The Horse Aunty

12/09/2025

On the Balance: Why Riders Struggle to Get It “Just Right”

Ask any rider and they’ll tell you — the hardest part isn’t always the physical skill, it’s the balance. Not just balance in the saddle, but balance in decision-making, effort, and mindset. Too much of one thing, too little of another, and suddenly everything feels off.

So why is it so tricky to get that sweet spot between “over-doing it” and “under-doing it”?

1. The Psychology of Extremes

Our brains are wired to prefer clarity. “Go harder” or “back off” feels simpler than sitting in the messy middle. Over-correcting often feels safer than risking not doing enough. That’s why so many riders swing between extremes—pushing too hard, then holding too much, rather than trusting the middle ground.

2. Fear of Getting It Wrong

Perfectionism creeps in. Riders worry about making the wrong decision in the moment, so they overcompensate. Too much rein, too much leg, too much tension. Or, on the other hand, they freeze - afraid to do enough, and so they hold back. Both are natural human responses to uncertainty.

3. Trust and Letting Go

Finding balance means trusting both yourself and your horse. It requires letting go of the need to control every outcome, and instead responding with feel. That’s uncomfortable for many riders, because it relies on instinct rather than absolute certainty. Yet that very “grey area” is where true connection happens.

4. The Growth Zone

Balance isn’t about perfection - it’s about adaptability. The best riders aren’t the ones who never tip too far one way or the other; they’re the ones who can recognise it quickly and adjust. Decision-making under pressure is a skill that grows with self-awareness, reflection, and practice.

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✨ Takeaway: Balance isn’t a fixed point - it’s a constant conversation between rider, horse, and mindset. The goal isn’t to avoid mistakes, but to find rhythm in the corrections. Over time, those small adjustments build the confidence and clarity to live in that elusive middle ground.

11/09/2025

Behaviour is a reflection on what has happened, what is happening or what is going to happen.
Not all behaviour is undesirable in our eyes for when the horse goes quiet we often mistake their silence for a yes.

I find it fascinating how two professionals can watch the same video and draw two polar opposite views as to why the horses behaviour is happening, now often we are all just making assumptions because only the horse knows the complex reasons why but while I watched the video and noted the external stimuli that may have been the reason the other professional declared "these types of horses" "those types of owners" and how the behaviour made them feel not how the behaviour was about how the horse was feeling at the moment in time.

When we see a behaviour we need to know the background of the horse things like age, working life, home life, veterinary history, as this widens our lens on maybe why, we need to look at the enviroment the horse is in now to see if the immediate enviroment is altering the horses normal behaviour pattern, for example if you are picking up the horses foot and it proceeds to stamp it down and there is a fly hanging around then god knows we all love to talk about the nervous system yet this is one of the most basic neurological occurrences the reflex arc, and while the signal does not come from the brian to initiate a response the brain does recieve a signal because it will then send a signal to the central nervous system for for the horse to move, kick out , stamp its foot etc to remove the stimuli.

So do we make the horse stand still??? Would you be able to concentrate with a fly buzzing around you?? No your whole focus becomes on getting away from the offending stimuli or would you take away from the video the flies might of initiated a foot stamp and viola behaviour reflecting the external stimuli.

Pain is a huge reason why a horse may find it uncomfortable to stand on 3 legs, the horse had thrush so applying product will be painful, has it got thrush in the other feet?? Does adding extra load onto another foot by picking up one tip the horse over the threshold of pain it has already got
Again the nervous system nociceptors will be on fire and again the brain will only want to protect an area so will send signals to alert that area that then the horse will only think of protecting an area so its view of why you want the foot may be different from yours however many times you reassure the horse if it feels an internal our external demands will only heighten it.
A reluctance to pick up a front foot is hardly that front foot issue a horse will have to shift more weight into the hinds if a horse has arthritis in the hocks then often they will not pick up the front limb as that is the last leg standing. And why we need to ask age and history to establish a more global view of why.

Hairy legs that get picked up be the hair!!! I really hate this like how would you feel if I wanted you to move and I pulled you by the hair ??? We forget hair has its own nerve endings in the follicle and alot of hairy legged horses can also have skin or mite issues making that area super sensitive, mallanders or sallanders can thicken the skin imagine if you had sore thickened skin on the inside of your elbow would you be able to bend your arm??
Memory for these horses can impact on how they behave today, if the horse has been sore how does it know you only want to pick up the limb?? Pain memory is there to protect the body from making the same mistake.

Did you know that the bulbs of the horses heel and hoof has the same touch cells as our fingertips?? Touch matters and how we apply it matters even more

Horse first is often quoted until the human needs to get things done, wouldn't it be easier to find out why so the future sessions when working with the horse is not a rinse and repeat ??

Nervous systems are quoted without even understanding the basic, i dont write what I dont understand for then its only words without any action or worse the wrong action.

The quote of the day was even if the horse is in pain it needs to stand still, or back it up a few steps?? Erm why, standing still is hard to do when in pain and do you really want it to back up when the horse has already showed you the reluctance to load the hind end with the front limb actions.

So that is what i concluded from the video, those are the questions that would run through my brian, those are the thoughts I would have as to why, I wouldn't blame a breed I would ask why this breed has a collective behaviour and maybe question what our actions are when working with that breed because it just might not be them it might be you.

When a horse feels unsafe it has to move, when we feel unsafe we make it stand still and in that the nervous system is already at conflict.

We cannot just make assumptions without gathering all the facts that may give us some clue to a behaviour, do we want robots ?? And if we feel unsafe we can simply say stop it may work out better for the horse in that moment in time

11/09/2025

The movement of your horse’s hind legs can be broken down into the following three phases: thrust, reach, and carry.

Each phase is important, and each one impacts the next, e.g., the more weight the horse takes during the carry phase, the more power he can produce in the thrust phase.

This knowledge is useful because it helps you in timing your aids and influencing the horse.

👉 EXAMPLE 1

During a leg-yield, the horse’s inside legs are required to step in front of and across his outside legs.

Therefore, if you apply your inside leg aid at the same precise moment as your horse lifts his inside hind leg (into the reach phase), then you can encourage the horse to step further under and across with that leg.

This will give you a greater degree of crossing during the leg-yield and a more sweeping stride.

👉 EXAMPLE 2

If you want to encourage your horse to take more weight behind, then apply your half-halt just as the horse’s inside hind leg is coming down to the ground (the carry phase).

At this moment, you can encourage your horse’s inside hind leg to take more weight.

👉 EXAMPLE 3

The horse’s canter stride starts with the horse’s outside hind leg. Therefore, to make a smooth transition from trot or walk into canter, apply your canter aids as your horse’s outside hind leg is in the reach phase.

This means that as that hind leg touches the ground (the carry phase), instead of it being another step of trot or walk, it will be the first step of canter.

This also encourages the horse to reach further under with that hind leg, producing a more uphill transition.

Give it a go!

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Illustrations created by and copyrighted by HowToDressage

09/09/2025

08/09/2025

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐔𝐠𝐥𝐲 𝐓𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐡 𝐨𝐟 𝐂𝐨𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠

I wrote this today after the Scottish weather broke me, I’m soaked to the skin because apparently I don’t know what a waterproof coat is 🤣

So, you fancy being a riding coach? Right, here’s the reality check!!!!

You’ll work stupid hours. 13, 14, 15 a day. Not for champagne, just enough for diesel, leccy, and maybe a soggy Greggs pasty eaten in the car between lessons.
You’ll freeze in winter, roast in summer, and the rest of the year you’ll be permanently damp. Christmas? Forget pigs in blankets, you’ll be the pig, muddy, wet, and still shouting “heels down.”

People will say you’re too soft, too strict, too old-fashioned, too modern. Basically, whatever you do, you’re wrong.
Shows? Glamorous? Don’t kid yourself. It’s you, stood in a bog, yelling “sit up” at someone who’s pretending not to hear.
Parents? Half of them think their kid’s ready for Badminton, when they can’t even steer in trot.

You’ll see tears, tantrums, bolting ponies, and more drama than Love Island. Some days you’ll mutter, “That’s it, I’m done.”

But then…

That nervous kid finally canters.
That “lazy cob” pings a jump.
That adult says, “I’d have quit riding if it weren’t for you.”
And suddenly, there it is, the reason you put yourself through all this madness.

Why don’t people tell you this?
Because if they did, no one would become a coach.
And because the best bits? They can’t be put into words.

So here we are , cold, broke, dripping wet, boots squelching… and still, somehow, happy.

Representation of what I look like today 🤣
Tag your coach!

08/09/2025

Sometimes the simplest exercises work the best. They're stress-free, low-impact, and effective. One of these jewels is an exercise from early dressage manuals called the "fading halt." It goes like this: begin in a very brisk walk, then deliberately slow the horse down for several steps, and then smoothly stop moving.

What does this accomplish? As the horse shifts from a forward-pushing gait (brisk walk) to a very slow one, it releases tension from locomotor muscles and allows the horse to flex its hind legs a bit more as it arrives at a halt. It's good neuromuscular training, and it creates good awareness fir the horse of its hind legs. Simple, good stuff. Try it out.

07/09/2025

What is hyper focus look like?? erm this at 2.30 am in the morning
92 pages done so far !! and I have given up drinking coffee 😱