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Three Exercises for Better Hands

February 2, 2020February 2, 2020 aliciaharper

This article is in relation to our Youtube series ” Improve Your Riding” and the video with the same name as the article. The Youtube series is by our own horse trainer and coach Alicia Harper.

In the video she outlines three exercises that can help you achieve quieter, softer and more steady hands. You can view the full video here: Three Exercises to Better Hands

Carrying the Crop

correct hand position in horseback riding

The first exercise is carrying your crop as seen in the photo with the crop resting between your thumb and forefinger in each hand.

The crop makes the rider aware of the hands and alerts them to uneveness which can be a result of a dropped shoulder or the bad habit of dropping a hand.

When the rider drops the hand, the balance of the horse is off and it is almost next to impossible for the horse to travel true and straight.

Crossed Reins

In this exercise she explains that she has the rider actually cross the reins underneath the horses neck so that the opposite rein is in the riders hand (left rein is in right hand and vice versa).

Alicia explains she then has the riders ride around the outside of the ring for a couple of trips and you would be surprised at home many riders struggle with this. Many have a hard time steering. Keep in mind these are intermediate riders not particularly beginners.

The exercise itself forces the riders to be aware of which rein they are actually pulling and the result is very evident. When the correct rein is pulled the horse travels straight and when it is not – the horse does not.

Another thing that this exercise actually shows is riders who rely too much on their reins. An balanced and educated rider will use their legs along with their reins therefore, the transition to the crossed reins will be smoother with the rider who uses less rein. If you think that you might be relying on your reins too much – this is the exercise for you!

Bridged Reins

If you aren’t familiar with bridged reins, pop on over to “How to Hold Your Western Reins” and check out Bridged Reins. In this exercise, we aren’t only going to hold them bridged but we are going to hold the bridge in one hand.

How this exercise works in awareness. Alicia has the riders ride around the school and if the horse tends to fall to the inside and the rider pulls the bridged reins towards the outside and expects the horse to go to the outside but infact, with the bridged reins it pulls the horse to the inside as the riders hands move to the outside.

Instead of using the reins and getting the opposite effect, we should have the rider open the outside rein enough that the horse feels it can move towards the outside but not enough that it pulls the inside rein and makes it the dominant rein. This exercise makes it obviously to the rider what they are doing and what its effect has on the horse – it just does it in the extreme. The rider may not actually pull the horse completely to the inside in every day riding but with the same motions that the rider would normally make this exercise does.

If you are interested in improving your hand position and understanding check out the full video over on Youtube.

Article, Improve Your Riding

Western Reins: Four Ways to Hold Your Reins

December 2, 2019December 2, 2019 aliciaharper

paint mare cross for sale in prince george

Handling your western reins as a beginner can be quite frightening. In particular in Western, coaches and trainers are always telling riders to have loose reins. Much like horse training, riders must begin with and understand the basics, which is essentially the direct rein. After that they can move up to bridged reins where they and the horse can work on using pressure from the bearing rein. One graduated from the bridged rein riders can work towards riding one handed. Which for a finished bridle horse that is the goal.

Basic Principles

A few basic principles about reins to start with. Like any skill with riding, shortening, lengthening and generally handling the reins takes practice. Start with the basics, hands and reins go slightly forward when you want the horse to go forward, reins resist or pull back (for lack of a better term) to stop or back up. Right direct rein means turn right and left rein means turn left.

Direct rein or Crossed reins

Back to the point here, the direct rein is held with one hand on each rein, held much like English reins. Riders should let the tail of the rein cross the neck of the horse so as if the rider drops the rein accidentally it does not fall to the ground and can be safely. Pictured below the direct rein held correctly.

Bridged Reins

The bridged reins are carried with two hands and the bight (the part in between your hands) should be able to be adjusted proficiently. When starting to use this rein, managing the slack in the bight is probably the most difficult thing. When a rider can manage the bight he/she can move on to working towards teaching the horse the bearing rein.

Bearing Rein

A bearing rein is when pressure from the rein is a cue to the horse to move away. At this stage, riders would be moving both hands together in effect mimicking riding one handed but while actually using two reins. When the horse can execute all essential movement in this matter, its time to move to one handed.

The rider pictured below is working towards using the bearing rein. The key to successfully using this rein is to not get too ahead of yourself. The rein that is doing the bearing should not become the dominant rein. It should rather support the opening rein on the other side. The rider should be able to coordinate the leg aids in turn to help guide the horse rather than just pulling the horse with the reins.

One Handed Split Rein or One Handed

There are various types of reins you can ride one handed in including split reins, romal and gaming reins. In the show pen split reins are the majority. Once you and your horse have graduated to riding one handed, you will be riding what professionals call a “Bridle Horse”. A bridle horse is a horse who can ride accurately in a shanked bit one handed.

The majority of the breed associations call for any horse over the age of 6 in the show pen to be ridden in such a way. The photo below shows a rider riding with split reins one handed. Take note this rider is holding their index finger between the right and left rein and the tails of the reins are both on the same side.

In conclusion, like anything in horses handling your reins starts at the basics. Once a rider has control at one level, move to the next.

Article, Uncategorized

5 Things a kid’s riding coach needs

April 17, 2019January 29, 2020 aliciaharper

As most of you know, we are in the process of moving. And unfortunately that leaves me with a number of children without a coach. Some of the parents of my previous students asked me what I thought was important in a riding coach for children and I had never really thought about it but upon thinking, these are what we came up with.

riding lessons jumping for kids and amateurs

One. Safe broke to death lesson horses. They don’t all need to be Fuzz (ie doesn’t move unless the coach is there). However, they do need to have been exposed to all the things that could happen in a lesson. They should be forgiving but at the same time make the kids work for it. Not all ponies work for all kids, so more than one would be ideal as the child progresses. I would have to add proper equipment that fits children could be in here too.

In my experience, this is a tough one to find out ahead of time other than watching lessons. A simple way may simply to ask the coach how long they have they had “Fuzz” in their lesson program or what are some things you look for in a safe lesson horse.

Two. Patience, Patience, Patience. If the coach is frustrated at the kids for forgetting how to roll up the stirrups for the 100th time then that doesn’t help the kids learn any faster it just makes them uncomfortable as they are learning.

How to find out if the coach has patience is a bit harder as its not a straight up question. This is more something you might observe and watching the coach teach a children’s lesson may be a good way.

Three. Experience. Unfortunately as a coach you cannot learn, what words work better for getting a child to keep his/her heels down, the best way to explain the two point to a 6 year or the many different ways we can teach flying changes. Some things just have to be learnt through teaching experience. And that is just teaching lesson upon lesson for days, weeks and months.

Asking for references would be an easy to answer this question about your potential children’s riding coach however, this is probably easily found on a Facebook page in this fay and age.

Four. How to be fun. Ultimately in order to keep kids interested in something, it has to be fun and riding can be fun in many ways. And riding can be fun in many ways, using games as a coaching technique, doing races in group lessons or allowing the kids to kick around the barn and play. Whichever way it is – your child has to be having fun some of the time.

Simply ask the coach, what are some of the things you do in your lessons to keep the lessons interesting?

Five. Ability to communicate effectively. Coaches when working with children need to be able to communicate not only to the children who are riding in a way they can understand but also to the parents in a way they can understand about what is going on. As a parent – you need to feel confident that the coach has a plan, can articulate what is happening, and can do so with ease.

One way to ask this of a potential could would be what does he/she usually see in children the same age as yours. Ie. what struggles are 8 year old girls usually having with their riding?

fear and nervous rider in horse back riding

Article, Coaching, Horse Training Tips

Overcoming Fear in Riding

October 12, 2017January 17, 2018 aliciaharper

As I have recently, been dealing with this myself – I thought it a good topic for the blog this week. Overcoming fear in riding.

Fear is a feeling I would say the majority of amateurs have. I’m not so sure about the professional riders but like any other humans, I’m sure they do. I do. Not only is there fear of falling but there is fear of failing.

In this post – let’s tackle the fear of falling. As we get older the fear generally becomes greater. As adults we worry if we get hurt who will go to work and make money for our family, who will pick up the kids, do the dishes etc. To be honest, its real. Getting hurt is a real fear, especially with horses. They are fight or flight animals in other words, prey. Their answer to anything that seems odd is to run (spook in rider’s terms). If a horse spooks and catches you off guard – there is a good chance you are hitting the ground.

The fear can effect our riding in many ways. It may make us more tense our body and thus setting the horse on edge as well. Which certainly won’t made the situation any better. Let’s get to the nitty gritty though. How is it possible to conquer it?

The truth be told, I’m not sure it is always possible to conquer it. However, I think its definitely possible for everyone to manage it. First, let’s outline that everyone’s fear is different so more extreme and some less extreme.

The Steps to Overcoming Fear in Horse Back Riding

The first step, once you have admitted it, is to discuss it with your coach. Your coach has a unique view on this as she/he sees how many riders deal with their fear and how it has worked out for them. To be honest, I had one student so nervous she went to the Doctor and he prescribed something. Now, this particular rider felt this way in every day life but her want to ride was so great that she went the extra mile. Note that I am not advocating drugs to conquer your fear of riding but I am advocating speaking to professionals about. That professional could be your coach, your Doctor, your psychologist, whoever you have in your support circle.

In discussion with your coach, discuss what the proper way of falling is. Here at our farm once a year we have a lesson on falling. Where we educate riders in the proper technique to try and fall that way when they know they are falling. It also gives you a bit of confidence that its possible to fall and not get hurt. You certainly don’t hurt yourself every time you fall. Hell, I’ve been falling for decades and the only thing I have done is pull a ligament. Riders then get to practice proper falling technique off the horse. It’s usually a good week for laughs.

The third step is to lower your expectations for each lesson and plan to push yourself just a little bit each lesson. Rome wasn’t built in a day and riders certainly aren’t. Push yourself, discuss with your riding coach this plan, just a little bit. Put yourself just slightly out of your comfort zone and once you have accomplished that, go back to something that isn’t scary. Think of it like building a tower using Lego, each week you will add a new leg but also add a few more blocks on the same level to create stability.

The last step is KEEP TRYING! It won’t be easy but only those who persevere will push through it.

Alicia Harper Horse Trainer for Over Fences

Article, Horse Training Tips

How much does it cost to have my horse trained?

September 20, 2017January 17, 2018 aliciaharper

This too is also a common question. Horses are usually taken in on training on a monthly basis. A monthly rate is usually advertised by a trainer and is dependent on a number of factors including:

the qualifications of the trainer
the quality of the facility
the current market value
price of hay, sawdust, feed and land in your area

Our training here is offered for $1000 a month including board of the horse.

The amount of time it takes to train the horse varies based on another number of factors including:

current training level of the horse
level of horse expected
experience of the trainer
demeanor of the horse

As you can see there are a number of factors which can affect how much it could cost to get your horse trained. Generally speaking there are three instances we see horses come into training. That is to be broke to ride (the horse has never been ridden before), to address a problem in its training (it doesn’t want to pick up its canter lead) or for additional experience. The latter is usually when I see them, mostly because owners are looking to get their horse some experience in the show ring and/or over fences. Perhaps the horse has never jumped before.

Although I have seen them thru the entire process and some horses will remain in training for up to one year. Riders also can send them for 30 days, or until the issue is resolved. The best practice for a rider though is to work with the trainer to which you send the horse so you as a rider can follow the same program. Know that it is normal for an amateur rider to send a horse for training when an issue arises simply because trainers do this all day long, for many years. As a comparison – imagine trying to fix your truck yourself without help. For me its much to complicated – I just send it to a professional – there is no shame is asking for help.

Article, Horse Training Tips

A common question: Do horses have toes?

September 20, 2017January 17, 2018 aliciaharper

The quick answer is no, they have hooves but the long answer is that horses actually did have three toes originally and over time, three changed into two and then two turned into one hoof and then a small toe up which grew up the leg through evolution. Today that toe is called the chestnut as seen in the below picture.

Article, Horse Training Tips

Sales Commission Demystified

September 6, 2017January 17, 2018 aliciaharper

First I have to say the horse sales industry is unregulated. Meaning there are no rules and no laws that outline the way in which people and businesses should operate in relation to sales of horses. Basically it’s a free for all, as long as it doesn’t break any other laws outside of horse sales. Trainers, agents and sellers can do whatever they want. In other industries there are laws that require the professionals involved to disclose conflicts of interest cases. Ie. The horse was previously owned by the agent.

In the sales market it is expected to pay 10-30% commission on a sale. This price is generally included in the sales price to the buyer and is then paid by the seller. BUT do not make the mistake of not asking when taking an agent or trainer with you to buy a horse. Ensure that you have outlined the expectations from you and what the agent expects from you. There are cases in which a buyer will pay commission to his or her agent. You are effectively asking an agent/coach/trainer to represent you and your best interests using their knowledge and experience in the horse industry.

Sometimes in these arrangements a number of people involved. A seller’s agent, a buyer’s agent, trainer and listing agent. Let’s break down what each of these people’s jobs should be. A seller’s agent or a sales agent should have the horses listed with them, bring people to see the horse, show the horse and should know quite a bit about the horse. The seller’s agent should/may also video the horse for the seller and take good photographs. This person’s ultimate job is to show and represent the horse to the best of their ability. They can also negotiate on behalf of the seller.

A trainer will usually represent the buyer. They are effectively the buyers coach. We use the word trainer but coach might be a more appropriate word. Their job is to use the knowledge they know about the buyer to find a suitable match, negotiate terms of the agreement and price.

One thing that happens here in B.C. is we have both listing agents and sales agents. Its important to know the difference. A listing agent is simply that – they list the horse for sale on sales sites and send people to the seller or sellers agent. There are listing agents who ask for 10% on the sales price.

The best advice I can give someone looking for a horse is take an agent if you don’t have a coach with you or take your coach. Don’t expect them to do it for free but their experience and knowledge is invaluable to finding the right match. And lastly – buy the horse you need now not the horse you want to ride.

Alicia Harper

Sales Agent at Hylee Training

www.hyleetraining.com

Article, Coaching, Horse Training Tips

When a trainer isn’t an option

September 6, 2017 aliciaharper

As a rider, sometimes having a weekly lesson or a boarding at the trainer’s barn is not always an option. In this article, we are going to discuss what other avenues are out there to help continue your learning and keep your horse education moving forward. I must admit. I don’t have time to ride in a weekly lesson. I have a regular trainer who doesn’t even do jumping, coach me whenever she isn’t gallivanting around North America judging horse shows. If we are lucky I see her once a month. I believe education –simply said you should constantly be learning and challenging yourself if you plan on continuing to improve.

#1 Take a clinic

Clinicians have a way of pushing you because their job is to get results within the span of the clinic. They don’t generally get to know you enough to chit chat at the beginning of your lesson or consider some of your downfalls. They just get it done.

Recently, I was lucky to be able to attend the Lucinda Greene clinic here in Maple Ridge. I was riding horse who I had ridden once before the clinic and wasn’t exactly what I would say experienced over fences but was talented. Lucinda wasn’t gentle about what our downfalls were but her great ability to tell us when we sucked without saying it. She also had us do ditches, angles I had never done again, in Hunterland and she challenged us riders. She gave me information, exercises, and the guts to get my students to also do those things. I had material for 3 weeks for our more advanced riders in our program to keep challenging them.

#2 Try a new discipline

If you are in a remote area or don’t have time for weekly lessons trying signing up for a clinic even if its in a different discipline, then you are currently participating in. Different disciplines have a way of making changes in yourself and your horse by pushing you out of your comfort zone. A few months ago I wasn’t really sure where I wanted to go with my riding so I tried a few different disciplines. One of them was cattle penning. Yep me the hunter rider in a western saddle and the only one with a helmet on. I was very awkward in that group to say the least. But funny enough, I learned a different way to teach and explain the spin. Although we certainly aren’t teaching our horses to spin on the haunches in Hunterland we do need to control the shoulders and I found when I used this exercise the horses and riders seemed to understand it better than the method we had used in the past. I also learned that chasing a cow around was quite fun! And gave my students a break from jumping and for the next couple of weeks we spent our lessons sharping our skills while chasing cows (FYI I lost about 20 lbs being a pretend cow!)

#3 Go to a show without your horse

Yep head to the show! Watch riders in the warm up ring – with their trainers – listen and watch to see what they have them do in the warm up ring to prepare for their class. Watch riders at your own level and see what they are doing and what their coaches are saying to them. Then head to a higher level and see what those riders are doing. Park yourself where you can hear what the coaches are saying. Just last week I was out a local schooling show and I was warming my students up and one of coaches said something that just resonated with me to explain to my students or a different way to think about it. I heard once a show someone say the difference between a good rider and a great rider is reaction time. The rider’s reaction to the horse’s movement. It could also me whether the rider gets over the fence or not. It’s not like I did realize that yes riders get better reaction time with practice but rather better results are achieved as the riders get quicker. It was mainly just a different way to think about and outlay it to my students.

The truth is I have 20 years of horse experience. I’ve broke hundreds of horses, ridden hundreds of horses and owned probably close to a hundred horses and every day in my life I am learning something new whether that is just talking to other horse professionals, auditing a clinic, watching a YouTube video, lunging a horse or listening to another coach. I am always looking for learning opportunities and they are everywhere so if I can keep finding them, then so can you.

Article

The True Cost of Riding Lessons

August 1, 2017September 6, 2017 aliciaharper

Ever wonder why riding lessons are expensive? Here’s why.

For this article, we will assume that you are taking lessons in B.C. at a facility with lesson horses, an indoor riding arena and a coach with some level of certification.

The rent for the facility of course is a major expense. The cost can average from 1000 a month to 3000 a month depending on size, location and the number of stalls. Those lesson horses need to be fed at least twice a day, labour is approximate $12 per hour at our facility it takes about 4 hours to do chores. They need farrier which averages about $300 per month for 10 lesson horses, $50 per month for worming, and $200 per month on the vet. The facility will always need maintenance which could include mending fences, replacing mats, re-footing the arena and basically everything a horse could destroy. The tack you use for your lesson horse needs to be maintained. We average approx. $100 per month on tack and $500 on maintenance.
We are now at approx. $4500

There are now administration fees which will include power (hydro), phone, booking systems, websites etc, which will probably end up around $250 per month. Add on top of that insurance which will range from $250 – $400 a month depending on the level of coverage.
And we haven’t even paid the coach yet.

With approx. $5000 a month in overhead in monthly operating expenses, now must find money to purchase lesson horses because they do get old, broken or tired from being a lesson horse.

One coach coaching full time could coach 40 hours a week on average. Let’s assume that coach has 40 students riding in private lessons and the lessons are $60 each. 4 weeks in a month X 40 X 60, that’s 9600. You are probably thinking – that’s lots of money right, we`ve only spent $5,000.

So, that coach brought in $9600 but most of the people paid with a credit card – 3% goes back to the credit card company. That is $300. Now we are down to $9300 and we have $5000 in operating costs, which leaves us with $4300 to feed the horses, shoot – we haven’t done that yet. Each non-working horse eats an average bale of a hay every three days. That’s 10 bales a month and with the current hay prices of quality local hay (we are talking best of the best here since our horses are working horses) $15 per bale. Each horse is going to cost us $150 a month to feed hay to. That’s $1500 for all ten. But they haven’t gotten any grain which will be $200 a month. This number is low with $1700 to feed the 10 lesson horses.

That coach needs to maintain certification which means upgrading attending clinics and continuing their education and trust me you want a coach who does! Let’s give that coach approx. $100 a month to do that. Now we have $2500 left.

Now most coaches will have a truck and trailer which they need to insure. A good guess would be approx. $200 a month to insure, perhaps another $300 in fuel. Now we are down to $2000.

$2000 per month for working 40 hours a week teaching, probably a few feeding horses, fixing fences, and booking appointments and scheduling. Just to give an estimate I spend on average 15 hours per week – booking, fixing, cleaning and I don’t even clean stalls! If I were the average coach I would be making $10 an hour. That is less than minimum wage.

Now this article`s purpose wasn’t meant to tell you how poor your coach is, however to show people that coach`s mostly do this job for the love of it. Not for the money – people at McDonalds are making more money! Also, take note – there are coaches out there making a pretty penny but also coaches who must take another job just to afford to be a coach. No matter where your coach falls in between. Thank him or her – they are doing it for the love it!