Horse Riding Coaches Wanted COACHES WANTED – experienced & trainees The International Society of Rider Biomechanics is the world’s leading resource for rider seat & position.  If you are a coach wanting to specialise, or a trainee getting their first start, we receive enquiries daily from riders asking us to refer qualified biomechanics coaches.  Become [...]

My feet have ALWAYS gone numb when I horse ride.  For as long as I remember trail rides with my mother meant numb feet. It wasn’t until I damaged my spine, up near my waist, that I got the same feeling, numb feet, all the time (I’m “fixed now!) and realised it comes from your [...]

Great game for easing into canter – and for light and soft transitions We do this in an arena.  60 x 20m.  You can do it in other sizes, but the size of this is perfect.   So try to mark that kind of area out, as best you can if you don’t have an [...]

Two great titles on sale for limited time only…. “How to Analyse & Improve the Rider’s Seat, Posture & Balance”.  3 Set DVD Series. Filmed live at the Lipizzaner Hall, this marvelous DVD set featuring several demonstration horses looks at all aspects of the rider’s seat, posture and balance. It really is ideal for all [...]

  I really encourage you to read this absolutely remarkable result, reported by ONM and the Kentucky Horse Shoeing School on the hideous  Hydrogel Verrucous Pododermatitis Treatment  

3 Day Internship with Colleen Kelly 1.  MidWest Horse Fair  - April 20, 21, 22, 2012 Madison WI 3.  Minnesota Horse Expo – St. Paul Mnn April 27, 28. 29 Join me as an intern – just for 3 days (shorter might be possible too!). It is a wonderful buzzing atmosphere, you’ll be at the [...]

ON SALE NOW!   Half Price Sale ENDING SOON!  Only $30.  This beautiful 3 DVD Set (NOT A DOWNLOAD) in a jewel case posted to you is ideal as a gift.  For all riding sports and all levels to know what to look for and improve the rider’s seat and position. Gala Evening Masterclass 3 DVD [...]

  We are looking for hosts in South Africa and the USA (and selected additional venues in Australia) interested in hosting clinics in their area. Other countries may be possible in 2013. If you’re willing to help us organise a weekend, we will give you: ◊  attendance at the evening lecture for yourself and one [...]

We’re still working on it…but here’s our dates so far: 2011 USA DATES YORK, SC (1 hr sth of Charlotte NC)  Oct 1 & 2 WHIN Conference Nashville Oct 6  to 8  BOWLUS, Minnesota  October 9 to 13th KENTUCKY  End Oct to Early November EQUINE EXTRAVAGANZA  Virginia.   4 Nov to 6 Nov BAY AREA, CA  November 7 to 9 [...]

For hundreds of years (certainly since the American Civil War) riding manuals have required riders to have the “thumb the highest point of the hand”. But why? In our ridden demonstrations (you can see this on both these DVDs: Rider Seat & Posture  and  Full Training Package)  you can see that when we roll the [...]

Champions are always after the competitive edge, however pleasure riders mostly want to be safe, and make sure the way the sit doesn’t hurt their horse. It was a natural marriage of minds when Colleen Kelly and Linda Parelli met.  Linda is famous for her work with rider position..add Colleen Kelly, the expert in the [...]

World wide there are many horse riding groups: pony clubs, adult riding clubs, dressage and jumping clubs and of course the Federation Equestre Internationale, the highest body of the lot, governing Olympics and World Championship level events. Every single one of these groups have equipment such as chambons, draw reins etc banned or “illegal”. Equipment [...]

4 Day Sale – $175 reduced to $75 until September 12 only Instead of complicated science…we have “made science simple”, boiling down all the complicated terms and grey areas that no-one can understand to the simplest things. This package has been purchased by absolute beginners wanting to learn the basics – right up to Grand [...]

UPDATE: 2011 Full Circle Moment As I write this I am sitting on the beach in BEAUTIFUL Rosarita Beach, Mexico. Yesterday was a ‘full circle moment’ for me. I actually wrote most of this article years and years ago and was up on our old website forever…but riding yesterday and realising that most people think [...]

Ever wondered what Nuno really rode like? Have a look here:  

Just today someone mentioned Dr. Reiner Klimke and “classic dressage”…which got me to thinking…what did they really look like back then? Boy!  hasn’t dressage changed! Here’s Dr. Klimke’s gold medal winning ride at Los Angeles, Burbank, now home of the Los Angeles Equestrian Center.

I remember years ago in one of my very first judge’s exams, I got the question”what’s the No. 1 thing the dressage judge is judging”.   I went into a look description of why IMPULSION was the NO. 1 thing…AND MY ANSWER WAS WRONG!  I got a big fat 0 out of 5 for that question! [...]

On the  ’forehand’ or the ‘haunches’? When you see photos or videos are you looking down? Is your coach always telling you:  ”look up, LOOK UP”.   Do you see the top level riders with their elegant stance, or seen videos of the Spanish School of Riding with the hats at the perfect angle? Why looking [...]

Equine Vet J Suppl. 1998 Sep;(26):81-5. Effect of rider and riding style on deformation of the front hoof wall in warmblood horses. Summerley HL, Thomason JJ, Bignell WW. Source Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada. Abstract A rider modifies the weight distribution and dynamic balance of the horse. But what effect does a rider have [...]

Thinking of Giving up? Too old, too sore, not enough money? dedicated to Karen B from WA “I have scoliosis”, “I have one leg shorter”, “I’m too sore…” One of the most common comments I hear is “I have scoliosis”, or “I have one leg shorter than the other”.  ”I could never ride straight.” It’s normally the [...]

Tempo & Timing – Rushing & Labored Dressage or Jumping – it’s the same! “Tempo” means how FAST a horse is going “Rhythm” means the type of beats (for example in dancing it’s waltz rhythm, or cha-cha rhythm).  In horses we have 4 beat walks, 2 beat trots, and 3 beats in the canter (which [...]

This is a great little “quick tip” to improve the horse rider’s co-ordination. It’s just something quick and fun that Nick and I filmed today on our lunchbreak in between filming for an upcoming series. Lots of tips here more >

Quick easy tip…. If you’re heading out for long hours either on a long trail ride, or riding horse after horse start with a slightly shorter stirrup. Then, when your knees start to feel as bad as mine felt on the one and only “super endurance ride” we did in Australia, then at least you’ve [...]

Raise your hands – carry your hands – lift the horse in front If you have heard people say that to you…you may have also heard “there should be a straight line from the elbow through the hand to the bit”. That’s two VERY different things! So you’d better know who is right and who [...]

This quick test comes from some of the most prestigious medical researchers, takes 2 mins and you do it while you’re cleaning your teeth!  What a great way to improve the horse rider’s balance! Can you clean your teeth standing on one foot with the other foot out in front of you? One of our [...]

Improving the Horse’s Extension & Collection Horse riding is hard enough when you start out with 3 simple paces of walk, trot and canter…but after about a year or so of training, you might want to extended trot your horse…however it takes time to develop the beautiful dressage extended trot we see on our horse [...]

Seat and Leg to get the horse on the bit When horse riders come to me for seat and posture assessments and lessons they expect me to make them use their bodies more, leg more, push more more hold. As a dressage judge I always wondered why the Rule Book says “light contact”, and “able to [...]

Next time you’re riding a corner in dressage…put a bit more weight in the OUTSIDE stirrup and you’ll get deeper in the corner. Then..compare!  Put weigh on the inside stirrup and the horse will fall in!  Enjoy! This is just ONE QUICK LITTLE TIP – you can get 101 tips click here > And, think where [...]

Riding the dressage trot, and especially “how to improve my sitting trot” is the number one question on our website. This article does not seek to re-write all the wonderful texts on sitting trot, and does not in any way replace the Official Rule Book (www.fei.org).   What I want you to know is how [...]

Colleen Kelly now in CALIFORNIA  for lessons & clinics.   Located between San Diego and Los Angeles she is happy to travel to your venue if you can get 7 riding friends together – your own training is COMPLETELY FREE OF CHARGE!   Full Clinics are available for dressage – jumping – western – competitive [...]

Biomechanics is a university based science looking at how athletes move.   For horse riding it looks at balance, seat, posture & balance and especially the affect of the rider on the horse’s way of going, performance and success. Rider biomechanics can improve sitting trot, sitting the canter, and the mechanics of higher level movements. [...]