Karen rides her horse, Natilla with a focus of using corners to create balance and engagement. Natilla has a tendency to lose balance in the corners so Karen uses consistency to build a pattern where Natilla anticipates that she will be stopping and standing in the corner. Once she 'helps' Karen ...

Karen talks while she rides Hot Shot to demonstrate how she combines stretchability and collectibility in order to increase the quality of gaits and gymnastic ability of her horse. So many riders struggle with trying to develop collection without getting tightness in the back, and stretchability ...

Karen rides her horse, Hot Shot, to demonstrate stretching at the canter. She explains when it is a good or not good idea to do it, how to play with it in small degrees, and how to use it as a tool for getting more power and volume in the canter. This video is great for anyone playing with improv...

Karen demonstrates a favorite gymnastic exercise for horses who are just beginning collection as well as advanced horses. It is a powerful exercise that challenges and develops your horse's balance, engagement, and range of movement. It will help build power into your collected gaits and balance ...

Karen coaches a student through a basic counter canter pattern. She begins by making sure the student and her horse can perform a counter bend at the walk and trot. Counter canter is a great exercise to test and develop better balance, but only if you ride it well! One of the most common mistakes...

A work in progress: Karen shares a lesson on Solana she had with Jos Sevriens. Solana is schooling Basic Collection. You will see many examples of moments that are going well, and moments where we are at the edge of Solana's comfort zone and how we quietly, calmly persist long enough for her to f...

Karen coaches a student through shoulder-in and haunches-in on a square at the walk. This highly specific and powerful exercise is excellent for building coordination, flexibility, engagement, and straightness. You will get a very good look at these lateral positions from different angles and wil...

Karen coaches a student through a serpentine exercise at the trot for the purpose of gaining more throughness and suppleness. Suppleness is indicated by the ability to smoothly go from one bend to another. This one of Karen’s favorite exercises for ALL horses and riders. You will see a rider lear...

This video shows a typical ride with Solana. She is going very well, but can still get behind the leg and sticky at times. This stickiness is somewhat due to normal types of thoroughness, but it is also very much due to her particular character (and genetics!). You will be able to see how I quick...

Karen demonstrates and describes what she is doing in her body during a collected walk. Collected walk can often be challenging because tension can easily disrupt the horse’s natural rhythm. You will learn a subtle but important nuance to how you sit. She will demonstrate on two different horses.

Karen revisits two videos in the Classroom (Rebalancing Through Raising The Neck, and Improving Throughness For A Steadier Connection from June 2018)) and takes a closer look at why she chose to ride each one differently, and shows how they arrived to a similar positive result. You will see side ...

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...

Karen rides a student's horse to help her become lighter on the forehand. You will hear Karen as she narrates what she is doing in the moment. This technique can be very valuable for horses that tend to carry their necks low, but without good technique it can make horses want to pull down even mo...

The walk is the most delicate gait; it is the easiest one to create problems in the rhythm when engaging or collecting it. Karen gives you 3 important questions to ask yourself when riding your walk. These questions will help make sure that you keep the dynamic flowing, and will help you problem-...

Even if you have no plans to compete, learning these basic patterns from lower level dressage tests can help increase your riding and gymnastic skills. This video shows the Shallow Loop, a simple flexibility exercise that requires excellent spatial awareness from the rider. Karen also will demons...

Karen rides Hot Shot to demonstrate an exercise that will help you and your horse stay active and engaged when shortening from canter lengthening. Too often horses will break out of the canter when asked to shorten. In this video, Karen not only shows the exercise but also the specific warm up sh...

In this video, Karen rides Hot Shot through a pattern that will cause him to put more effort into his canter departs and flying changes. Hot Shot is a low energy horse by nature.

This pattern is great for horses who already understand the basic communication about Energy and Relaxation but may n...

Witness one complete ride without edits. Karen will set a timer for 24 minutes. You will see just how much she can get done while still giving the horse plenty of breaks. The theme is 'efficient and effective'. It is a great video to really see an entire session and observe the decisions she make...

This video builds upon 'The Collectibility Box: Building Energy'. Karen adds turns and transitions within and around the box in order to create more engagement and collection. You will see her ride Hot Shot and Solana. Each of these horses is rather low energy and do not have great natural skills...

This very simple exercise is based on a very important concept for building willingness to apply effort. It will help your horse build anticipation and become more motivated. Karen introduces the idea of a Collectibility Box, which is a visual landmark for a place where 'something important happe...

This video builds upon The Collectibility Box: Building Energy, and The Collectibility Box: Square Turns and Transitions. This video is more advanced and should be done only if you and your horse are confident in the previous video, The Collectibility Box: Square Turns and Transitions. Even if yo...

This video highlights the transformation over time of 3 of Karen's horses, Solana, Natilla, and Ovation. This video is meant to give inspiration and a visualization for just how much can change by being dedicated and consistent in your dressage practice.

Through Karen's experience of training ma...

This video is a continuation of the exercises in the video: Counter-Bend Exercise At The Trot (January 2018). Karen will show how to do bend and counter bend in the canter and counter canter. These exercises will build the rider’s coordination and skill in differentiating between cues for line of...