Love Wessel and Gee but it’s so amazing to also see other horses with their specific issues and how to solve it! Straightness is something I never really thought about until a year ago or so and it makes such a significant difference actually being able to control all four legs of your horse! 😍
Loved watching this training session. Now I understand why you counter bend on a circle, nobody has ever explained that to me before, that it's to redistribute the weight on the hind legs! POW!! Mind blown 😳. Will have a go at this tonight now that I know what I'm aiming for. Thank you so much, please do more of these sessions x x
Alicia, you are the best trainer I've never met. If I had the $$$ I would fly you over here once a month to train me & my mare. You've done more for us than any trainer has in the last 8 years that I've been riding my mare. Thank you!
I’ve been using some of the straightness exercises since I saw that small circle with counter bend or leg yield on the circle a few videos ago. It’s been incredibly effective on a Friesian I’ve been riding that is very crooked and lacks true engagement. Thank you so much!
Dear Alicia, I can’t thank you enough for teaching us on RU-vid 🙏🏻 I reconstructed my way of riding my horses, to your way. Not easy after 40+ years of bad habites 😂 but the results are AMAZING. First I concentrated on my legs, then the banana, then getting the contact right and now working the straightness🤩🎉🤩 My 3 jumping horses have changed completely behavior and their attitudes for working…. My lazy guy is energetic now, my giraffe is starting to work with her hind legs more and my electric dynamite mare is starting to relaxe better and making more smooth movements. Not so much sawing machine any longer…. All 3 of thème really like to work now and trying to find out what I ask from them….. So super great advice from you and your team🙏🏻👍🏻🌷Thank you x a million 💝 Camilla
I found this video with Toby and Mowgley very useful. Watching Mowgley is much more relatable to me, as he is more like the horses I get to ride. The style was also very helpful.
I have trained with a few people in the past 8 years, sadly Emma Woolley moved abroad and Charlie Hjtton moved to Scotland. Apart from these guys I have sometimes struggled to comprehend the intention behind the instruction and or why etc. I have never felt so at ease with a person's teaching method as Alicia. Her analogy to different issues is so easy to comprehend. The banana, the hands have tl be the same. The hind legs and head tilt and how we all try to correct the symptoms and not the cause. Having an ex racer myself who can be phenomenal when in full time work, but hot and spooky, has really given me the confidence to restart my journey. I wish I could have lessons with her. Imagine the confidence you would come away with because their is zero judgement here. Just wow.
Counter bend has been so helpful in gaining straightness and connection. So nice to see that even super talented horses and riders struggle with this too!! 🤩
I just had a training today with horse I rode many times before. It wasn't the worst session but a couple of things went unexpected. "Ride him for the day" is really a lightbulb moment. I remember talking to someone about riding a greener OTTB and I said things about how you have to be me more careful with them while riding, but was told that's basically what you would need to provide for all horses. I can see the point now. I notice a significant difference in riding a horse for the very first time and the follow-up occasions, but of course you should keep your mindfulness in all rides. Thanks guys!
Excellent explanation on straightness. Many riders don't understand that if the hind end is working correctly the neck and head carriage will also be correct. That's where lightness begins. More of these sessions, please.
Knowing when to use counterbend versus “leg yield on a circle” is very helpful and loved seeing a lesson with a horse that wasn’t perfect all the time. It gives me a much better sense of how & when corrections are needed. 👍
Hi guys, wow! Loved it. Great riding Tobes. I really see that counter flexion seeming to fix quite a few problems. It was really good to see it with the horse putting up resistance. I am using it more often but was going to stop because my Bear reacts really strong to it, he hates it, fights me quite hard. Now watching a horse that needs correcting, that isn’t so chilled out and wants to argue a bit, makes me more confident to keep it going! Brilliant, love this format. Thanks heaps, Vick from Oz. X
Love love love the way you teach Alicia!! Vertical and horizontal straightness, explained to us like we are humans, not mathematical geniuses! I have had to pull out of my DMA membership for a while but i still feel fully supported by you via the channel and really can not thank you enough for doing what you do. Please keep up the epic work!! x
Love this❣️ Thanks to you and your team for another great “Lesson” video. I needed the reminder of “ride as if you are at a try it to buy it” scenario. A focus on straightness seems such a complex topic for me, perhaps now, it doesn’t need to be. 😃Just signed up for the FearLESS 2.0….so excited.
I feel this was very helpful. My horse was never actually trained to do anything except pull a buggy... on asphalt! I only got him last February. He's green but he has a big heart. I want to help him learn to be balanced and I know this will help! THANK YOU!!
I love this video. My biggest takeaway is making sure the tempo is mine. Sometimes it feels good and makes you not want to change anything but need to do it to make sure it’s my tempo. And …go bigger or smaller than you think. Thanks for this! And…fix the cause not the symptom, the head down is a symptom, fix the weight on his legs and he will carry himself and head will fix itself. Love it. Enjoyed very very much. I would love to see more of these lessons!
This was so helpful and informative - thank you! I love this format - it's a great way to learn for me, and I get a lot from both seeing the lesson from the ground but also getting Toby's perspective as the rider, so thank you! My biggest learning in this was to fix the bigger problem, not the symptom...I think I too would have reacted the same as Toby in wanting to lift the head, but it was actually straightness that was the key. So cool! I shall think about this in my next ride. and that horse has a stunning trot - hopefully we might see more of it. Thank you! x
I think this is one of my favourite videos from you Alicia! I find myself coming back to this video so often as a reminder of what I need to be doing every time I’m in the saddle when I feel things aren’t 100%!
I've had to watch this through a few times, through DMA & here, to really get the full value. Biggest takeaways - before understanding the training scale I never understood the significance of straightness or how it impacted the horses way of going; from this, I understand that even in an unschooled horse it can be developed, using specific tools. Alicia once said to me, in the training scale, straightness is more uprightness than basically moving in a straight line, & now I understand what that actually means. I Iove to see the picture of this in action, to see how the horse actually does come up in the front & flexes more at the poII. Very clever strategies. I was really wondering who this horse was? Now I know it's Sigita's horse - how exciting that is!! What a gift for Sigita. You really do offer some Iife-changing opportunities, for your followers, & that's so impressive & endearing to see! ❤ that! Thankyou once again for a great Iesson - for the generosity, sharing insiggts into your expertise. 💖🐴🐎💫🙏
I like a variety- it's really helpful for you to show what it's supposed to be like on a trained horse, show us what it looks like like when done incorrectly, and then a lesson on a horse being trained. I never seem to learn from just one format, I seem to need the same info from all viewpoints as I slowly synthesize the concept.
This format, the live recording of a lesson by Alicia, as here with a horse that is not yet at a Prix St. George level, is so educational!!! I have taken so much away from this: - that the horse goes against the bit also by pulling too much downwards with its head and too little weight on the hindquarters. - instead of pulling extremely on the reins or trying to lift the head, to do the different types of circles, always immediately when you notice that the contact is getting worse. - the distinction between: when the horse falls on the inside shoulder - bend it to the outside ----- and to improve suppleness and get the horse "shorter" and more up with the back, do the leg yield on the circle Thank you so much Alicia!!!
Love learning this way. Can you do a split screen same horse same rider showing a proper working trot and a working trot that is rushed. That way we can see it at the same time , so that we can see the same horse same rider with a rushed trot or rushed Canter and one that is a perfect working trot and rushed working trot answer that would be great. A split screen showing both would make it so easy to compare the 2
Loved this video…I particularly find the real life scenarios great as it really shows problems and solutions as they arise. Loved the series with Laurie and her 5 year old horse in the DMA area. It showed all the tricks and solving one problem led to an evasion in another area so solving that etc etc. it’s great to show horses that are challenging in teaching them correctly as I think most everyday, normal riders can relate to this a lot! Thank you as always again! :) x
This way of learning is UNBELIEVABLY BRILLIANT! Thank you so very much Alicia and Toby 🥰😘❤. You always explain things so well Alicia, but it's even clearer when you can SEE it in action. I'm a very visual person so this really helps me to remember what to do. YOU GUYS ROCK!! THANK YOU!!!🥰❤🙏👏
Wow.. I've got that "A-ha!" moment. Thank you Alicia.. Yesterday I did what you told in the other vid, and it helped me a lot of having a much better riding. And I smile all the time. I used to put my face really serious while listening to my coach. And I'll do this one on this weekend ride. Wish me luck!!
The real life training sessions are my favourite things to watch on You Tube full stop! So insightful and good to see riders pushing through tricky moments and solving them with guidance and encouragement.
Absolutely amazing lesson. I truly love your “live lessons”. It’s as if I’m in the middle of a lesson while your teaching 😃👍🏼 Can’t wait for the next lesson. Thanks so much for everything you do for the dressage community. It helps those who truly dedicate their lives to finessing the discipline 🙏🥰🐎❤️
Brilliant! This type of video - whether less trained horse as today or Mowgly, or less experienced rider as Ashley or the DMA riders - is very helpful as I see myself and my horse and understand the application of the theory. Loved this!
That was brilliant just what I needed to see. When you have a lazy but reactive horse it's really tricky to find the balance and keep the connection. More on this please 🙏
Thank you so much for this! The part where you mentioned using unbalancing to your advantage really helped with my horse who was doing a canter evasion, like this horse. Now I know what to do!
Thank you for another incredible learning video . We were working on straightness yesterday in the canter, keeping on the circle then going fully around the outdoor arena allowing him to come through his hind more and if needed using a yield to bring him back. Excellent riding Toby!
I absolutely LOVE to watch these real life sessions! I think the takeaways from these are really great and I really like to see how the theory is actually applied in real life training, how it is used, when it is used and why it is used. A great takeaway from this video was that when things get messy it is because you're challenging the horse, and that is OKAY because that means it is a process of learning and getting stronger. I always feel like a mess when riding lessons and get disappointed when I've felt like a star the past week, but I need to remember that it is OKAY, because the mess is the sign of a learning process and of challenging the horse above what is easy and nice. Also a great takeaway to understand is that different kinds of bends are different kinds of weight distribution. I also love to learn about symptoms and causes because then when I'm struggling with those things, where I've learned about symptoms and causes, I know how to solve the CAUSE and not only the symptoms. Thank you for sharing this and thanks to Toby for letting us watch his learning process! :D
I love how this teaches us to solve such a specific problem and how counter flexion can actually help with many problems. It's something for me to try as it's easy for me to do!
I am watching these videos from South Africa. I really like this format of training. It has helped me in a short while and I am much more confident now. Thank you
Loved this vid, the counter flexion on circles exercise is something I have been doing on my regular boy as he tends to over bend and lose balance so it was great to see how it looks and works from this view. Last week I had a new horse on the yard to try out, a 17.1 OTTB, but this one is very straight and lacks bend and flexion so it's a whole new board game for me now from the over bendy boy lol. I did however have to deal with him being spooky over some jump wings stored in a corner outside of the arena and a collard dove with a death wish but thanks to your 80/20 tips and teaching us to ignoring everything that happened and just carrying on like it was nothing, even the big sideways leap he did with his panic dance lasted a split second and I sat it and he realised he lived, nothing bad happened and he was happy to go back into that corner and face his demons and I can't wait to get back on and enjoy him even more and hopefully get to working on his suppleness and bend. Love to you all and smooches for Wes! xxx
Hi guy's! Brilliant to actually see why and when to change to get true engagement! My horse is a Master of fooling me 👀. Big Thankyou for sharing all this information ❤👍🥰
so very helpful!!! Thank you so much Alicia and Toby. Your explanation of what is happening in the hind end, when a horse is diving down in the front is phenomenal. Thank you so much!!!
This is a great format of teaching and I really enjoy it. Seeing this video made me realise where my issues are with my QH mare and I can now correct it using your strategies Alicia. Wow!! Many thanks to everyone involved in producing this video.
Brilliant explanations as usual. My horse has the tendency to drop down, so am going to try and use the outside flexion today in lesson. These videos have been so helpful. I never really thought about where the hooves were and keeping on the tracks. Now, I visualise them in my circles to help stop the shoulder falling in. Thanks also to Toby for letting us see it too.🤩
Watching this video again a year later - it has such a different meaning for me after also being a member of dressage institute and all the learning i have done in between!
It’s is so great seeing it all happening as it is, I learn a lot this way because I can almost feel it happening to me and then seeing the fix makes so much more sense. Thanks
Nice horse - I can already see what he will be with you two riding him. Potential is the most exciting thing about horses and I love seeing the process. You don't have to have the most expensively bred horse to end up with a very good FEI horse - I love that about this sport! Thanks for showing us this and sharing the training process in real time.
My biggest takeaway was learning why you counter bend in a circle, it’s so you can redistribute the weight onto the hind legs. This video was so so so helpful! can’t wait to try it out! ❤️❤️
Thanks Alicia and Toby for sharing such an interesting lesson. I love this way of learning and really seeing the difference your training makes to rider and horse. I am using lots of your suggestions and seeing great results in my horses way of going and attitude. So encouraging!!
Great video- I was working on the same thing yesterday with my Andalusian but this just made my reason why even much much better. Plus the bit of getting the straightness makes him shift his weight back to where it should be was wonderful. Definitely a Diamond episode. So many people don’t teach this. I always have a reason why for what I am doing and I tell my horse in the moment. Now she will get a better explanation and I’ll have a better mental picture for her too.
And that's huge - the testing if the rhythm is mine!! I've heard it a million times, but this context fully drives home the reason why its so crucial. Once again, the importance of staying equal in the reigns, in this context, is given extra impetus! Great messages to have further engrained, by seeing it in action! 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽💖🙏
I have missed a few videos because I finally got my first horse! I need to play catch up with what I have missed. She is cow horse trained and I can't wait to use all the information I have been learning from you! I have been going back and watching Mowgley videos to get myself started.
Excellent video, so helpful! I love seeing the explanation of what the root causes are, because I don’t know those yet myself. I’d definitely just try to fix the head! 😅 This is a great video format for me. Thanks team!
Love this format ❣️light bulb moments every time and you explain everything so well, to see the horses resistance and then softening is amazing as that’s what we all deal with and often the resistance isn’t shown. Thank you 🙏🏻 your team is amazing and you are all helping and inspiring so many.
ORGANIC LESSONS ARE AMAAAAAZING. Thankyou Alicia and a big thankyou to Tobes as well. It gives me a chance to test my learnings and imagine what I would do to to fix the issue and then hear what Alicia and Toby say! Thanks guys!🦋
