British Dressage Convention 2012

Taken from the Horse & Hound Twitter Account 

Carl Hester: "There's no such thing as dressage for eventers and dressage for dressage riders. It's all just dressage"

Carl Hester: "Half-halts are invisible - or should be - that's why they're so hard to explain. It's what works for you."

Carl Hester: "You often have to ask a mare, not tell them - as you wives out there will understand"

Carl Hester: "Use lots of forwards and back transitions within the canter to spice up the hindleg"

Carl Hester: "When flying changes were introduced in eventing it was one of the most spectacularly amusing days"

Carl Hester: "Escapado took three years to learn - it was all flying and no changing"

Carl Hester: "Straightness is more difficult than piaffe/passage." 

Carl Hester: "Everybody should have to ride quarter lines - they show if the horse is contained in the outside aids."

Carl Hester: "To teach horses to land from changes in uphill way, ride fwds into them then collect straight afterwards."

Carl Hester: "Riders blame saddles when the problem is usually that the horse isn't straight and throws them off to side."

Carl Hester: "Valegro's so special because if you ask for nothing you get nothing, he moves normally & looks after himself"

Carl Hester: "Charlotte calls me Grandad and I call her Edwina Scissorhands as she had to learn to soften her hands & arms"

Carl Hester on Valegro: "He is gorgeous. Anyone says he isn't come and see me afterwards! He only ever wants to please"

Carl Hester: "In tempi changes let the wall help do the work of keeping the horse straight rather than always on diagonals"

Carl Hester: "Totilas proved that the lack of bond between horse and rider when compared with Charlotte and Valegro matters"

Carl Hester: "You should ride about 200 transitions per session - fwd & back to make the horse rideable & on the aids"

Carl Hester: "In the trot you have the piaffe/passage to get them light in front, in the canter you have the pirouettes."

Carl Hester: "Nip Tuck would love to be a front leg mover so we do lots of 10m circles and shoulder-in to engage hindlegs"

Carl Hester: "If Sam [Thurman-Baker] survives this session she'll be a star," - Dances With Wolves is super hot today!

Carl Hester: "With big young horses let the upper body and the corner do the work, not the rein

Carl Hester: "If you're doing young horse classes, take a box of tissues- not all judges will agree with you about yr horse"

Carl Hester: "Obedience to the hand and leg must start in the warm-up"

Carl Hester: "If a horse won't stretch at the beginning of session, work on a contact sooner then stretch when he is ready"

Carl Hester: "Walking for just 2 mins and sitting trot too early on in a session is not future-making for horses"

Carl Hester: "If you carry a whip just to make your horse go, you shouldn't carry one. They are just for small corrections."

Carl Hester: "I use the outside leg not the inside to give aid to canter because that's the aid in the tempi changes later"

Carl Hester: "Teach and practice flying changes on lines that aren't in tests, like the R-C line"

Carl Hester: "Don't panic if horse makes a mistake in changes, it's repetition repetition until he gets the hang of it."

Carl Hester: "A tense horse's lateral suppleness can be improved by very forward canter leg yields."

Carl Hester: "The only way to improve/influence horses' paces is to ride forward in a balanced way."

Carl Hester: "If horse isn't even in both reins don't keep pulling the heavy one - work to put the weight in the empty rein"

Carl Hester: "If horse is stiff on outside rein, use renvers to soften them up and add weight to other rein."

Carl Hester: "Horses in self-carriage will get tired esp if not used to holding themselves so intersperse with stretching"

Carl Hester: "Horses shouldn't be in box for 23 hrs/day & just ridden - it isn't fair. To keep healthy they must keep moving"

Carl Hester: "The trot is the easiest page to change & improve but you need to buy a good walk and a good canter"

Carl Hester: "Use half transitions to bring a horse back in trot and teach him to wait in balance rather than full half-halt"

Carl Hester: "I don't care what they say in young horse classes but Charlotte still thinks it's My Little Pony & gets upset."

Next up the hot boys, Dances With Wolves and Nip Tuck, whom Carl tried to sell but accidentally mixed up passports

Carl Hester: "It doesn't matter what type of horse you have, you can teach it square halts - they're 'free' marks."

Carl Hester: "If horse is strong, don't go in straight lines, circle & circle until he's not pulling & is balancing himself"

Carl Hester: "Valegro is the professor of dressage and has taught both Charlotte and I so so much."

Carl Hester: "Valegro has the best ability of all the horses in the world now to show a good hindleg."

Carl Hester: "Teach suspension in the trot and there in that moment you'll find the beautiful picture."

Carl Hester: "For lateral work always remember to sit on your inside seatbone."

Carl Hester: "Even with a straight horse like Valegro we keep the tempi changes on the long side to keep the straightness."