How can I get the seat aids to work?

In order for it to work well, the horse must be on the bit and not going along with a hollow back. Just occasionally, you will get a horse who has had a rider gripping all of the time, to stay on, and this negates the horse's feel. I bought a five year old a year or so ago, whose owner was in her early forties but was sadly developing arthritis. She had definitely been gripping to try to stay on as Dougal is quite sharp, and so, he had no response to the seat aid whatsoever.

It took me about a month the reteach him to respond, and slowly the penny dropped. Now he is one of the most sensitive horses to the seat that you would wish.

Some horses are extremely responsive to this aid, even if not fully on the bit, but others are less sensitive, and require more rider co-ordination. It is essential not to overdo it - you are probably trying too hard - and a stronger squeeze of the fingers is necessary to start with, with a light squeeze of the lower leg to keep the hindlegs coming under and therefore keeping the back up and round, for the horse to understand.

It is usually rider co-ordination that is the problem. I always ride other people's horses that I have never sat on before, at lecture demos who have not been schooled in this way s my demo horse. Owners are always astonished that their horses respond immediately to my weight and seat aids, even though they have never experienced them before.

Sometimes, it takes the owners a few minutes to get the hang of it, because they find it hard to co-ordinate the leg seat and fingers. Once the horse is au fait with the aid, it becomes quicker and quicker to respond, so that the hand plays almost no part in the downward transitions, just a mere finger light squeeze or even just a vibration of the reins eventually, to keep the jaw relaxed, the lower leg also giving a light squeeze to keep the hindlegs stepping under, and the seat being the predominant signal.

I will be covering this in depth in my next video.

A half halt, is what it suggests. Correctly applied, the horse almost comes back to the pace below, then is immediately sent forward again. When watching some of the best video footage of half halts that you will ever see, to be found on Hungarian/German trainer Kalman de Jurenak's wonderful Classical Schooling Tape 2, one of my students remarked' It's like a freeze frame effect' which described it perfectly - the horse momentarily slows almost say from trot to walk, then straight back to trot again. Properly done, it achieves collection in the horse, by engaging his hindquarters more,so that he steps under and compresses the joints of his hindlegs, giving more spring and expression to the pace, and lifting and lightening the forehand.

Lots of instructors just tell you to half halt by checking with the outside rein. This is not a true half halt, as it merely focuses his attention, rather than having a rebalancing and collecting effect. If ever you get the chance to see the video that I have just mentioned, it is one that you will sit there with your mouth open, just marvelling at the riding and the beauty of the horses working.

I use it to show my students the correct way of working and have probably watched it most weeks with them since it came out about five years ago. I can honestly say that I never tire of watching it - which is more than can be said for some of the other videos that I use to show the wrong way to do it, sadly, all of them British riders.

I do wish that I could reach all of you to start you off on my Equisimulator. I can guarantee that a) the saddle is pulling you out of balance, b) you are being made to trot for far too long, instead of just a few strides, and c) the horse is hollowing his back, raising his head and jarring you, making it nigh on impossible to sit.

I can't very often take beginners sadly, as I have to spend so much time helping those with long established faults, but I wish that I had more time and facilities to help beginners, as you are the most important rung of the ladder. Put the correct foundations in right now, and like a house, it won't all fall down at a later date.

I enjoy teaching beginners, but my horses are all quite advanced dressage horses, and whilst it doesn't hurt them to take beginners/novices on the lunge, their schooling would quickly suffer if beginners were to ride them regularly, as they naturally become confused if the correct aids are not given.

However, those beginners that I occasionally take, learn like a dose of salts! They are first taught on the Equisimulators, the precise movements of the lower back and pelvis in order to mirror the movements of the horse. This enables you to adhere effortlessly to sitting trot and canter, but although the beginner can hold the trot in this way for a few strides, they haven't the musculature and poise to maintain it for long.

Secondly, they will be taught on my saddles, which I have designed to enable the rider to sit in balance with great ease. Nearly all saddles are designed by saddlers who know nothing about riding, and are still building saddles in the hunting set balance, not the required ear/shoulder/hip/heel line. This is why nearly all riders struggle to maintain this line - because the saddle, the very tool that is supposed to be helping you, is actually causing most of your problems.

Thirdly, although on the lunge, my beginners are on educated horses who will be worked correctly by the instructor, so that the back is not hollow and stiff. In this way, the rider finds the movement far easier to sit to.

So why is this not taught in all schools? I wish I knew - ask the BHS, who will only tell you that it is. The BHS have had their heads buried in the sand for so long, that they are in danger of fossilisation.

I did try to invent a stirrup bar extender a few years ago, but it increases the leverage at the point of attachment to the tree, and could cause the tree to crack. It was a big disappointment, as it could have helped so many riders.

Regarding the Wellep bar, I was one of the first to use them and did so for several years. However, I stopped using them, because we had one snap in half in normal use. If this had happened when someone was galloping, it could have been very dangerous. Also, we had trouble when moving the bars forwards for jumping. The stirrup leather used to fly off backwards if negotiating a large jump.

I have since experimented and found that the bars are better when further back too for jumping. The jumping position is the same ear/shoulder/hip/heel balance as the Classical dressage position, just with the hip/knee angles folded. On my GP saddle, we have placed the stirrup bars as far back as on the dressage model, and tested them out on riders of very different heights and shapes and all have found it easier to jump as well as ride on the flat with the bars further back. The rider can fold from the hip over a fence, rather than round the back and tip forward from the waist as is often caused by the bars pulling the thighs too far forward.

My saddlers make longer stirrup bars, which are reinforced at the point of attachment to the tree when the saddle is made. If you wanted the Wellep bars put on your saddle, your saddler would have to take the whole saddle to bits, stripping it down to the tree, and I think probably having to replace the tree too, as to remove the present bars which would be riveted to it, could weaken or crack the wood.