FORWARD!! then be light!

Forward is the word I have heard most often in dressage what does it mean? it means that you not only get the horse going but it means that you get the horse going in a bigger movement. I know that coach Lyndsey, in my lessons these days, is always saying to me more forward leueen more forward

Then once I have got him going more forward then she says to me:” now be light” now Biasini is a a horse that loves to pull down. So what happens then is that I have to give with my hands when she says be light that’s what she means I have to give with my hands and what’s really interesting here is that, when I do give with my hands, he doesn’t pull down. He goes more forward and he goes into a nice frame. So that really is the answer! And how do I get him to go more forward? Well I have to press with the calves of my legs and if he doesn’t respond to that then I have to give him a little tap with my heels and I am wearing Spurs, but small ones, with blunt ends. Normally I do not ride with a whip if I had a whip I could give him a tap if he didn’t respond to the use me using the calves of my legs but since I don’t usually ride with a whip I don’t do that .

Why have I said that forward is the most used word in dressage I’ve said that because I have heard it all over the world. I have heard Germans who say forvard forvard. It is the one thing that is wanted everywhere You have to be more forward . Any of the horses that I saw in the Olympics they were all going to be sufficiently forward trust me I know and not only do I know but I could see that they were plenty forward, all of them had Beautiful movement, trots that were expressive and canters that were uphill. Those are the things that we are always trying to accomplish in dressage! But I can tell you that it’s not so easy to produce those things in actuality. I put my legs on and I press and I ask Biasini to come more forward and does he do it? Well not always.But sometimes he does and And those are the moments that are the best! I know that if you are watching dressage it looks like the riders are doing nothing at all but trust me, trust me, we are busy every single instant we are on that horse. After I finish my lesson my husband David and I we walk Biasini around the barn and here is a photo that we took the other day when we were about to start on that little walk round the barn.