Schott In The Dark Farms

11/18/2025

🐴 MOTIVATIONAL MONDAY!🐴 As jumping courses become increasingly technical, Olympic show jumper Margie Engle says it's crucial that your horse is as rideable and adjustable as possible.

Many riders forget to back up their rein aids with leg to maintain power and impulsion in their horses' hind ends for a more collected and compressed stride. (This is something I've personally been working on!)

Click on the link in the Comments below for Engle's simple ground-rail exercises to help improve your horse's adjustability for better and more consistent jumping rounds.

11/10/2025

11/06/2025

Training Tip Tuesdays. A variation on the single loop to help the horse with the canter to walk transitions and the flying changes. This exercise encourages the suppleness and collection needed for the flying changes. It also gives the rider an opportunity to shape the canter for the transitions or changes before performing them by adding alternating 10 meter voltes. This exercise requires the horse to be properly balanced and collected throughout in order to achieve quality simple changes and/or flying changes.

Asking for the transitions or changes at the quarter line gives the rider time to balance the horse before the 10 meter volte. If performing the flying changes, the voltes can help to prevent the horse from bolting off or rushing after the change.

11/05/2025

The Student says: “My horse is tense.”
The Master says: “His body remembers storms I have not yet learned to calm.”

The Student says: “He’s behind the leg.”
The Master says: “The forward lives in him, I’m just remembering where the key fits.”

The Student says: “Half halt.”
The Master says: “A whisper that asks time to wait for us.”

The Student says: “He isn’t understanding.”
The Master says: “I’ve asked a question in a language I haven’t learned to pronounce.”

The Student says: “I need more softness.”
The Master says: “I’m trying to melt the armor I didn’t know I was wearing.”

The Student says : “He’s resisting.”
The Master says: “He’s handing me a map of where he hurts.”

The Student says: “We’re working through some issues.”
The Master says: “We’re untangling the knots we tied on days I wasn't listening.”

The Student says: “I need to be more patient.”
The Master says: “Time only opens its hands when I unclench mine.”

11/01/2025

10/30/2025

10/28/2025

My new friend

08/15/2025

Training Tip Tuesday - Riding the square with a twist... literally. This a great lateral work exercise for improving suppleness, engagement and carrying capacity of the hindquarter, lateral mobility and sensitivity to the aids.

This exercise can be placed anywhere in the arena. Here is it shown around "X." It may be easiest to being the exercise at E or B, although it is possible to being at the centerline as well. Let's start at E, begin riding a shoulder in on a short diagonal line toward the centerline. Upon reaching the centerline perform a 1/4 pirouette or turn on the haunches and proceed in travers. Continue switching between haunches in and shoulder in at every 1/4 point of the diamond/square.

This exercise can be ridden in all 3 gaits - although the turn on the haunches or pirouette would be replaced with a corner or turn when ridden in trot. In walk and canter, the turns could be ridden as 1/4 pirouettes.

If your horse is not ready for shoulder in and haunches in, you would try alternating between leg yields to the left and right. That does not have quite the same effect, but would encourage the horse to step under the body and carry more weight behind. It will also improve suppleness.

Enjoy the ride.