Windham Hill Farm

10/23/2026

DRESSAGE SOLUTIONS: Confirm Your Horse is on the Vertical 🦄

To confirm that your horse is on the vertical …

Imagine he is a unicorn and has a spiral horn coming straight out of his forehead. If you can see the tip of that horn between his ears, you have perfect in-front-of-the-vertical placement. If his nose is behind the vertical, the horn will not be visible.

— Endel Ots

Read more at the link in our comments.
🎨 Illustration by Sandy Rabinowitz

10/23/2026

Halloween is coming, Patrick says come to the Lou Denizard Clinic on October 31!!!!

10/09/2026

Tesoro ready to be backed at 3.4 years, full sibling to Wella, such lovely temperaments!!

10/09/2026

Baby Wella at 4 months, fancy little girl first time in arena, bold and curious!!

10/09/2026

Luis Denizard at Windham Hill Farm Saturday October 31st!!! Come join us , wear a costume if you dare?!?!?!

09/21/2026

🟢 OVER-TRACKING - Your horse’s hind feet step clearly IN FRONT of the prints left by his front feet.

🔴 TRACKING-UP - Your horse’s hind feet step INTO the prints left by his front feet.

🔵 UNDER-TRACKING - Your horse’s hind feet step BEHIND the prints left by his front feet.

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WALK

👉 Over-tracking is mentioned on a dressage sheet in reference to the free walk and is also looked for in the extended walk.

👉 If your horse has a particularly good walk, he might over-track in free walk by as much as 12 inches.

👉 Although it’s not demanded in the medium walk, some over-track is expected if your horse is using himself properly, but at the very least, he should track-up.

👉 In the collected walk, the steps are shorter and more elevated, and the horse may under-track.

TROT

🫱 In working trot, tracking up is expected.

🫱 In the medium and extended trot, a degree of over-tack is required in line with the lengthening of your horse’s stride and frame.

🫱 In the collected trot, the steps are shorter and more elevated, and the horse may under-track.

CANTER

🤙 Because of your horse's natural canter gait sequence, over-tracking, tracking-up, and under-tracking don’t really apply.

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Your horse’s capacity to fulfill these requirements will depend on multiple factors, such as his conformation, innate talent, level of suppleness, and the correctness of his training.

Illustration created and copyrighted by HowToDressage

09/13/2026

Dr. Steven Katz helped out an oldster this morning, she leaned right in and was grateful!! Steve Katz

09/04/2026

Niall Quirk at Windham Hill Farm!!!!
September 9, Wednesday 9:00 to ??
Join us!!

08/12/2026

07/08/2026

Let’s talk about tempo.

Tempo is the speed of the rhythm.

Imagine the two horses pictured out hacking together, trotting up a lane.

They will both have a 2-beat trot rhythm, BUT the tempo of the trot will (most likely) be different.

👉 The big bay may be 1....2....1....2....1....2 (slower tempo)
👉 The small grey may be 1..2..1..2..1..2..1..2 (quicker tempo)

Try to imagine the speed at which you would be rising up and down to the trot on either horse.

So, what tempo is correct?

To some extent, the correct tempo that you’re aiming for depends on the horse you’re riding. It should look natural for the horse - as though he is going somewhere, but without rushing.

It should remain the same throughout each movement, with no increase or decrease in speed, and it should be easy for the horse to maintain without losing balance.

Illustration created and copyrighted by HowToDressage