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...

Karen rides her horse, Natilla, to show you a favorite training strategy to build both responsiveness and calmness! It’s also a great exercise to do when it is too hot to do a lot of aerobic work. You will see how she plays with it to build greater and greater movement from Natilla, but you will ...

Karen gives you a bunch of tips to use when the weather gets HOT (And hot tips for any weather!) ... Many of them can be used any time. Most are based on how to get the most value from your sessions with your horse in the most efficient, effective way. This fun video is good for absolutely everyo...

This is a quick tip to help clarify a small but important distinction. When someone tells you to "shorten your reins", it actually isn't enough information! Karen rides Solana to demonstrate two different ways to shorten your reins and the implications of each

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...

I am joined by special guest Dr Michele Gunderson. Michele is an Iyengar yoga teacher and former university professor. She is an expert advisor to writers and entrepreneurs. Karen was intrigued by her knowledge and in this video asked Michele to share her knowledge of the yoga pose Savasana (that...

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

Karen brings clarity to one of the most often asked questions about riding lateral work: "Where should the rider’s weight be?”. Karen discusses why some books and teachers say to ‘sit to the inside’ and why some say to ‘sit to the outside’. If you are learning lateral work for the first time, or ...

Karen shares some more tips on how to be better at your lateral work. She uses SiMoN the School Master Noodle (SiMoN kit is available in our Shop) to demonstrate some exercises you can practice away from your horse that will improve your understanding of how the different lateral positions fit to...

David Lichman joins Karen to give his answer to Karen's question: 'How do you know whether you are doing too much or too little with your horse in your quest to have results AND harmony?' This is a topic that can benefit every horseman at every level! He gives some great points to help keep you o...

Karen discusses some of the more subtle, yet powerful qualities, and habits that successful students have. This is not an exhaustive list, but key points that often students who are struggling have missed. As Karen says in the video: "With these qualities, everything will be easier."

Karen discusses some of the more subtle, yet powerful qualities and habits that successful trainers have.

Karen discusses some of the key elements for keeping healthy, happy horses. This is not an exhaustive list, but some of the elements that contribute to her success in creating health and happiness in her horses.

Enjoy a conversation between Karen and personal development coach, Carol Perrine. Carol will talk about how our conscious and subconscious minds work, and will give us some ways we can control what is in our subconscious! Karen and Carol have also collaborated to create a series of audio guided m...

Karen and Dana give you some reasons to video yourself, as well as some basic, yet important tips on how to do it well. Most people don't enjoy videoing themselves, but it can be an incredibly helpful tool. Hopefully this will help some of you to go for it

This is a recording of part of a Q & A webinar that is included in the Virtual Arena Sweet Spot course where Karen talks about neck and poll position. Karen wanted to share this excerpt because it had such great information about a common area of confusion when riding.
This video is great for any...

Karen introduces you to Tina Cristiani and Bruno Gonsalez, founders of the Baroque Equestrian Games and Institute. They have created a blueprint of training patterns based on the baroque style of classical dressage. They are a great resource for exercises to develop collection both on line and in...

In this discussion, Karen describes 4 of the basic postures you and your horse can be in. The more you understand the difference, the clearer your intention and your horse's success will be. You will also learn how to combine 2 of the postures to create the Working Gaits!

This video is great for...

Discussion and simulation to help you understand and feel what it means to bend. I hope you do get up and try this one... So many students find this helpful at my clinics! What you will learn about your bodies in this exercise usually directly translates to what you find while riding. This video ...

Sharon Jerdeman, (a dressage professional and friend of Karen's) and Karen often ride together. In spite of their different methods they are able to collaborate and support each other with their horses by focusing on common goals and respecting each other's process. They discuss how they are able...

Karen sits down with dog training expert (and Dressage, Naturally student), Brenda Aloff (Brendaaloff.com) to discuss some training principles such as reinforcing voluntary behavior, and word association with intention behavior. She was in town and took a lesson from Karen, then she helped her wi...

Dog training expert and Dressage, Naturally student, Brenda Aloff (http://brendaaloff.com) joins Karen for a short chat about the difference between eliciting a behavior with cues vs. the feeling of moving together (power sharing). Dressage, in the end, feels more like a dance than a series of in...

In this video, the student from the video "Posture Transformation" explains how she was able to make progress even though she did not take many lessons. Karen is passionate about presenting information in a way that students will be able to progress even if they do not take lessons ... Whether it...