In this video Karen uses some techniques you can use from the ground to help riders and horses find an improved connection.

Karen uses a combination of Moving Massage, Poll Flexion, and her dissolving brace techniques. This video is good for anyone looking to find an even more yummy connection w...

In this quick tip, Karen shows you the most efficient and elegant way to change your stick from one hand to the other. This not only looks good, but it is the least disruptive to your position and the horse. It's a little tricky to master, but with a little practice you will have it

In this video, Karen talks about and demonstrates the concept of 'riding forward to the connection'. This is an integral and often elusive quality that is so important to understand in order to create the light yet powerful connection that we are looking for! Karen explains the key ingredients an...

Justyna Rucinska from Poland, joins us to share one of her favorite exercises to increase your horse's flexibility from the ground. This is a simple but very powerful exercise that will require great trust and feel, as it helps the horse to relax through the very sensitive poll area. This exercis...

In this video, Karen coaches a student to understand and identify their Working Gaits and to take the first steps towards Collecting. This is a rider with no previous dressage experience, so this is a great lesson for anyone who has a lot of the pieces buts wants to be more confident in understan...

This is a follow up with the horse Karen rode in the video: Riding Through Brace. The owner and her horse made a lot of progress since June, but they still had some residual bracing in the contact. Since the balance and communication in general was good, Karen shows them a rein technique that spe...

Karen helps a student with their sensitive Arabian. The rider is having trouble finding a harmonious connection with the reins. Karen rides the horse to demonstrate how to use Basic Alignment Exercise to help the horse learn how to find a balance where he can soften his body and find the Sweet Sp...

Karen rides a student’s horse. The student sometimes feels some brace and it was interfering with their canter work. Karen got on to have a feel during a clinic. This is a great video to just see and hear what Karen does to find the sweet spot on a horse she has not ridden before. There is nothin...

Karen gives you 3 questions to ask yourself when looking for your best working gaits. It's so easy to ride around wondering: "Is this it?". With these 3 questions, you will have more ways to self-assess and be confident that you are in good working gaits. PLUS Karen gives you a bonus question to ...

Karen answers a very common question: 'How do you transition to riding bitless?'. Karen explains why you may want to try it, and how to set yourself up for success doing it. This video is excellent for anyone who has wanted to explore bitless but wasn't sure how to begin.

In this video, you will see Karen describe how she holds the reins, including the Fillis style. She will describe what she is doing with her hands when she shortens and lengthens her reins. You will see this all from the same perspective you get when you are riding!

This video continues from the video: First Thoughts About Contact with Victor (July 2018). He is a Grand Prix horse that has a lot of defensiveness around the contact. Here you will see Karen ride him in a way to help him dissolve the brace and begin to trust the contact again. He is recovering f...

Karen rides a student's horse to help her become more consistent in the contact and more 'through' in her top line. You will hear Karen as she narrates what she is doing in the moment. You will hear some of Karen's favorite analogies: The Wind In the Sail analogy and The Screen Door analogy. This...

In this video, you will see Karen start a ride on Natilla. She will narrate what she is thinking as she transforms Natilla’s body from ‘just trotting around’ to stretching in a let-loose posture, aligned and free on a circle. Karen shows how even a subtle use of the Basic Alignment exercise can h...

In this video, Karen coaches a person new to Dressage Naturally and Natural Horsemanship to find a more harmonious balance with her horse. She had spent over 15 years doing dressage and not being able to solve the problem of her horse pulling down very heavily in the contact. She said that her ot...

Karen rides Solana and demonstrates how she uses a neck rope during dressage in order to create more lightness of the front end, or a taller neck. She will explain how a neck rope could be used also for basic stopping and turning, but in this video she uses it in a more refined way. This video is...

Karen explains why arm position and shortening of the reins can be helpful when asking your horse for collection

In this video, Karen will show how to improve your horse’s posture in the stretched and working gaits without relying on the reins. Karen will show how to create the stretch, and then bring it up into the working gaits. This is a great exercise for anyone who wants to improve their connection wit...

In this video, we take a close up look at throughness and what it looks like in motion. You’ll see clips from a lesson I took on Ovation with Luis Lucio where he had me do a technique of his. I am experimenting with a different bit on Ovation and I am quite happy with how he likes it. Typically h...

In this video you will see Karen coach a student who’s horse has a less-than-positive connection with the reins. The reins have been used for speed control and balance and the horse has adopted a defensive posture which further disrupts the balance, setting the weight more on the forehand and run...

In this video Karen coaches a professional (and DN student) with a young horse who shows some anxiety about the contact with the reins. He tends to curl up and lower his neck, while getting ‘balled up’ in his body. She says relaxing and letting the reins go longer hasn’t helped him. He seems to g...