Brian Hadley Stables Academy

10/19/2026

One thing I really dislike hearing when someone is riding a horse, is hearing a horse being labeled as “naughty”, “difficult”, or “having a bad day” simply because something is not going the way the rider wants.

More often than not, there is information in the horse’s response. If the horse is falling in, rushing, refusing to move forward, drifting, throwing their head, breaking gait, missing a transition, or repeatedly doing something the rider did not intend, my first question is not “what is wrong with the horse?” it is “what are you doing right now?”.

It may also be...
What are you asking?
When are you asking?
Are your aids clear?
Are you accidentally giving two conflicting signals?
Where is your body?
What are your hands doing?
Are you gripping?
Are you leaning?
Did you stop riding through the corner?
Did you ask early enough?
Did you actually release when the horse responded?

I have always tried to teach riders to look at themselves first before blaming the horse but that does not mean everything is automatically the rider’s fault. Horses can be distracted, tired, confused, frightened, uncomfortable, unbalanced, or simply inexperienced. Pain or tack issues absolutely need to be considered when behavior changes suddenly or consistently.

I just mean that “he’s being naughty” should not be our first explanation. For example if the horse keeps falling inward on a circle, look at the rider before blaming the horse. Is the rider pulling the inside rein? Is the inside shoulder collapsing? Is there enough inside leg? Is the outside shoulder being controlled?

If the horse keeps breaking from canter, is the rider gripping, tipping forward, losing the rhythm, or accidentally restricting the horse with the hand?

If the horse will not go forward, has the rider been squeezing every stride until the leg aid has become background noise?

If the horse keeps rushing, is the rider becoming tense and holding continuously, giving the horse nothing to soften into?

Often the horse is responding very logically to what the rider is doing, even when the rider does not realize they are doing it. That is why I would rather hear a student say “something isn’t working. Let me figure out what I’m asking” than hearing “my horse is being bad.” That shift matters because it teaches riders accountability without teaching them to blame themselves for everything. It teaches them to become curious instead of frustrated and most importantly, it teaches them to listen to the horse.

Another useful diagnostic tool is having an experienced rider or you as the instructor get on the horse when appropriate and safe to do so. If a rider is consistently having trouble with something, it can help separate a horse issue from a rider issue. For example if the horse is repeatedly struggling to pick up one lead with a student but the instructor gets on and the horse picks it up easily with the same setup, that tells you a lot. It does not mean the student is “bad” or doing everything wrong but it does suggest the issue is more likely related to timing, balance, body position, clarity of the aid, or how the rider is preparing the transition. I have always found that very useful as part of the diagnostic process because sometimes the quickest way to understand what is happening is to change the rider and see what changes with the horse.

So before we label the horse, we should ask what the horse might be responding to. Sometimes the behavior we are trying to correct is actually feedback.

10/01/2026

08/21/2026

A lot of what we learn about a rider happens before we ever say, “Go ahead and mount”.

Experienced instructors are constantly gathering information, often without consciously thinking about it.

We notice how a student approaches the horse. Do they walk straight up without paying attention to the horse's body language, or do they actually look at the horse before entering their space?

We notice how they lead. Are they dragging the horse behind them? Being dragged themselves? Holding the lead rope in a death grip? Or quietly walking together like two individuals who understand where they are going?

We notice what happens when something doesn't go perfectly. The horse moves at the mounting block. The girth needs another hole. The reins are twisted. Another rider gets in their way.

Those tiny moments tell us an enormous amount about how that student handles frustration, pressure and problem solving.

We notice whether they listen when they aren't the one being taught. In a group lesson especially, the rider walking on the rail while someone else receives instruction may be learning just as much as the person being corrected... or absolutely nothing.

We notice whether they blame the horse. “The horse won't turn.” “He's being lazy.” “She isn't listening.” Those statements give us useful information because one of our jobs is eventually teaching riders to ask a much better question of “What am I doing that might be contributing to this?”

We notice how quickly they recover from mistakes. The strongest riders aren't necessarily the ones who make the fewest mistakes. They're often the ones who can make a mistake, recognize it, make an adjustment and keep riding without mentally unraveling over it.

We notice how they treat the horse when nobody is praising them for it. Loosening the girth after their ride. Giving the horse a moment to stand. Fixing a twisted strap. Noticing a fly bothering them. Putting equipment away correctly. Those little things matter but of course, none of this means we're sitting there secretly judging every student.

We're observing because good instruction isn't simply correcting heels, hands and diagonals. It's figuring out how this particular rider thinks, reacts, learns, communicates and problem solves, and then teaching the person standing in front of us accordingly.

What is something you find yourself noticing about a rider before the lesson has really even started?

08/19/2026

08/18/2026

There comes a point in a rider's development where constantly correcting every little thing can actually start getting in the way of their progress. There comes a point that good riding eventually requires the ability to notice, assess, adjust, and problem solve without waiting for someone on the rail to provide the answer.

A beginner needs plenty of direction but as riders become more capable, part of our job as riding instructors is gradually shifting from telling them what to do to teaching them how to figure out what needs to be done and that is how independent riders are built.

1. Understand where your student actually is.
Independence develops in stages. A brand new beginner needs significant direct support to stay safe and develop basic competence. An intermediate rider should begin identifying some of their own mistakes. An advanced rider should increasingly be able to problem solve in real time, with their instructor providing refinement, perspective, and guidance. One of the hardest instructional skills is knowing when to step in and when to give the rider another few seconds to work something out.

2. Start asking before you start correcting.
Instead of immediately saying "More outside rein" try...
What do you feel?
What can you change?
What happened differently that time?

If the rider can identify the problem and come up with an appropriate correction, you have taught them far more than you would have by simply giving them the answer. If they cannot figure it out? That is when you step in and teach.

3. Let safe mistakes give them information.
Not every mistake needs to be prevented. A horse drifting off the track because the rider lost the outside aids can sometimes teach more than hearing "outside rein" for the tenth time. Let the rider experience the result and then ask...
What happened?
What could you change next time?

Safe, controlled mistakes give riders information they eventually need to recognize without an instructor standing beside them.

4. Make your praise specific.
"Good job" feels nice but "You corrected the bend before I said anything and he stayed balanced through the entire corner" teaches the rider exactly what worked. Specific praise helps riders develop their own internal feedback system.

Eventually you want riders thinking...
- That felt better
- He fell through his shoulder there
- I lost my rhythm
- I need to rebalance before the corner

That internal conversation is a huge part of becoming a capable rider.

5. Sometimes it is intentionally saying nothing.
Silence from an instructor does not always mean we missed something but sometimes it means we are giving the rider space to notice it first. You do not have to correct every crooked step, imperfect transition, missed bend, or momentary loss of rhythm the instant it happens. Give them a few seconds and see whether they recognize it. Then see whether they fix it and then decide whether your input is actually needed.

Our goal is to create riders who can ride without needing constant instruction. Riders who can think. Riders who can feel and riders who can make decisions. Riders who can recognize when something is not working and have enough tools in their toolbox to try something different.

One of the best things we can eventually hear from a student is "I felt that. I know what I did wrong. Let me try it again." That is not a student who needs you less, it is a student who has learned from you well.

How do you encourage your students to start thinking for themselves instead of waiting for the next instruction from the rail?

08/07/2026

Sometimes we keep correcting the same riding problem over and over when the real issue is not that the student does not understand what we are asking, it's because their body simply cannot maintain it yet.

The rider who repeatedly loses their two point after half a lap may understand the position perfectly but their legs and core may just fatigue quickly. The rider who starts gripping harder as the lesson progresses may simply be running out of strength and stability. This can happen with children, teenagers, adult beginners, returning riders, and even experienced riders who only get in the saddle once or twice a week.

Riding requires a surprising amount of physical capacity. Riders need enough core strength to stabilize themselves without hanging on the reins. They need leg strength and endurance to maintain position without gripping. They need hip, ankle, and hamstring mobility to sit correctly without forcing their body into place. They also need enough cardiovascular endurance to continue thinking, reacting, and learning once the physical work becomes harder.

That is why some position problems become dramatically worse toward the end of a lesson. At the beginning, the rider looks reasonably balanced. Twenty or thirty minutes later, the shoulders start collapsing, the lower leg becomes unstable, the hands get busy, the knees begin gripping, and every correction seems to disappear within a few strides. At that point, continuing to repeat the same correction may not accomplish very much as fatigue has become part of the equation.

This is where instructors can start looking beyond simply telling the rider WHAT to fix and begin asking WHY they cannot maintain the correction. Can they physically hold two-point for thirty seconds? Can they balance on one leg? Do they have enough ankle mobility to allow the heel to sink naturally? Can they stabilize their torso without bracing? Can they post the trot for several minutes without becoming completely exhausted?

Those simple observations can tell us quite a bit about what is happening in the saddle. This does not mean riding instructors need to become personal trainers, and it certainly does not mean turning lessons into workout but sometimes the solution is incredibly simple. A few minutes of mobility work before mounting. Short two point intervals instead of one exhausting hold. A couple of basic exercises for the rider to practice between lessons.

Encouraging students to walk, swim, bike, do yoga, strength train, or simply become more physically active outside the barn. Most importantly, explain the connection. Instead of repeatedly saying, “Stop gripping with your knees,” you might explain that the rider is gripping because their core and lower leg are getting tired. Instead of constantly saying, “Keep your heels down,” explain that limited ankle mobility may be making the position difficult. That changes the conversation from “You keep doing this wrong” to “Here is what your body needs in order to make this easier.”

It can also be incredibly encouraging for students. Sometimes riders become frustrated because they know what they are supposed to do but cannot seem to make their body cooperate. Understanding that strength, endurance, balance, and mobility can be developed gives them something concrete to work toward.

We should also remember the horse in this conversation too. The stronger and more balanced a rider becomes, the easier it is for them to stay with the horse's movement instead of bouncing, gripping, collapsing, or balancing on the reins. Improving rider fitness is not just about prettier equitation. It can improve communication, safety, and the experience for the lesson horse underneath them.

Riding absolutely develops fitness, but for many students, riding once or twice a week may not provide enough repetition to build every physical quality they need. Sometimes the best thing we can do as instructors is recognize that another riding correction is not the answer and that the rider may simply need to become physically capable of doing what we are asking.

Have you ever had a student whose position improved dramatically once they worked on strength, flexibility, balance, or endurance outside of their lessons?