Leg Up Equestrian Enterprises

09/18/2024

Any students want to voiunteer on some school horses???

09/18/2024

Hopefully I will have more time to play with this on my horses soon :)

09/18/2024

This is SUCH a great photo of what you SHOULD look like over a fence!! LOVE IT........visualize yourself doing THIS :)

“MILITARY” Riders---

Anyone who started to ride 50 or more years ago in any of the so called Olympic disciplines, dressage, show jumping and eventing, will remember just how many of the instructors we had were either former or current military men.

And from so many different countries, Poland, England, Germany, Hungary, Russia, Holland, USA, Canada, France, Czechoslovakia, others, and many of them here in the USA were recent arrivals from war ravaged Europe.

I don’t know who this rider in the photo is, or where he came from, or what year this was, but he exemplifies the solid and classical correctness that used to be a hallmark of riders who’d been taught by cavalry officers.

Most of them taught in similar fashion to the way they themselves had learned, rather formal, probably too “disciplined” in approach to be tolerated by modern Americans----Yes sir, no sir, thank you very much sir---Strict but almost never insulting, although some equated the two.

But the riders who could handle the discipline and the structure came away as good riders. That era is now quite far in the rear view mirror. And it’s like that meme we see---“Most of you never took lessons from military riders and it shows---.”

09/18/2024

:) LOVE "contact is a destination NOT a stop sign "

09/18/2024

Very interesting video........students learn to ride in a manner that you can HELP your horse achieve a better alignment/ better balance etc.....it is up to US to educate ourselves and try and do the very best we can for our horses to allow them to live long and healthy lives:)

09/17/2024

The left image is from the Cadre Noir, Saumur France, 1991 manual. It is incredibly dense with information. The two dotted vertical lines reference the changes in leg movements as a horse goes from a standing halt to collection. The forelegs, actually the foot falls, remain in the same relative place in relation to the front dotted line as collection increases. The hind footfalls move forward away from the hind dotted line as collection increases.

The solid vertical line image in the top Saumur image shows how the hind legs or footfalls are inside the hind vertical dotted line in the halt. As collection increases in the middle and bottom images the solid horizontal "line of impulsion", rises in an upward angle with the increase of collection.

The right image is of Secretariat in full extension. Secretariat redefined extension when he won the Belmont Stakes, a 1.5 mile (2.4 km) track, in a record 2 minutes and 24 seconds. He won that race by 31 lengths. Note that Secretariat's yellow line of impulsion is completely horizontal just like the horse in the Saumur diagram that is standing still.

Today, the average North American rider doesn't care about or understand the biomechanics of equine extension or collection. As a result, riders don't care about the distinction between how to properly control their horse's speed in collection versus when in extension. These distinctions have become one blurred thing for many riders, so they just "pull on the reins", but bits are not brakes.

Because bits are not brakes, we must control the speed of our horses differently when in collection versus in extension. For example, when we are fox hunting, playing polo or on a fast trail ride, our horse is in extension. If we pull in the reins to slow our horse and we inadvertently collect our horse to slow down, we lose the horizontal line of impulsion and we fall behind. Therefore, we must learn to maintain the extension line of impulsion while adjusting our speed. This is called "rating" your horse as opposed to collecting your horse.

If we are riding in a collected gait, we usually want to maintain an upward line of impulsion while we slow our horse. This involves applying a different combination of the aids than when we want to slow an extended horse.

At this time, I am not going to go into the details of the differences between properly slowing a horse in collection versus when in extension. That would include the differences in the use of the aids for each and it's complicated, so that is a discussion for another time.

Later I will explain the differences in use of the aids, changes in the rider's balance and other distinctions between rating or collecting. That discussion requires more vocabulary with specific horsemanship terms that include "cadence", a regular and repeated pattern of activity. It also requires the word "tempo", the rate of motion or activity. It's cadence = regular pattern, and tempo = rate of motion. We will get to this, but for now understanding that there is a distinction between controlling speed in either collection or extension is enough to consider because many people don't.

09/16/2024

Well it has been a loooong and stressful past 6months fraught with uncertainty! But I promised to try and fulfill my commitment to you my students to somehow still get you to your shows that you/we had been working to prepare for all winter.....for those of you who stayed equally committed what a last show you had! :) ALL of you getting your personal bests this year and several getting so close to that 70%( All of you either on a new horse/ a new higher level or trying something new like a Freestyle ) you can all be very proud of yourselves! I know watching you all go yesterday I WAS!! :) "THANK YOU" to you the SHOW TEAM who ALWAYS does me proud and to ALL the other students for "hanging in there" and supporting Leg Up Equestrian :) Also very happy to announce our story /your story is not over yet ;) We will once again be relocating to a facility much closer to London so looking forward to continue our work to prepare for next year :)

On a side note :)
We will be retiring our VERY MUCH LOVED " Taxi " (AKA Cab Fare ) who we have had the IMMENSE pleasure of owning the past 18 years and he will be returning to the girl ( Meagan ), now grown young married lady with a little girl( and a couple of nieces ) of her own who he will no doubt be spoiled to no end by!!! We will be having a little going away party for Taxi on Sept the 28th so anyone who wants to stop in to say GOODBYE and sign his retirement card please do so( between noon and 2 ) Taxi how can I EVER "THANK YOU" enough for being such a fabulous school pony!!??? You have taught SO MANY riders( Mostly young but some not so young )to ride and have their first SHOW experience...always with patience/ care / confidence and the occasional "Sassy moment" earning them and YOU so many well deserved Awards...To say WE WILL MISS YOU is a GROSS UNDERSTATEMENT but I want to let you go while you are still a little sassy and can enjoy hopefully many days/years ahead with a little lighter load ( I am bawling my eyes out typing this, too many tears this past 6 months )......I wish you well with all the love in my heart knowing you will have the best of care. Meagan please send us updates as many here would love to see them :)

Send a message to learn more

09/11/2024

Sonny, a teenaged Shetland x pony, had frequent bouts of laminitis. Eventually he was diagnosed with PPID and EMS and x-rays showed a considerable dorsal angle due to a large laminar wedge, some...

09/08/2024

Horse are not a phase 🥰 ❣ 💓 ❥ 💑 💜

09/08/2024

While I want to fill your heads with as much technical knowledge as I can I REALLY want to "light a FIRE ' in you to have passion for horses and your riding!:)

The art of teaching is the art of assisting discovery.
– Mark Van Doren
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www.youtube.com/ZeeClicks

09/06/2024

Always good to hear it/read it from another source!!

Please share with your horsey friends!

09/06/2024

You never know how close you are. Never give up on your dream. Disappointment is inevitable but discouragement is a choice. Never give up.

09/06/2024

For all the barn rats and wanna be's .....

If you are one of those people who spends hours at the barn, eagerly taking in all things horse, this one is for you.

09/06/2024

Ok here is a little different exercise to open those hips which will allow a longer thigh and then hence the heel being able to drop lower :)HINT ....good to do in your warm up!

What can we do if our heels don’t drop on their own, if we shouldn’t force them down?

09/04/2024

🐴 DRESSAGE SOLUTIONS: To create soft downward transitions ... 🐴

Imagine that your transitions land gently like leaves floating to the ground.
~ Dressage trainer Kathy Connelly

09/02/2024

So this is a video of a Spider bandage.....one every Pony Clubber would have learned.....A nice wrap for those difficult joints....Since Pony Club isnt around nearly as much as it used to be thought I would SHARE for those wanting to learn :)

08/30/2024

08/28/2024

So our giggle for today!!

08/28/2024

08/28/2024

The two photos were taken three years apart. The late 70s and early 80s were when the transition from the auto release to the crest release took hold.

The top rider is using the auto release with the rider's feet under them and with a straight line from the elbow to the bit to permit following hands. This is an independent seat in the military or balanced seat tradition. The bottom rider is using the, at the time new, crest release promoted by George Morris with feet back behind the girth and hands fixed on the neck preventing following hands.

Question, if each of the pictured horses were to stumble and fall on landing their respective jumps, which jumping position would you want to be in?

*images are from:
Devon Preservation Alliance LLC

08/27/2024

Oh this is such a good clip......