Watch a demo Karen did for students in a clinic. The focus of the clinic was seat connection within the connection. Karen was showing some examples of important exercises to be able to do without using the reins. They are simple exercises that you will want to get very good at even if you never i...

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...

In this video, you will see a challenging but potentially powerful exercise to do to increase your horse’s collectibility. It is a simple pattern with a lot of relaxation built into it, but it also requires that you and your horse organize yourselves for collection! You will see a rider play with...

Watch as Karen coaches a rider through an exercise to give her a feeling of her horse becoming more engaged. This horse and rider have an excellent foundation and connection already, but the horse is built downhill, so when the rider tries to bring the horse up, they get stuck with a heavier cont...

In the video 'Baroque Equestrian Games & Institute: Square Turns', Karen demonstrated a really valuable exercise for lightening the forehand and creating engagement and mobility. In this video, Karen coaches riders in a clinic through a square corner exercise. You will see horses of different lev...

This video shows you a 4-Step exercise that will help you check how much your seat connection works inside the connection with the reins. Sometimes it's easier to have a seat connection when riding with no reins, but it can be a challenge to keep that seat connection when the reins are there! Thi...

In this video, Karen demonstrates counter-bending exercises to do at the walk and trot that help in creating alignment, flexibility, and suppleness. This will help riders coordinate between bend and line of direction. These exercises are helpful for anyone who has working or collected gaits, and ...

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...

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...

In this video we see DN Instructor, Shawna Lewis, riding a client’s jumping horse in a lesson with me to help him improve his canter. This is the first time I am seeing the horse and since he has a lot of mental and physical brace I decide to do an exercise at the walk in order to improve some of...

Karen rides Natilla to demonstrate a way she plays with developing more engagement during transitions from the collected walk. This will be good for anyone with Working Gaits that is working on Collectibility.

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...

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 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'. 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...

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...

Watch as Karen coaches a student who is having trouble with a horse that is very good at running out his shoulders. The rider has a habit of using the inside rein in turns, and this only compounds the problem. The rider learns to guide the horse from the outside of his body, and the horse finds a...

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...

Karen and Natilla demonstrate a very simple exercise that is highly effective. This is one of Karen’s "can't live without it" exercises. It helps horses develop the skills and confidence needed to build collectibility in corners. Corners can make everything better, but often horses fall apart in ...

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...

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-...

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...

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 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 ...