

When you're training your horse, you're essentially focused on one thing.

Influencing the balance positively.

As you probably know, there are different stages of balance.

When you start with a young horse, it likely carries more weight on the forehand (which is natural for horses).

Through proper training, you aim to shift more weight towards the hindquarters.

This way, the hindquarters assume a supportive role rather than merely a pushing one.

An exercise I often use to improve balance is shoulder-in.

It's a commonly practiced exercise but not so easy to execute correctly.

Think for a moment, what do you do with your inside leg when riding shoulder-in?

Many people push their inside leg slightly back, but that's actually cheating.

You're pushing the hindquarters outward instead of having the horse place its forehand slightly inward.

This diminishes the exercise's gymnastic effect.

Because you want to position the shoulders inward, allowing the inside hind leg to bear more weight, resulting in an upward movement.

Next time, pay close attention—are you truly riding shoulder-in, or are you actually pushing the hindquarters out? 🤔

01/16/2024

To create the soft, downward transitions that you want to feel with your horse...

Imagine that your transitions land gently, like a leaf floating to the earth.—Kathy Connelly

🎨: Sandy Rabinowitz