Elimika Sport Ponies

01/15/2025

The Importance of Contact with Dr H L M van Schaik:
“During the schooling period, in which we want the horse to come under with the hindquarter, there will be times that we need to apply a lot of contact. At this time the horse has to learn that when we create more impulsion and increase the resistance, the horse should not try to go faster and become longer, but he should try to get his hindquarters under.Once the horse has learned to do this, he will carry himself. The more he carries himself, the more he understands what the rider wants from him, the lighter the contact will become.” Pic is Rodrigo Torres.
https://www.horsemagazine.com/thm/2022/01/contact-or-no-contact-that-is-the-question/

11/03/2024

German Olympian Ingrid Klimke shares her “freely forward” mentality for better hind-end engagement. Plus, learn how to recognize the early signs of sacroiliac joint issues to keep your horse performing his best.

10/23/2024

Please look at the circle on the lower right. Inside it is an eight sided series of straight lines, an octagon. Most riders who believe they are riding a circle are actually riding a polygon like this series of straight lines in the circle. This is because they do not bend their horses. They either don't know how or they lack the core and leg strength to do it correctly, or both.

Bending your horse and holding a bend happens when a rider applies physical strength at the center where the red arrow in the top image is pointing. Additionally, the rider holds their horse between the forehand with the inside hand and rein, and the hind with the outside leg slightly behind the girth.

The point of the red arrow acts like the point on a compass drawing the circle. The inside leg is the compass point at the red arrow defining the center of the arc of the bend. The right hand in the top picture is like the inside rein, and the rider's left leg acts like the pictured left hand. The rider in the picture holds their horse between the right rein and left leg and the "point of the compass" determines the center of the bend.

The process of riding an entire 20 meter circle in a bend might start as an octagon with many straight lines connected by quick turns. At the beginning an accomplished rider might hold a bend in their horse for the length of two of the straight lines, then three, then four and so on.

When the horse holds the bend longer, it requires more strength and stamina from both the horse and rider. Because of the strength required riders must be patient with the muscle development of their horse. To hold a bend throughout a complete circle is much more difficult than most riders believe.

04/18/2024

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04/14/2024

Patience.

04/10/2024

Rear wheel drive? Front wheel drive? Or maybe all wheel drive? What do we want in our riding horses?

I think the obvious answer would be we want rear wheel drive. No one wants a horse who pulls, right?! But I would argue that we really want all wheel drive, with the ability to adjust the power more towards rear wheel drive in certain movements and through our half halts.

Most horses are naturally more front wheel drive. It’s an efficient way to move through space - pull with your shoulders forward and a little downward, and the hind end will come along because it’s attached 😜. Through good dressage training, we try to teach horses to *push* themselves more from behind, which is akin to rear wheel drive in a car. But in most movements, we want a combination - strong, pushing hind legs; a lifted, elastic back; and then a good, reliable connection in front that can provide a “positive pull” from the front that can help the horse keep the shoulders and withers lifted.

A horse who is 100% in front wheel drive is never the goal. That’s the image on the far right - downhill, pulling on the rider, and the rider turning into a water skier. And only certain highly collected movements are really 100% rear wheel drive.

I find this is a helpful way for some riders to understand connection and why we want a steady contact with the bit instead of flopping reins. In all wheel drive you have two engines - one in the back and one in the front. And when the front engine starts to take over, we help shift the balance, and make the rear engine do more.

Those of you who have ridden a horse who is too light and won’t take any contact can probably understand why that’s not the goal. Light contact is nice but no contact is very tricky to fix. And if you flip it around for your horse - a rider who won’t provide a steady, receiving seat and hand to push into - makes it quite hard for them to trust and improve their balance.

Aim for an all wheel drive horse, and work towards being able to adjust the power more to the back when you need it!

Illustration by

02/20/2024

A project designed to bring positivity and authenticity to the sport of dressage.

01/25/2024

12/28/2023

”You’ve got to have a dream. When you lose your dreams, you die. Anybody can grow older. That doesn’t take any talent or ability. The idea is to grow up by always finding opportunity in change.” - Unknown

📸 Max & Maxwell: Equestrian Photography

08/26/2023

03/26/2023

THE proper way a horse collects and 'gets on the bit'.
No contraption, bit, or gimmick can teach this. It's about proper biomechanics and teaching the horse to balance themselves.