Bell Mountain Eventing

Put it on your calendar! We’re going on a road trip to the mountains! 🏔️🛻

We sincerely hope to see you all next year!
Bring friends!

When a Dressage Horse Is Behind the Leg — Especially With an Adult Amateur (AA) Rider

One of the most frustrating situations in dressage is a horse who is wonderfully forward and willing for the professional, but becomes behind the leg, pins his ears, bucks, or doesn't want to move forward for his AA rider.

The important thing to understand is that this isn't necessarily a “lazy horse.”

Often, the horse has learned that there are two different systems:

**Trainer:**
Leg → immediate response → release.

**AA:**
Leg → no response → stronger leg → more pressure → horse braces → resistance.

The horse learns that the AA's leg is negotiable.
But what is actually happening in the horse's body?

When the rider is asking the horse to go forward while simultaneously restricting him through the hand, seat, or body, the horse can develop an energy conflict.

The rider says:

“Go forward.”

But the horse simultaneously feels:

“Don't actually go anywhere.”

Instead of energy traveling:

**Hindquarters → back → neck → contact**

the horse can become:

**Restricted → braced → shortened stride → more leg → more resistance.**

The hind legs become less effective at stepping underneath the body and contributing to propulsion. The back can become tense rather than swinging. More weight stays on the forehand, and the horse can become heavy in the rider's hand.

This is why a horse can look “round” while still being completely behind the leg.

Round is not necessarily connected.
A short neck is not necessarily collection.
More leg is not necessarily more impulsion.

If the horse is constantly being squeezed, he can also become desensitized to the leg.

Instead of:

leg → response

the horse learns:

leg → background noise.

The rider then uses more leg, which can create even more tension.

Eventually the horse may anticipate the interaction. Ear pinning, tail swishing, bracing, rushing, kicking, or bucking can become part of the cycle.

That doesn't mean every buck is training-related—pain and discomfort should always be ruled out—but the physical and mental pattern is important to recognize.

So what's the answer?

It isn't to kick harder.

The goal is to make the aid clearer and more meaningful.

The rider should be able to say:

Light leg = GO.

If there is no response, reinforce promptly.

The instant the horse goes forward:

RELEASE.

The horse learns that responding to the first aid is the easiest option.

For these horses, I often like to temporarily take the emphasis away from the perfect dressage picture and go back to:

Forward → Straight → Rhythm → Connection → Engagement → Collection

A horse cannot truly be collected if he isn't genuinely forward.

Let the AA ride the horse in a more open, forward frame. Work on transitions, changes of direction, bigger and smaller steps, and simple forward exercises without constantly worrying about where the horse's head is.

One of my favorite exercises:

GO → COME BACK → GO

At the trot, ask for a few strides of a bigger, more powerful trot. Return to working trot. Then ask again.

The goal isn't to make the horse run.

QUICK TRANSITIONS

TROT → 4 STEPS WALK → TROT
TROT → CANTER → TROT

The goal is to teach:

My rider's leg means bigger steps.

And equally important:

When my rider stops asking, I maintain the gait.

The rider's position matters, too.

When the AA asks the horse to go, are they accidentally:

• Leaning backward?
• Gripping with the knee?
• Bracing through the stirrups?
• Tightening the reins?
• Locking the hip?
• Driving continuously?
• Holding the horse in the front while asking him to move forward?

That creates the classic:

“Go, but don't actually go” feeling.

The horse needs to feel that the rider's leg opens the door rather than pushes him into a closed front end.

The ultimate goal isn't to make the horse “behave” for the amateur.

It's to teach the horse that the AA's aids mean exactly the same thing as the trainer's aids.

When that communication becomes clear, consistent, and predictable, the horse no longer has to spend his energy figuring out how to respond to conflicting signals.

Instead, the energy can go where we actually want it:

Hind legs → swinging back → forward movement → elastic contact → connection.

That's when First Level starts to feel completely different.

Forward isn't created by more leg.
Forward is created by a leg that actually means something.

Well, Desi wasn’t feeling his best self this morning so we made the decision to scratch Otter Creek. Although disappointed, I know it was the right thing to do. But bummer! I was sure excited to ride this down bank bounce to a two stride angled cabin line!! Oh well. Onward to the next.

But we’re still here cheering on Lillian Davis and Haley Johnson in the beautiful weather and looking forward to them riding their beautiful courses!

And since I’ll have no XC media from this show to share, you can check out the entire video of XC at Rebecca Farm below in the comments! ⬇️ 😃

For many riders, the obsession with “finding a distance” can turn into a daily battle. We walk into the ring convinced that every jump is a test of whether we can see that perfect takeoff spot. But at Balmoral, the philosophy is different. Instead of chasing the distance, the focus is on rhythm, pace, and track. When those pieces are correct, the distance takes care of itself.

At its core, riding to a jump is about presenting the horse with the same canter stride again and again. Rhythm is what makes that stride predictable. Horses are creatures of habit, and they thrive when the canter feels like a steady drumbeat. A consistent rhythm keeps the horse relaxed, balanced, and mentally prepared for the effort ahead.

When riders change the pace every three strides, slowing, kicking, pulling, the horse is left guessing. That uncertainty often leads to missed distances, chipped jumps, or long, weak efforts. Rhythm, on the other hand, builds trust. The horse knows what’s coming, and the rider can focus on steering and balance instead of panicking about “seeing” something.

Rhythm doesn’t mean slow. In fact, one of the most common corrections at Balmoral is asking riders to go forward. A plodding canter rarely produces quality jumps. Instead, the horse needs impulsion, the power from behind that creates a strong, jumping stride.

Think of pace as the energy within the rhythm. The right pace feels like you’re riding forward to the base of the jump, not crawling or rushing. It gives the horse the power to push off the ground and the rider the ability to stay with the motion. Without pace, rhythm falls flat; without rhythm, pace becomes chaotic.

📎 Continue reading this article at https://www.theplaidhorse.com/2025/08/27/the-power-of-rhythm-why-pace-and-track-solve-distances/
📸 © Carly Nasznic

For Sale:
This is an excellent chance to get into an almost brand new Dynamic monoflap jump saddle without paying full price. This beautiful saddle has been meticulously cared for and hardly used. 17.5” seat.

From the website:

“The saddle is designed to accommodate the anatomy and biomechanics of horses and both male and female riders.

The saddle is designed to position itself further back on the horse to reach a dynamic equilibrium and give maximum freedom of movement to the shoulders.

Dynamic Saddles™ front billet system is designed to allow the front panels to move away from pressure of working muscles, allowing the shoulders to swing freely.

Dynamic Saddles™ allows the rider to loosen the pelvis which makes sitting on the horse much easier and helps the rider feel more connected to the horse. The flaps and thigh rolls are angled to accommodate the anatomical structures of the human body. The stirrup bars, positioned further back for dynamic balance, help the rider achieve correct body alignment.

The overall design provides unmatched security to ride correctly and helps secure a rider in place even when faced with a young horse’s antics.

Dynamic Saddles™ are your personal key to another level of riding because the saddles give horses true freedom of movement and eliminate seat pressure points.”

$5200. No trials unless local to the Kansas City area. Shipping will run between $100-150.

www.dynamicsaddles.com

Well, I guess it’s time we made it Facebook official, so here goes…. I am pleased and excited to announce a partnership between Bell Mountain Eventing and Albion Saddlery!

Designed to bring horse and rider into perfect harmony, the Albion Saddlery collection has helped my boy free up in his back and shoulders and jump like a star!

I ride in the Fusion mono flap jump saddle for its flatter seat and super close contact feeling. Each wool flocked saddle has many options to keep you happy from color, mono or single flap, block size and location, flap profile, and more, depending upon the saddle.

For dressage, I ride in the dual flap SLK model because between putting a rider in the proper position, more subtle blocks and a seat that’s not too deep, this is a saddle in which I can really ride and find my position.

And Desi has been happier and performing better than he’s ever performed, so that’s all the proof I need!

If you’d like to check out an Albion Saddle for yourself, reach out to me or my rep, Kaylee Spain. And luckily for you local folk, she will be in Kansas City Aug 12-14! Contact her to schedule a saddle fitting and trial the different models or to service your current Albion!

Thanks for the media, HLJ Images!