Jane Savoie A Happy Horse - Home Study

Jane Savoie a 3 times Olympic Dressage coach has put together a set of Horse Training videos and a 135 page manual that allow equestrians of all disciplines to learn the training techniques of Classical Dressage. Dressage is the English Riding Training method that ensures that your horse stays truly happy throughout its equestrian training.

The manual and DVD's are full of Dressage Training tips that Jane has amassed over her considerable experience, coaching some of the top Eventing teams:-

Jane the Coach

"Jane has coached at three Olympic Games. In 1996, Jane coached the Canadian 3-Day Event Team at the Olympics in Atlanta.

Jane coached several Three Day Event Riders from the United States, Canada and Belgium in preparation for the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Australia. While in Sydney, she also coached United States Dressage Team member, Susan Blinks. With Jane's guidance, Sue and her horse, Flim Flam, were able to help secure the team Bronze medal. This victory was particularly meaningful because Jane has helped Sue with Flim since he was three years old.

In 2004, Jane once again accompanied the Canadian Three Day Event team to the Olympics. This time the competition was in Athens, Greece. Under her watchful eye, several of the riders achieved their personal best for their dressage scores and finished tenth as a team."

Look at everything that's in the course:
- 20 DVD lessons that cover everything from how to use your aids to the training scale to all the movements and exercises from Training level through Third level.

- PLUS 3 bonus DVDs that cover some of the mental aspects of riding like exercises to help you relax, using visualization and self-talk to improve your skills, using music to help you with rhythm and tempo, and to have FUN!

- 20 CD lectures that cover the same material in the DVD lessons. Pop them in your CD player in your car or your Walkman when you're exercising. The lectures reinforce everything you see in the DVDs.

- A BONUS CD on Problem Solving with the tools you've learned in the lessons.

- A 135-page manual that summarizes the lessons in a quick and easy Question and Answer, bullet point format. The manual also includes space for notes and a fill in the blank section to really be sure you absorb the main points.

- A Winning Attitude book to help you get your ride and your day off to a great start.

Here's a list of the some of the topics covered in the course:

Lesson 1
How Do I Teach My Horse to Go Forward?
Whose Responsibility is it to Maintain the Energy of a Gait?
How Do I Make My Horse Take Responsibility For Maintaining His Own Energy?
How Do I Decide How Strong My Correction Should Be?
What Are the Aids to "Go"?
How Do I Teach My Horse To React To Light Driving Aids?
How Do I Use Each of the Driving Aids?
How Do I Teach My Horse To React To My Driving Seat?
How Do I Teach My Horse To React To My Voice?
What Are the Aids to "Whoa" or Slow Down?
What Do I Do If My Horse Ignores My Light Aid to Slow Down?

Lesson 2
What Does Each Aid Control?
How Do I Use the Aids to Get a Specific Response?
How Do I Put the Letters Together to Form "Words" or Movements?

Lesson 3
Why Do Riders Forget to Use the Outside Rein?
What Does the Outside Rein Do?
Are There Some Exercises That Will Help Me Learn to Use My Outside Rein?

Lesson 4
What Is the Training Scale?
What are the Six Ingredients in the Training Scale?
When Would I Adjust My Horse's Tempo?
What Is Suppleness?
What Parts of My Horse's Body Need to be Supple and Loose?
How Do I Know if My Horse Is Locked In His Poll?
How Do I Use My Aids to Supple My Horse's Neck?
What is the Sequence of Aids for Suppling My Horse's Neck?
How Do I Know if My Horse is Stiff in His Shoulders?
What are Some Exercises to Supple My Horse's Shoulders?

Lesson 5
What Kind of Bit Should I Use?
What Are the 5 Qualities of an Inviting Contact?
What Are the Five Rein Effects?
What is the "Work Area"?

Lesson 6
What is a Half Halt?
What Do I Need to Know About Connecting Half Halts?
What's the Order of the Aids For a Connecting Half Halt?
How Do I Teach My Horse the Connecting Half Halt?
How Do I Know If My Horse is Honestly on the Bit?
What Should I Do If The Half Halt Isn't Going through 100%?
How Often Should I Give Connecting Half Halts?
How Do I Keep My Horse on the Bit During Transitions and Movements?
Does the Connecting Half Halt Ever Last More than 3 Seconds?
Is the Connecting Half Halt Ever Shorter Than 3 Seconds?
What Do I Do if My Connecting Half Halt Isn't Working?

Lesson 7
What Does Impulsion Mean?
Is Impulsion the Same as Going Forward?
When Should I Add Impulsion?
How Do I Go About Adding Impulsion?
What is a Straight Horse?
Is There More Than One "Kind" of Straightness?
What is Axis Straightness?
What is First Position?
How Can I Use First Position to Strengthen My Horse?
What Should I Do If I'm Having Trouble Getting First Position When My Horse's Hollow Side is on the Inside?

Lesson 8
Why Do I Want to Collect My Horse?
What is Collection?
Why is it a Challenge to Collect a Horse?
How Can I Tell If My Horse is Truly Collected?
When Do I Start Collecting My Horse?
What's the Difference Between Connection and Collection?
How Do I Collect My Horse?
How Do I Know When My Horse is Ready to Start the Advanced Lateral Exercises?
How do I Teach My Horse Collecting Half Halts?
What Do I Do if My Horse Ignores the Collecting Half Halt?
Have I Collected My Horse if He Takes Shorter Strides?

Lesson 9
Why Are Circles Important?
Why Must Circles Be Ridden Accurately?
What Do I Need to Know to Ride an Accurate Circle?
What are the Bending Aids?
How Do I Know Which is the Inside or Outside of My Horse's Body?
How Do I Mark Off an Arena If I Ride in a Field?
What are the Reference Points for a 20-meter Circle?
What Do I Need to Know About Corners?
How Do I Make My Horse More Ambidextrous?
How Do I Use "Benign Antagonism" to Help My Horse Become More Ambidextrous?
How Do I Make the Hollow Side "Stiffer"?
How Do I Make the Stiff Side "Softer"?

Lesson 10
How Do I Ride a Serpentine?
How Do I ride a Shallow Loop?
How Do I Turn On and Off the Centerline or Do Turns Across the School?

Lesson 11
What is a Transition?
What Are the Aids for Upward Transitions?
What Are the Aids for Downward Transitions?
How Do I Teach My Horse to Respond to the "Stilled" Seat?
What Do I Do If My Horse Doesn't Listen to My Back and Voice?
How Do I Know If I'm Using My Stilled Seat Correctly?
What Do I Do If My Horse Comes Off the Bit During Transitions?
What Else Do I Need to Know to Do Good Transitions?

Lesson 12
What is Lateral Work?
What's the Difference Between Leg Yielding and the Other Lateral Exercises?
What are the Pros and Cons of the Turn on the Forehand?
How Do I Start the Turn on the Forehand?
What are the Aids for Turn on the Forehand and Leg Yielding?
What are the Pros and Cons of Leg Yielding?
What are the Patterns and Places in the Arena for Leg Yielding?
If I'm in Rising Trot, Which Diagonal Should I Post On?
What Do I Do If My Horse Doesn't Move Sideways Willingly?
Why is It So Important For Me to Keep My Horse's Neck Straight?
What Do I Do If My Horse Loses Activity?
What Do I Do If My Horse Rushes?
Why Is It So Important to Ride to Specific Markers?
Can I Use Leg Yielding to Solve Some Common Problems?

Lesson 13
What Is a Working Gait?
When Do I Start Lengthenings?
What Happens During a Lengthening?
What's the Difference Between a Lengthening and a Medium or Extended Gait?
What Determines Whether or Not My Horse Does a Good Lengthening?
How Do I Create Engagement Before the Lengthening?
What Are the Aids for a Lengthening?
Do I Ask for Lengthenings in the Walk?
How Do I Help My Horse Keep the Same Rhythm and Tempo?
When is the Contact Too Heavy?
Is There Anything Special I Should Do With My Position?
What Are Some Good Images to Have in My Mind?

Lesson 14
What Does a Good Reinback Look Like?
What are the Aids for Reinback?
How Do I Start Teaching My Horse to Reinback?
What Should I Do if My Horse Doesn't Back Up Correctly?

Lesson 15
What is Counter Canter?
What Are the Aids for Counter Canter?
How Do I Introduce Counter Canter?
What Are Some Helpful Hints for Counter Canter?
What are the Most Common Problems in Counter Canter?

Lesson 16
How Do the Advanced Lateral Exercises Differ From Leg Yields?
How Many "Tracks" Are There in Lateral Exercises?
What is Shoulder-In?
How Do I Decide Which Gait to Use When I Start Shoulder-In?
What's the Difference Between First Position, Shoulder-Fore, and Shoulder-In?
How Do I Start Shoulder-In?
How Can I Tell If My Horse is Doing a High Quality Shoulder-in?
What Are the Aids for Shoulder-in?
What's the Order of the Aids?
What Do I Do If My Horse's Rhythm or Tempo Changes?
What Do I Do If My Horse Loses the Bend?
How Do I Get More Control over the Angle?
What Should I Do If I Have Trouble Controlling the Shoulders and End Up with a "Head and Neck-in" rather than a Shoulder-in?
Why Am I Tempted to Use an Indirect Inside Rein?
What Should I Do If My Horse's Shoulders Feel "Glued" to the Rail?
What is Shoulder-Out?

Lesson 17
What is Haunches-in?
Is Haunches-In More Difficult Than Shoulder-In?
What is the Bend and Angle of Haunches-In?
What's the Difference Between Haunches-In and a Crooked Horse?
What Are the Aids for Haunches-In?
What Do I Do First?
What Do I Do If My Horse Loses His Rhythm or Tempo?
What Do I Do If My Horse Loses His Bend?
What Do I Do If My Horse Loses the Angle?
What Else Can I Use Haunches-In For?
What is Haunches-Out?

Lesson 18
What is a Turn on the Haunches?
What Are the Aids for a Turn on the Haunches?
What is the Sequence of Aids for a Turn on the Haunches?
How Should I Introduce Turn on the Haunches?
How Do I Know If I've Lost Bend?
What Do I Do If My Horse Loses His Bend?
What Do I Do If My Horse Loses His Rhythm?
What Do I Do If My Horse Gets Nervous?
What Do I Do If My Horse Loses His Desire to Go Forward?
How Do I Know If I'm Using the Aids Correctly?
How Do I Control the Hind Legs?

What Else Can I Use Turn On the Haunches For?

Lesson 19
What is a Half Pass?
Where Can I Do Half Passes?
What Are the Aids for a Half Pass to the Left?
What is the Sequence of Aids for a Half Pass to the Left?
What Do I Do If My Horse Loses His Bend?
What Do I Do If My Horse Loses Impulsion?
What Do I Do If My Horse's Tempo Is Either Too Fast or Too Slow?
How Do I Know If I'm Doing a Half Pass With Good Engagement?
What Else Can I Learn From Half Pass?

Lesson 20
How Do I Prepare My Horse to Do Flying Changes?
What Do You Mean By "Collecting Half Halts"?
When Do I Give the Aids for a Flying Change?
What Are the Aids for a Flying Change?
Where is the Best Place in the Arena to Introduce Flying Changes?
What Do I Do If My Horse Rushes Off or Starts Bucking After the Change?
What Should I Do If My Horse Doesn't Change Both His Front and Hind Legs?
What If My Horse Doesn't Change at All?
What Should I Do If My Horse is Tense?
What Are Some Exercises I Can Do To Get Clean Flying Changes?
What If My Horse Changes Late in Front?
What Should I Do If My Horse Does a Clean Change But He Changes a Stride or Two After I Give the Aid?
What Should I Do If My Horse is Crooked in the Flying Change?

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May. 5, 2008, 05:58 PM
Gracey
Training Level

Join Date: Sep. 17, 2003
Location: USA
Posts: 15

I bought the Happy Horse series when it was offered with a 30 day return policy (it may still be available that way). I have followed Jane Savoie for quite a while now, reading several of her books and watching several of her tapes. I think she is a very organized and articulate speaker/trainer. But, I was somewhat skeptical b/c I thought the home study series was just a lot of money to pay on top of working with a trainer 1-2 times/week. Surprisingly, I have found it to be a very worthwhile investment. I am loving it. I can watch the DVD's on my computer or TV. I can listen to the CD's on the same subject while driving out to the barn. And while there is some overlay between the DVD's and the CD's, it's more complimentary than repetitive. I could probably load those onto my IPOD, but that's one step too far for me technologically just now. Jane Savoie does a wonderful job of filling in the missing pieces in the training scale; you know the things that you've heard 1,000 times and you think you understand, but really you don't. She also does a wonderful job of giving clear and concise examples of what you can do with your horse to both train him/her and to verify that your training is correct. The approach of Happy Horse is so nicely geared to many different learning styles. It's really a wonderful home study set-up. The funny part of all of this is that after taking lessons for over 12 years with different trainers and clinicians, my current trainer, who I've been working with for 4 years said to me the other day that my riding has improved dramatically in the last month. I haven't told her that I purchased the Happy Horse series yet. I'm not even sure I will ever tell her. And let's just say this, I won't be returning the Happy Horse kit either.