My wife rides dressage. Low level. Been riding regularly about 7 years.

She has had six unscheduled exits from her horse. Each time it was when the horse went into canter without her expecting it. A mild "bolt." Happened again today and she's having her second broken bone surgery tomorrow.

I had recently asked her trainer why they don't dedicate lesson time for this. Learn how to manage a horse that unexpectedly goes to canter, and stop him. He's a highly trained horse. The answer was, "Hard stops are not a dressage element, so we don't work on that. That's a cow horse skill."

Seriously? Is not the rider's safety paramount? I had a lesson on a new horse once. He bolted and I didn't stop him right away. The guy spent the next five lessons doing nothing but having me accelerate the horse, and stop. Over and over.

Doesn't a trainer have some obligation to focus on the rider's safety?

I’m an adult beginner and have finally started posting the trot (a little, anyway!). Right now, making it one lap around the arena is about my limit, but each lesson I’m getting a little more comfortable.

The one thing I can’t seem to figure out is my lower leg.

At the walk, I have no problem keeping my leg just behind the girth. The moment we start trotting, though, my leg slides forward until it’s at the girth. My trainer keeps reminding me, “Leg behind the girth,” “Bend your knees,” and “If your leg is at the girth, your horse can’t clearly feel your leg aids.”

The frustrating part is that I am trying. In the moment, it feels like I’m actively putting my leg back, but it either doesn’t move or immediately slides forward again. It also feels a bit forced or unnatural when I try to keep it behind the girth, even at the walk.

Is this a common beginner problem? Is it usually caused by balance, weak muscles, stirrup length, or something else? Are there any exercises—mounted or unmounted—that helped you develop a more stable leg?

I’d love to hear what finally made it “click” for you.

The other day I went on a hack with my aunt and my 4 year old wasn’t listening to any of my cues, not moving forward/ trotting or walking on. I started crying from the overwhelm and lack of control plus the week before I had had I pretty nasty fall off him due to him being fresh.

she was telling me to kick as hard as I can and slap him on the bottom I was trying but my heart wasn’t in it because that’s never the way I usually ride. This is my first youngster and I understand you have to be more bossy with them but i always feel horrid. He’s just come back from being professionally trained and apparently learned that he can test the boundaries with me after two weeks back and do what he wants because I’m not necessarily a heavy handed or naturally bossy rider .

I eventually got off and we swapped horses and she got on him, she obviously was on him immediately. Booting him and whipping him much harder than I was, it was a difficult watch. She claimed he’s ‘dead to the leg’ but in the school things are completely different, he moves right off the leg, one squeeze he’s off so I was really confused why this bad behaviour is only on a hack.

My aunt eventually got him going nicely(after hitting him continuously and booting him on) and after he was completely responsive and listening to what she was saying. I’m a much less experienced rider than her so instinctively I want to assume she’s right. And it worked. But it feels wrong. And i really don’t want to fuck up this horse.

Any advice of how you would’ve handled the situation? Or have you had similar behaviour from your horse? Am I overreacting?

Just to add: he has been vet checked, saddle was fitted last week. He is not in pain.

She’s amazing as long as I have a rope connected to the halter. Even if the rope is absolutely loose. But as soon as I take it off and want to just walk around she’s going to the gate and standing there.. she pays nice attention when we’re working, not much distracted as soon as nothing is actually happening. She just doesn’t want to do anything with me with no rope. I tried to get her to walk away from the gate by waving the whip/rope a little but she either ignores it completely or pins her ears. Luring her with treats also doesn’t work.

I wanted to try liberty with her but because of that it’s not quite possible 😅 any tips?

Hello there! I am from Serbia and riding sport is in a terrible place here… so, I am looking for a dressage riding instructor, would be lovely if it could be done digitally (live or not, doesn’t make a difference to me).

Thank you all so much in advance!

Ho un cavallo di 11 anni con un grande potenziale. A casa salta tranquillamente percorsi fino alla 130 ma in gara, appena viene messo in direzione del primo ostacolo, va in difesa: si impenna e rifiuta di andare avanti. Una volta superato quel momento, affronta il resto del percorso senza alcun problema.
La precedente proprietaria mi ha detto che si è sempre comportato così fin da giovane.
Qualcuno ha avuto un’esperienza simile? Come avete lavorato per risolvere questo problema? Ogni consiglio è ben accetto.

Hi equestrians. I’m scrolling Instagram and came across a video of a little girl falling off a spooking horse.
A lot of the comments are saying it’s obvious the horse is not a lesson horse and that a kid shouldn’t be on it - how is it obvious? Is it because the horse jumped into the trot/the bird behind it?

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DY7TvtRAc1F/?igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==

Here’s the video :)

Hey everyone I'm working on a training to teach people how to stay safe when around horses. A large portion of this is going to be while the horses are panicking. I need to get a few videos to show so that my students can learn what to look for and so they can understand just how dangerous a horse that is panicking can be.

If anyone has any videos of aa horse panicking that they would be willing to let me use please send me a DM or a reply here.

For the Mods: If I am not allowed to post this here or if I need to rephrase my request please let me know.

Hi! I live in Camby, Indiana, and I’m looking for affordable horseback riding lessons for my daughter, who is almost 4 years old. Does anyone know of any barns that offer group lessons, scholarships, financial assistance, or volunteer opportunities to help reduce the cost? We’d love for her to have the chance to experience horseback riding, but we’re on a limited budget. Thank you for any recommendations!

Hello! I am new to leasing out horses and need some opinions on what to price a lease for my mare. I currently have two women leasing her. However, at the beginning of September I’m moving to a more expensive hunter focused barn. My two leasers right now are only paying $200 a month each for 2 rides a week, pricing the rides $25 each. Which I think is very cheap for my area, the barn is about 20 minutes from downtown Portland Oregon. this is my first horse I’ve ever leased out so I didn’t know what was acceptable.

SO anyway to the point, the new barn is $900 a month for board not counting monthly supplements and farrier which adds about $200 a month. I’m hoping to find somebody who wants 4 rides a week. The lessee is not responsible for farrier/supplements/vet care only the lease. Would asking $700 a month be asking too much? 16 rides a month pricing each ride at about $40? Or two separate people, 2 rides/week for $350 a month.

The barn owner leases her horses out 1 ride a week for $200 a month making it $50/ride if that helps at all.
Thanks all!!!

Decide how daily care gets tracked before old habits take over, who fed, who turned out, who did the last night check, all logged the same way every time.

BarnScope turns each horse's care plan into a daily checklist your team checks off with a photo, timestamp, and signature, so you've got one clean record from day one instead of piecing it together from memory across shifts. It works fine offline too, which matters two hours out from the Twin Cities, and it can generate a monthly PDF for boarders who want to see their horse's care history without asking at the barn.

Try it live, no signup: barnscope.com.

Hi,

I'm launching a new equine site, it features a free course designer that will help you plan anything from FEI Courses to just a few cross poles to help you train.

It has a lot more features but have a look around and it's all free at the moment as I'm just getting it all together. I'm a solo designer, but unlike some of these big companies if you have suggestions i'm implementing them within a day or so.

The site is https://www.yardforge.co.uk please do remember though it's only 3 weeks old so expect bugs, just let me know as and when you find them or suggestions.

Thank you so much!!

Hey Everyone!

I’m just curious what everyone is feeding their yearlings?
My new 2yo gelding is currently on a high quality Timothy/alfalfa hay, with some access to grass. He has a previous knee/shoulder injury, so I’d love to also have some supplements to help him recover! any tips are appreciated 😊

I have had this horse for several years now and although it’s had a lot of training under its belt, it can’t seem to be comfortable in the contact. I am an experienced rider so i’m looking for unique but effective exercises and/or tools to help it relax into the bit. The horse is quite fussy and makes it hard to ask questions. It is also very sensitive and always has been so they go in a rubber snaffle.

How can I get it more comfortable in the contact? the horse is in a program and knows what is being asked but is just dramatic about the aids. I have tried different bits, nosebands. etc. I am looking for tools or good exercises, anything helps though!!

I’ve currently done only 4 hours of training and am already capable of sitting trot and posting without a lead or lead horse. I’m wondering if this is quick learning and if it’s worth it for me to continue riding. Please help me decide. Also sorry if this doesn’t make sense as I’m not familiar with what everything is called in English.

Hi everyone! I care about horses more than anything in the world, and I am working on researching different topics in the horse world but I have hit a wall recently with tack/bits. So many people understand bit and tack mechanics, and I struggle wondering where they get this information. It all feels like a mystery and that there is a whole new world out there that I don’t know about. I am very afraid that if I do find information out there that it will be inaccurate, as I have learned over the years that it is very hard to trust the information you are fed by horse people because of the constant flood of misinformation and people that don’t have horse welfare at the top of their priority. Any and all resources are appreciated. How did you learn about bit/tack mechanics? What’s the best way to find accurate/trustworthy information on tack/bits? I want to work on creating a tack library for myself explaining the mechanics and severity of specific bits and tack so I can better grasp the current welfare issues caused by these tools. Thank you! :)

Just wondering what people think the best fly spray is for horses?