Help For The Habitual Circler
Bernie Traurig
We’ve all done it … you’re headed toward a fence, you don’t see a distance, indecision overwhelms you, panic blinds you and you CIRCLE! In this topic Bernie takes a look at this frustrating tendency that can easily evolve into a really bad habit. He provides the rider with exercises that help you overcome that moment of doubt and fight your way out of a circle.
Running Time: 10 minutes and 14 seconds
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Horse-Rider Compatibility
Leslie Howard
In order to determine compatibility between horse and rider, Olympian Leslie Howard examines the factors that affect a horse’s preferred way of going as well as the variables that contribute to a rider’s particular style. She discusses how the rider’s use of hands, leg and seat can positively or negatively influence things like the horse’s level of impulsion, stride length and poll elevation.
Running Time: 8 minutes and 4 seconds
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How to Hold Two Reins
Bernie Traurig
In this quick tip segment Bernie demystifies holding two reins when using a pelham.
Running Time: 5 minutes and 4 seconds
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Hunters Under Saddle
John French
John French shows us what the judges are looking for in a Hunter Under Saddle class and how you can show your horse off properly.
Running Time: 10 minutes and 2 seconds
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Introducing Your Horse to the Hard Rubber Pelham
Bernie Traurig
Finding the right bit takes experimentation and the ability to read your horse’s reactions. For some horses, the pelham can prove to be the ideal show bit, while other horses are quick to communicate their displeasure with it. Follow Bernie through the steps of familiarizing a horse with a hard rubber pelham for the first time.
Running Time: 13 minutes and 17 seconds
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Looking for the Distance
Bernie Traurig
Bernie travels far and wide as a clinician and encounters a wide spread confusion amongst his students – where to look to find a distance to a fence. In this topic, he experiments with various techniques for finding the distance and puts an end to the mystery.
Running Time: 8 minutes and 30 seconds
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Pony Division Basics
Beverly Jovais
Join top pony trainer, Beverly Jovais, in this series where she introduces the basics of the pony division, giving newcomers to the pony ring a sense of what is required to compete in this division. In this series she outlines the numbers associated with ponies, such as pony strides & pony heights, guides her young student through properly presenting a pony for the model & under saddle classes, and narrates a hunter and a handy round.
Running Time: 14 minutes and 41 seconds
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Preparing the Junior-Amateur Horse
Archie Cox
Join Archie Cox and his rider, Shelby Wakeman, as they school a horse for optimum rideability and performance for his junior rider in preparation for an upcoming show.
Running Time: 17 minutes and 54 seconds
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Shortening And Lengthening Exercises Over Jumps
Julie Winkel
Join Julie Winkel & her students as they demonstrate exercises designed to shorten & lengthen the horse’s stride within lines. Julie discusses strategies to execute lines that present different types of distance challenges. Practice of these exercises provides additional benefits that include improved rider/horse communication and sharpening of the rider’s eye.
Running Time: 27 minutes and 19 seconds
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Straight And Simple
Bernie Traurig
Confused about how to keep a straight track in lines? Here’s a quick and easy fix from Bernie that will get you and your horse headed straight down the middle of those lines.
Running Time: 4 minutes and 16 seconds
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Types of Ponies to Use When Teaching a Young Rider
Susan Deal
Introduction to Susan Deal’s "Forward Riding Series – Exercises for a Rider’s First Year"
Susan Deal, USHJA certified trainer and National Judge, utilizes a classical system of teaching that takes young riders from their fist lesson all the way through their first year of riding. In this video series Susan shares her strategies for developing good riders as well as good horsemen. She offers insightful techniques from the teacher’s perspective, covering all the riding milestones from the first lesson through jumping courses. This collection of videos is a compressive guideline with step-by-step instructions for teachers and students alike.
In this introduction to her video series, Susan shows us what type of horse/pony is best for teaching young students to ride. Susan finds it important to use a well-educated horse and one that has been trained in the forward system of riding. All ponies need to have quiet dispositions and not be easily spooked. Matching up the right horse and rider is key because properly mounted students can learn as much from the horse as they can from the trainer. Susan shows us some of the ponies she uses for the different stages of riding and also for the different body types of riders.
Running Time: 2 minutes and 42 seconds
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Training a Rider to Mount and Dismount a Horse
Susan Deal
Part 1 of Susan Deal’s "Forward Riding Series – Exercises for a Rider’s First Year"
In this first video lesson, Susan Deal shows a first-time rider how to mount and dismount a horse. She offers some great tips and safety precautions any new rider should learn to properly get on and off of a horse in a way that is not only safe for the rider, but the horse as well.
Running Time: 4 minutes and 2 seconds
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The First Lesson for a Beginner Rider
Susan Deal
Part 2 of Susan Deal’s "Forward Riding Series – Exercises for a Rider’s First Year"
Join USHJA certified trainer, Susan Deal, as she gives young students their first lesson on a horse and starts them on the path of proper position and correct horsemanship. In this video Susan, with her upbeat, encouraging style, shows us her methods for starting a beginner equestrian off right by covering stirrup and girth adjustments, mounting, picking up the reins, proper position, and basic rein aids. The exercises she uses are designed to get the rider comfortable in the saddle.
Running Time: 18 minutes and 58 seconds
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Exercises to Improve a Beginner’s Riding Position
Susan Deal
Part 3 of Susan Deal’s "Forward Riding Series – Exercises for a Rider’s First Year"
This is the 3rd installment of Susan Deal’s video series devoted to teaching beginners the fundamentals of forward riding. In this lesson she focuses on the rider’s position while offering insightful techniques from the teacher’s perspective on how to get the most out of a young or inexperienced equestrian. As a rider you’ll learn proper placement of the foot in the stirrup, how to hold the reins, basic seats, how to avoid clashing aids, tips on how to improve your seat and balance and other basics every equestrian should learn during their first riding lessons.
Running Time: 7 minutes and 37 seconds
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Learning How To Post The Trot
Susan Deal
Part 4 of Susan Deal’s "Forward Riding Series – Exercises for a Rider’s First Year"
Susan Deal, top trainer for young riders, takes us through a typical lesson when teaching a new rider to post the trot and use the weight aid. The goal of this video lesson is to get the rider more secure in the saddle. Starting out on the lunge line, Susan has the rider do various exercises to help them keep an even posting rhythm and a strong balance over the leg.
Running Time: 7 minutes and 47 seconds
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Stretches to Help the Beginning Rider Achieve Proper Position on a Horse
Susan Deal
Part 5 of Susan Deal’s "Forward Riding Series – Exercises for a Rider’s First Year"
In this 5th video lesson, Susan Deal (ANRC Level 5 Rider, National Judge, and Steward) introduces some stretching exercises to a new rider in order to encourage proper position in the tack. She covers exercises to correct a rider’s placement in the saddle and stretching techniques to perfect position both at a standstill and on a lunge line. These exercises will help equestrians of all levels to be more flexible with the horse, move with the horse and feel the horse during the ride. Susan ends with an exercise for relaxation and flexion to release the tension and allow beginners to more easily move with the rhythm of the horse.
Running Time: 12 minutes and 56 seconds
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The Opening Rein: Teaching the Beginning Rider to Steer a Horse
Susan Deal
Part 6 of Susan Deal’s "Forward Riding Series – Exercises for a Rider’s First Year"
In her sixth lesson, Susan Deal introduces a young rider to the most basic “steering” rein aid. Using serpentine exercises, the student learns to control the horse’s direction with the opening rein.
Running Time: 1 minute and 58 seconds
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Proper Use of the Stick and a Safety Precaution Every Rider Should Know
Susan Deal
In this handy free video tidbit, Susan Deal (USHJA Certified Trainer, Judge & Steward) demonstrates the proper use of the stick as a back up to the leg aid or to correct a disobedience to the leg aid. New riders, particularly young children on ponies, often lack the leg strength to effectively encourage forward momentum, so correct stick use is a must for beginners. Susan also gives us a very important safety tip concerning the stick that could prevent a rider from being pulled off their horse.
Running Time: 1 mintue and 13 seconds
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The Three Speeds of the Trot
Susan Deal
In this video topic, the 7th in Susan Deal’s series for teaching beginners, a young rider and her pony experiment with different speeds of the trot. Once a new rider is able maintain the same trot around the ring, you can introduce a stronger trot and shorter trot and then add rails on the ground. This allows the rider to feel the difference in the pony’s trot pace and how the stride length is affected. This lesson is the beginning stage of the rider’s influence over the horse’s gaits.
Running Time: 4 minutes and 57 seconds
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Thinking Like a Horse
Julie Winkel
To effectively communicate with your horse, there has to be a mutual understanding within the partnership. This understanding, in large part, stems from the rider’s ability to accurately read his or her horse. In this topic, Julie Winkel teaches us to accurately interpret the various expressions and behaviors horses use to convey their state of mind.
Running Time: 12 minutes and 46 seconds
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