Tell me about your favourite training aids, and why you picked them and what they’ve helped you with? PS of Sweden’s Perfect Hands gloves for wayward wrists? The Franklin balls? An app or tech piece?
Lots of lunge lessons and no stirrups. Don’t like gimmicks
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Nothing wrong with the judicious use training aids in certain situations.
I really like the Pessoa lunging system. It was recommended by my lameness vet and was very helpful in rebuilding strength following an injury in my older horse who always struggled to build and maintain topline. I was super skeptical of it for years, but when I finally gave in, it was quite useful.
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Does a clicker and some treats count? I’m a minimalist; I don’t even wear tall boots anymore.
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cavaletti
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My large footbed stirrup irons. Just so comfy. (Jin Stirrups - but knock off ones could probably do the trick these days.)
Bit butter and bit warmer.
Foam ear plugs. - That was a revelation. I don’t care what people say. They are useful at certain time.
Real sheepskin seat cover for me and BoT back warmer for the horse in colder months.
Icepack Leg wraps (can’t remember the name) but they go all around and have long stretchy velcro.
My Westfield whip. Elegant, well balanced and gets its point across. LoL
My « long reins ». Which are western reins…
And my custom saddle. I cannot stress enough the importance of a well fitted saddle for both the horse amd the rider. It DOES change the riding.
Yes, Pros could ride in most saddles and do the job … but we aren’t Pro and we need equipment that fits as best as it can. If not, we waste time fighting the equipment instead of riding. You shouldn’t have to « move around » and fix your position all the time.
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They ARE very useful at times…
I love my Back In Track Royal Work Boots.
Dressage whip.
I have a love hate relationship with spurs…when things are going well they are great, and really help with lateral work…but then…well sometimes, well once, it was a shit show…
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A whip.
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Ah, right. You’re far superior to the rest of us then.
I have loved my soloshot for videoing and analyzing rides, but I truthfully don’t use it as often as I should!
I’ve been using Equilab app when I ride, just to help keep track of how often I’m riding and for how long, etc
I have the shoulders back, but don’t use it while riding. Wear it more frequently off the horse just to work on posture etc.
I’m thinking I’ll try a sound deafening ear bonnet, see how my pony responds. She’s pretty good as is, but some of the bigger competitions are a bit more distracting and she’s still young.
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Long lines for ground driving (I’m cheap I just use 2 lunge lines)
sliding and regular side reins
equicube Makes me very aware if I’m not sitting square
flexing stirrups and thinline pads
I’ve never seen the perfect hands gloves before but I’ve had to wear a brace after hurting tendons in my wrist, that looks much easier then the brace & gloves combo I used
Another plug for the Equicube.
My riding teacher had given up on me getting my back straight, she was resigned to the fact that it was related my to conformation…until I got the Equicube.
I can only stand carrying it maybe 2-3 minutes before my arms get tired, but even with that limited time my riding teacher says it fixes my back for my whole lesson. It is SO NICE to hear her praise me about how straight my back is!
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I’m intrigued by this Equicube.
I ride young/green horses so I somewhat want no interference on them because of “unorthodox movements” that can occur but I do have one “steady” guy. I don’t know if I have problems that this thing would fix, but I’m honestly curious now.
Its really neat, I was very skeptical until I heard a lot of reviews. I’ve had a lot of friends try it too, for me I collapse one side of my body and within a few mins my bicep on that side is burning as soon as I stretch my core up and down the weight is supported and no problem. A friend of mine who collapses forward onto their pelvic bone then braces her knees feels it across her back right away, when she uses her ab’s to support her torso her mare instantly goes better. A third friend who has been practicing yoga for over 20 years use to dance and has amazing body awareness and eq says she has no clue what we like about it for her it just becomes annoying for shortening her reins.
I haven’t seen any horses phased by it, we just bump it on the withers a few times before starting with it. My very sensitive green mare is just fine with me using it. I have had to toss it once I got asked if I wanted to ride a school horse who just needed to work since he had had a few days off. I thought great nice chill gelding, he was anything but that day spooked and “took off” (sedate canter) but I had to toss the cube to shorten my reins so I could tell him to stop. As expected it handled being tossed just fine.
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