As an end of this series about the aids, I want to tell what a lady told me 20 years ago, and that was quite an aye opener for me: Most of the time when we ride the horse does what we want, so most of the time we need no aids. I think that is one of the hardest things to learn for any rider: To be satisfied and follow the horse and avoid any impact when he does right. It is so easy to be there with a new correcting aid, instead of relax, smile and enjoy the ride.

As I am a dressage riders it is easy to think about the aids as small symbolic commands given in an arena to make the horse dance with us. But it also require aids to bring a scary horse out of one of those burning forests in California. In a situation as extreme as that it is much more important that the horse accepts and obeys the aids than what it is on a pleasant ride on the arena.

Both situations have one thing in common: The horse will follow us and do what we want if we can convince him it is a good idea. Maybe that ... Läs mer

I min ungdom på ridskolan i Partille var få saker lika förolämpande som att anklaga någon för stolsits. Det var värre än att sitta ned på fel ben i lättridningen, värre än att inte ha hästen på tygeln och värre än att hästen rusade in i galoppen och vilka fler saker det nu kan ha varit för en lektionsryttare att göra rätt för att visa att man kunde det här med ridning. Stolsits var höjden av genans.

Idag ... Läs mer

Passar både western-fendrar och engelska stigläder

57-71cm

Mässing är en mjuk metall. Mässingsmodellerna skall inte användas för longering eller annan användning där det är risk för hårda tag.

Sätt in en litenskruvmejseln i mellanrummen i kopparna. Tryck nedåt och sedan uppåt och bänd försiktigt loss kulan.

Tvätta kulorna eller torka dem över med en trasa för att avlägsna fett och smuts. Se till att kulorna är helt torra innan de sätts tillbaka i borsten.

Använd en gammal tandborste och borsta insidan av kopparna tills de är rena.

Tryck  tillbaka kuorna i kopparna.

Kip Mistral är häst-journalist i Californien. 2008 hjälptes vi åt att skriva en seria artiklar om mina rid-idéer. Det var ett flitigt mailande under lång tid. Resultatet blev tre artiklar "Virtual Clinic" i tidskriften "Equine Journal".

Denna sida finns för att det skall gå att kommentera på ridhandbokens framsida.

From time to another poll pressure is high fashion and told to be goos as it encourage the horse to lower his head. Other times, poll pressure is almost an ugly word, something that must be avoided. In Sweden, the latter is modern now.

Some companies have invented “anatomic” bridles that shall avoid avoid poll pressure on the horse. Those bridles are often used together with a snaffle. When you ride with a snaffle and stretches the rein, you lift the snaffle up against the corners of the horse's mouth. The more ... Läs mer

Most snaffle bits are made to stay centered in the mouth, and as long as possible we shall try to keep it centered in the mouth. It is, however, no panic if the horse prefer to wear it more to one side than the other. We can let the horse choose that. You can find several pictures of horses with a loose rein and the bit pointing out more on one side than the other. If the horse wants it like that – let him.
The interesting thing to sort out is, how do we keep the bit centered?

I don't think anything in the ... Läs mer

From time to another there is huge discussions about bit thickness. When I grow up in here in Sweden we where all looking at tho old “ardenner bits” (The most common draft horse in Sweden was called Ardenner) hanging in old farmer barns. The where mostly thinner than 1/2”, some times they were made of twinned wire, and for us kids they did look horrible and was a sign for us how mean the older generation were to their horses.

Back then in the 70th all us kids “know” that a bit shall not be to ... Läs mer

Consider that you sit on a very stiff, lazy, resistant and non obedient horse with a bad mouth. You have no bridle, only a rope from your left hand through the lazy horse's mouth and to your right hand.

It is a non abrasive rope with the taste of honey and apple so it won't sore his mouth

Now, you stretch your right "rein". What do you think will happen?

- The rope will slide through his mouth to the right. How much depends on how “hard mouth” the horse has, and how hard we pull in the rope. ... Läs mer

The origin of the nose band probably comes from the halter, so the nose band is older than the bridle. The nose band have been there for the rider to tie his horse up. That's why the nose bands had been there in most armies. The army riders also rode with a rope from the nose band/halter and around the horse's neck, to use while tying the horse up for the night.

We all know that a tight nose band is not good. Still plenty of riders over tighten the nose band, hoping their horse will get more obedient and more subtle or ... Läs mer

The Barrel Dance is a name I have give the forehand turn when you ride it around some object, like a barrel. It is not important what object we use. It has to be so big that it is easy for the rider to spot, but not so high that it interferes on the horse head order rider's leg. A steady barrel is perfect.

The exercise is to let the fore legs walk with short steps forwards – not lateral - around the barrel on a small circle. You can alter ... Läs mer

The turn on the forehand is a misprized exercise. As it is the first exercise many riders meet when they first start riding, I think it has got a reputation as a beginner's exercise so most riders won't ride it as that may make them look as a beginner. I, however, love it, just because it is so plain and easy to do, for beginners and for the horses.

In this article I will not talk about the rider's education, only about the horse.

You can use the exercise in many levels of the horse's education, and you put ... Läs mer

We all have friends who lift weights at a gym, do yoga or else care about their bodies and it's function. Though: No matter how fit and strong and coordinated they get, when they have to jump over a drench in the forest, they all do the same: They swing their left leg forward, pushes away with the right foot and land on the left. That's how most of us do. Do it the other way feels uncomfortable, clumsy and maybe scary no matter how much we exercise. I guess there is a few highly trained gymnasts and dancers that may be comfortable ... Läs mer

Many years from now I held a 5 day clinic in mid Sweden. I had some minutes for myself so I went out on the outside balcony of the indoor riding arena to get some sun and relax. Below me the organizers had built a number of small pens for the horses. While I stood there a lady came with her very cute American Curl mare and let her out in one of the pens. The mare was only 3 years and was on the clinic to be broken (horrible word).

When the mare went out in the pen the lady gave her a tap on the neck, closed the gate and ... Läs mer

The horses, just like us, use their bodies in an asymmetric way. So far everyone will agree, bit when it comes to why and how I am not sure the agreement will last.

We all are, for reasons only God knows, predestined to use our body halves in different ways: We are left- or right handed. That develop different skills for the body halves. We write better with one hand than the other but can not blame any stiff muscles for that. As kids most of us can cart wheel in one direction, often to the left, but don't dare to try to ... Läs mer

56-71 cm