Sweetwater Ranch Antelope Valley

01/08/2026

There is a difference!!!

01/05/2026

Quick turnaround. No hidden fees. Low minimum order.

01/03/2026

Excellent way to work in muddy weather. If you can’t ride, you can still do good work. We are lucky to have great footing at Sweetwater Ranch, but for those of you who are not considered setting up Cavalletti. 

01/03/2026

An excellent demonstration of what I call the walking turn on the forehand 

12/28/2025

A common fault when performing shoulder-in is that riders try to drag their horse’s shoulders onto an inside track using only their inside rein.

Instead, ride a 10-meter circle or use a corner to help you establish the required bend and get your aids in position.

Then, half-halt down your outside rein, look down the outside track, and use your inside leg to push your horse off the circle and down the long side, maintaining the shoulder-in positioning.

Think of your inside leg and seat as rhythmically encouraging your horse upwards and into your outside rein.

Ironically, out of all your aids, the inside rein is the one you should be using the least.

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We have a more detailed step-by-step guide on how to position your horse for shoulder-in and how to ride it (including a list of all the individual aids) in our latest book. Link in the comments.)

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Illustration created and copyrighted by HowToDressage

12/26/2025

Or we can just put a dressage whip across your back with your elbows hooked on it. But it is a very effective tool. 

12/18/2025

This is why I have such admiration for Tricia. She’s very disciplined about setting her intentions. 

Re-share Goal Setting: PART TWO

“I’m going to have setbacks, I know. But if I’m feeling bad, that doesn’t mean I’m doing bad. That doesn’t mean I am bad. That doesn’t mean that still, I can’t take some action. Because nothing changes, if nothing changes…”

I want to start this off with some small goals, as it’s important to learn to keep promises to yourself. ✔️

I like to have big goals and small goals, short term and long term goals, then I get a plan!

➡️Write down a few things you want to accomplish. This can be anything!! With horses, with life, weekly tasks, absolutely anything that you need to focus towards.

💜For me this next year, my big goal is to win $300,000 on Adios. I want to be the highest money earning Futurity stallion.

💜I want to win something on my other Futurity horses as well. It’s my goal to have them solid, consistent, and swinging by summer and ready to win all the money in the big races this fall.

💜I want to focus on going to the best shows this year and really only running where it counts.

💜I want to consolidate my breeding program and I want to have a few good prospects coming up.

>>>>Those are big, time consuming goals.

So next, I set some small, attainable goals.

💜I want to make sure when I enter, I pick one thing to improve each time.

💜I want to set an arena record somewhere.

💜I want to go through and declutter my trailer/tack rooms.

💜I want to continue to learn new things.

💜I want to know every run I did athe absolute best for my horse.

Ok… with these goals… HOW do I get there? I need a plan.

If I want to improve each time, I need to be working on that in my daily riding. Working towards consistency and being able to replicate the same run, again and again.

If I want to declutter, I need to set a time…. Ex: In the next 30 days, I’m going to set aside a day and go through things.

If I want to learn new things, I might make sure I listen to a podcast or read a new book/article, once a month. I know if it’s more than that, realistically I may struggle, I might do 10x more than that, but I don’t want to break a promise to myself so I start small.

If I want to break an arena record somewhere… well I just have to go, and keep working on improving. Step by step, my other goals will allow me to get closer to that one.

Some other goals you may have is to ride 3x a week, or haul somewhere at least once a month. It might be to save $100 a week or start making choices now to buy your dream horse in the next 3 years.

You might have to skip your daily coffee or skip a race here and there to help pay for an extra trip to the vet.

Sacrifice now allows you to have those things later.

Make SPECIFIC goals. Put it out there. Be accountable. Have a friend that checks in.

Some goals will need adjusting throughout… and that’s fine too. It’s not quitting if you need to readjust.

My goal has changed this year with Adios to hit a little more stuff early. I want to make all those runs count. I want to haul with a strategy… not just to go. That doesn’t mean my goal is to “win” every-time, but a “win” to me may be placing in the rounds and average consistently.

After we get through Kinder, I may need to adjust, and we will as needed.

So here is your format!

✨Biggest Goal✨

One thing that’s the biggest craziest thing you want to accomplish. That should be at the TOP of your list.

✨5 yr goal✨

One thing you want to see different about your life in 5 years. Maybe your living situation, buying a house, changing jobs, dream prospect, whatever it is… write it down.

✨Yearly Goals✨
3 things you want to accomplish this year. Give yourself this hard date.
(Goal & 3 steps to accomplish said goal)
WRITE IT DOWN!!

✨Next, write down several things you want to work towards this year… small things.✨

Winning a jackpot.
Placing in 5 averages.
Paying off credit card debt.
Paying extra on a mortgage.
Finishing school.
Listening to a podcast every week.
Saving some money.
Riding more often during the week.
Taking some lessons.
Cutting back some friends that are holding you back.
Listening to more positive people in your life.
Saying one positive thing a day.
Saying “no” more.
Saying “yes” more.
Selling a horse.
Making tougher choices quicker.
Not lingering on bad things.
Looking for more positive in bad situations.
Having more encouraging friends. (You are who you hang out with!!!)

➡️➡️➡️And ALWAYS some type of self improvement goal!!⬅️⬅️⬅️

It can be anything… but WRITE it down!!!
Questions? Drop them!! I can’t wait to see YOUR goals!!

12/11/2025

06/27/2025

This is the simple truth

There’s this old, tired idea that riding is about control. That dressage is about making the horse submit. Taming the wild. Forcing precision.

But here’s the truth:

You don’t ride to break the horse. You ride so 𝑦𝑜𝑢 don’t break.

Because the horse isn’t the chaos. You are.

Your fear. Your tension. Your ego. Your overthinking.
Every crooked thought runs straight down the reins.
And the horse? He doesn’t care about your excuses. He shows you exactly who you are.

So you learn to breathe. To feel. To listen more than you speak.
You learn to hold your position in the storm.
You learn to ride into the fire, not to dominate it, but to survive it.

Dressage doesn’t make you perfect.
Done right, it makes you unbreakable.

Not because you control everything. But because you learn to hold your seat when everything falls apart.

It’s not about who you are when the ride begins, it’s who you are when you dismount.