Walks, trots, halts circles. Week 7 "Back to the Basics" Dressage training

"What can you do.... to know if your horse is really staying connected with you? How about going back to basics?"

These past weeks have been very exciting for us. We took the horses and riders you have been watching back to back to the basics so that we could bring them back at a new level with more connection and a better balance. This is week 7 with Darrien and Susan. In this session we focus on keeping Darrien's back up as much as possible while keeping him relaxed. This is a huge break through! in fact, this is the 2nd week that Darrien has finally started using his back and starting to step under more with his back feet. It has taken us almost a year to get Darrien to let go of the tension and tightness in his body to do this. Darrien is still not sure what he should be doing, or how to stay balanced but Susan has done a great job of getting him comfortable with the process

Have you ever taken a horse back to the basics like this? Have you tried any of the techniques we have been sharing on your horse?