Holly has a rider on a green 4-year-old Thoroughbred trot two standards set on a diagonal. The rider focuses on keeping an even rhythm and riding straight though the center of the standards. She repeats the exercise at the canter, focusing on the horse’s rhythm, pace and straightness. Holly then ...

Holly describes how rein length needs to allow a rider to make downward transitions while maintaining the hand position slightly above and in front of the horse’s withers. The rider shortens the reins by pulling the rein through the opposite hand as opposed to “nibbling” the hands up the reins.

Holly describes different types of seats—three-point, two-point, a light seat and the driving seat. For galloping and jumping, a rider can use the two-point to encourage freedom off the horses’ back. A rider can lower to a light seat through the turns on a course to help balance a horse.

Holly explains the hands’ primary and secondary grips on the reins and their placement—slightly above and in front of the withers. There is a bend in the elbow, which acts as a hinge to allow for a relaxed arm and following, yet still, hand.

Riders should hold their heads so they are looking ahead at eye level and the brim of their helmets are parallel to the ground. They want to keep their balance in the center of the horse and turn their heads slightly in the direction they are going, using their eyes to look at the next fence.

For a strong, balanced foundation, Holly explains that the rider’s heel should be slightly below the toe with the leg just slightly behind the girth so that there is a straight line from the rider’s hip to heel. The angle of the thigh and lower leg allows the calf to be against the horse so it ca...

Holly describes where the rider’s foot should be in the stirrup iron: She likes the inside branch of the iron to be cocked slightly back so the foot rests on the stirrup diagonally and closer to the outside branch. This helps with the flexibility of the ankle, allowing it to work like a spring.

To ask a horse to go forward, the rider squeezes with her leg. If she doesn’t get the desired effect, she turns her toe out to use the spur, what Holly describes as “telling” the horse to move forward. If a rider uses the leg and spur together, it will make the horse numb to the aid.

Holly explains how a rider can use her body weight to slow a strong horse. To ask a horse to slow down, first the rider would close her hand. If he didn’t respond, she would then close her hand and bend her elbow. If that didn’t work, she would lean back, being careful not to drive with her seat.

Holly Hugo explains a related distance between two fences in a line. If a rider meets the first jump of the line perfectly, she may just need to maintain the horse’s balance down the line and jump the center of the second fence. But if she meets the first jump short or long, she needs to adjust t...

Holly Hugo-Vidal works with a rider over a trot gymnastic of a crossrail to a vertical to an oxer to keep the rider’s upper body quiet and to land into her leg so her hands can work independently. They also work on fitting in six even strides to the oxer and straightness to correct a left drift, ...

Building on the exercises in Part 1, Holly Hugo-Vidal explains why bad distances happen. For the final exercise in the series, she has the rider approach a vertical in a good rhythm and balance, and when the horse has focused on it, she has the rider look at her raised hand, concentrating on main...

Holly shares how, as a judge, she likes equitation riders and their horses to be well tuned out, what that consists of and why. She explains what she means by a workmanlike position, the point of equitation and rider basics.

A U.S. Equestrian Federation “R” judge, Holly shares what she likes to see in a hunter and in a hunter round, including the horse’s movement, jumping style and way of going. She also explains how judging has helped her become a better teacher and an etiquette tip if you’re late to a class.

Holly explains what a hunter should look like in an under-saddle class. She also explains how a rider needs to ride a hunter in the flat class, including the contact with the horse’s mouth and tips on how to make sure the judge is easily able to see the horse in a crowed ring.

Holly Hugo shares how to encourage a horse to trust and believe in you so he jumps his best. She explains what riders do to lose a horse’s confidence and why horses jumped so beautifully for her mentor Rodney Jenkins.

Holly shares what she believes makes a good horseperson, including always putting the horse’s needs first and understanding all aspects of a horse’s well-being.

Here's a look at hunter trainer and rider Kim Barone's training philosophy.

Beginning on the flat at the walk, Kim demonstrates a passive and active leg at varying degrees of amplification. She talks riders through her process of creating a horse that is more responsive to the leg aid. Kim then encourages this with rewarding the horse by relaxing the aid after the horse ...

Kim explains why responsiveness from the horse to the rider’s aids is crucial when training. She begins the session with simply testing her horse’s response time to an average amount of leg. Once it is established that the horse is dull to her average aids through the upward transitions, she then...

Through allowing her young horse to take in his surroundings, Kim instills confidence within new situations. Starting with a correct position, Kim maintains her own confidence and safety. Once she begins working in the trot, Kim demonstrates the importance of a soft connection with the young hors...

Starting with a correct position of horse and rider for the transition, Kim then shows viewers how to work through the canter on her young horse. Kim focuses on maintaining a consistent rhythm of pace and proper balance to better help her young horse learn to carry himself at the canter. Through ...

After ensuring responsiveness of her horse following the leg yielding exercise, Kim then goes on to begin the shoulder–in movement. Kim talks riders through the movement as she demonstrates the shoulder–in while explaining her use of aids. After working through the shoulder–in, Kim explains that ...

Beginning first at the walk, Kim takes riders through the process and the aids required for a leg yield exercise. Kim uses the leg yield to progress into the shoulder–in through a sitting trot, followed then into the more difficult movement of the haunches–in.