Do you have a youngster struggling with his balance in the canter departs? Watch this great video with German Olympic eventer Bettina Hoy helping a talented pair improve their departs.

German Olympic eventer Bettina Hoy works on balance and canter departs with this horse and rider. In trot, the horse has a too-quick reaction to the aids, so the rider asks for improvements and responsiveness over three to four strides. In canter work, Bettina has the rider depart from sitting tr...

German Olympic eventer Bettina Hoy shares a dressage lesson in which she works with a rider to improve balance and engagement with her mare. In leg-yield, the mare needs to push under more and not lean on the left rein. In half-pass right, Bettina offers encouragement to help the mare unlock resi...

German Olympic eventer Bettina Hoy shares a dressage lesson in which she works with a rider to improve balance and engagement with her mare. They use test movements such as leg-yield, shoulder-in, renvers and half-pass as well as counter-canter and canter–walk transitions.

Caroline Pamukcu’s head rider Lee Maher schools a horse in a last dressage school before competing at Novice in a spring horse trial the next weekend. He begins by making sure the horse is going forward, and in the walk, he checks in to see how the horse is responding. They start in the trot with...

Caroline Pamukcu’s head rider Lee Maher schools a horse in a last dressage school before competing at Novice in a spring horse trial the next weekend. He focuses on maintaining the same rhythm in the trot and canter work. He and the horse work on transitions— trot–walk–trot, within the canter and...

Sharon White coaches a rider through a dressage test with insights into how to ride for the best score. Watch for tips on the stretchy trot circle, canter–trot–canter transitions and accuracy when riding the figures.

Sharon White coaches a rider through a dressage test with insights into how to ride for the best score. Watch for tips on the stretchy trot circle, canter–trot–canter transitions and accuracy when riding the figures.

Sharon White begins this lesson with a discussion of when to use spurs. She helps the rider get the horse to push more from behind, stay straight on a circle and ride accurate figures. They ride leg-yields from the quarterlines and centerline to the track to improve the rider’s inside leg to outs...

USEA Eventing Coaches Program faculty member Robin Walker guides a young rider through flatwork exercises that require the skills needed to move up to Training, focusing on balance, adjustability, and rider position.

Robin Walker, faculty member of the USEA Eventing Coaches Program, works with a Novice level rider schooling Training level. He first discusses what skills trainers should work on with their students to enable them to successfully move up the levels. One challenge is the horse tends to leave long...

Bettina wants more march in the walk and suggests the rider use his seat to accomplish this. She gives great tips on riding and improving the walk. They go back into the trot with details on when to apply half halts and ride the serpentine from the 2* test. In the canter they talk about the depar...

They reverse direction and Bettina explains softness comes from soft elbows, not opening the fingers. She helps the rider prepare properly for a canter depart. The trot becomes bigger after the canter, and they talk about containing that energy and changing the balance back onto the haunches.

Bettina begins this session by having the horse walk through a curved line of cavalletti. In the trot they work on the correct outline for the horse's strength along with the right rhythm. When they add the shoulder-in against the rail and lengthened steps on the open side of a circle, Bettina st...

Bettina Hoy brings her vast experience and knowledge to help this talented rider with the building blocks of great dressage - inside leg to outside hand, proper half halts and supple connection.

They move to the trot and repeat the exercise of three cavalletti on an arc, letting the horse sort out his balance and footwork. They change direction immediately after the third cavalletti and keep it interesting for him while working on using his core and position to designate the gait. The ne...

They take the next step in the progression of the exercise. After cantering through and changing direction, they add a walk transition, using the cavalletti to create the self carriage needed for a canter-walk transition.

Sharon explains how the cavalletti help in the development of the horse. They do another set of trotting through the exercise, and while he shows some tiredness, they work on building strength.

Sharon coaches a 2-star moving up to 3-star pair with loads of talent. The gelding’s big stride makes it difficult for him to sustain self carriage and collection, and Sharon helps them with cavalletti exercises that build the necessary strength.

Sharon White coaches a 2 star moving up to 3 star pair with loads of talent. The gelding’s big stride makes it difficult for him to sustain self carriage and collection, and Sharon helps them with cavalletti exercises that build the necessary strength.

Bettina begins this lesson by discussing the importance of straightness in the dressage training scale. She coaches the rider through the aids necessary to engage the horse's hind end and unlock the poll. She offers invaluable how-to’s to improve how the horse moves.

They do trot-walk-trot and trot-canter-trot transitions focusing on precise and balanced transitions only when the horse is correctly balanced. Shoulder fore to shoulder-in exercises are next.

When doing the leg yield, they lose a bit of their suppleness, so Bettina coaches them through softening again. The same aids are applied in the canter circles with an emphasis on flexing and letting go.

Robin starts with a coming 4-year-old OTTB that a client has brought along and explains how to properly start a youngster. They are just starting in his smaller ring, and the student shows the benefit of their work in the past week of having the mare go forward enough into a steady hand for her t...