Keeping Them Relaxed

When I rode with Tony Garcia he was big on keeping the horse relaxed and not scaring him. I'm figuring out-specially after today how important it is to concentrate on keeping the horse relaxed and not just training and forcing the issue but repeating what your asking without upsetting the horse untill he can get relaxed and let down and accept what your trying to get him to do.

Along those lines here are some quotes from Nuno Oliveira...

"Equestrian tact is not only the subtlety of the aids but also the feeling for the choice of the aids that have to be applied, and it is the velvet softness in the coordination."

"Proceed so that the horse finds himself willingly into the exercise, and not by force."

"Never use force except if the horse sucks back."

"Look for the purity of the three gaits. The rest will follow easily."

"Make it a habit to praise when the horse yields."

"When a horse gets nervous during a new exercise, one has to calm him down during the exercise. Otherwise he will get nervous every time we ask something more or something new from him."

"Don't play the master all the time. The difficulty is to feel to what extent one has to intervene."

"In the trot, the hip has to trot, not the hand."

"Maintain heavy buttocks and a supple back, not the opposite."

"The secret in riding is to do few things right. The more one does, the less one succeeds. The less one does, the more one succeeds."

"I don't want riders who work physically hard. Work by thinking."

"Adjusting the reins means establishing a soft contact."

"One has to have an immobile hand with mobile fingers." This is the exact same principle as Neindorff's "The hand stands still, and yet it moves."

"The hands have to be like concrete when the horse resists and like butter when he yields."

"The descente de main is not a gesture, but it is simply a means to cease using the hand actively."

"Descente de main: the rider opens his fingers and the horse has to maintain the same gait, the same posture, and the same cadence."

"Every rein aid must be preceded by an action of the torso. Otherwise you only address the horse's head."

"Don't let the horse fall asleep on the hand. Don't have a dead hand."