1% More is a blog series in which we ask World Equestrian Brands endorsed and trainer team riders to give us one booster tip that will help us to improve our competitive edge by 1%. As any true athlete knows, over time all of those 1%s add up to significant results.
Jaclyn Pepper-Millard is an dressage professional in Petaluma CA. She most recently finished 4th in the USEF National Championship Developing Prix St George.
WEB: Jaclyn, so many of our readers don’t get to work with our trainer every day, every ride. What are some things that we can do in our everyday rides that will help us to continue improving every day, even if we don’t have a lesson that day?
Jaclyn: It’s important not to try to fix everything in the same day! Think back to your last lesson and choose one or two things that you will focus on today.
Before you get on, plan for your ride. How will you warm up? What will you focus on?
Give yourself an easy, attainable goal for the day (I want to do 5 trot-canter transitions in a row) and then call it quits!
I think a lot of people pick goals that they can’t achieve today, make it something you can be successful at!
WEB: Two very important questions for every single ride! “What should I work on today?” and “How do I know when it’s the right time to quit?”
Jaclyn: Ha! Horseback riders always want to be overachievers (note: she says this with the cutest smile that we can only take away that she’s talking about herself here 😉) Knowing when to quit is so important! If you keep drilling the same things over and over, your horse is going to get bored and stop performing!
Jaclyn Pepper and Limited Edition (Ellie) competing at the 2024 USEF Festival of Champions
For myself, if I accomplish something I’m happy with, I’ll do it a couple of times. If there is improvement, then I’ll walk away from that thing. If I’ve only ridden for a couple of minutes at that point, then I get to work on one more thing before my ride is finished.
Going back to how to get the horse to working, each horse has his own warm up that is right for him. Maybe he’s older and needs more time, maybe he’s quiet and needs some really forward work to wake up!
And as he warms up, your expectations for him can increase. We can’t expect him to walk out and just do an extended trot, we must get him to that place! Haven’t you seen the meme going around of the horse in the therapist’s office? (We have! And we reposted it for you below 🤣)
WEB: We love the idea that we can’t expect the same thing from the horse in minute 1 of the ride that we can in minute 26 of the ride.
Jaclyn: Yes! It’s all about listening to your horse. Knowing him well enough to know when he can give you the work you want.
So much of training day to day is about knowing your horse, having the right expectations, and really focusing on the positive. Horses really thrive on the positive. If we go out every day saying how much we don’t like this or we don’t like that, he has no reason to come out to work for us.
The language you use to talk about your training and your body language must be positive for the horse to stay interested.
WEB: Of course, we have to ask you about your favorite WEB product.
Jaclyn: Equipe Saddles! I’ve been riding in Equipe for at least six years now. I bought out the first rep I worked with! HA!
I’ve ridden in almost all the dressage models at this point. They are not a one size fits all brand with 12 different dressage models, different tree materials, different thigh blocks, deeper seats, shallower seats.
Jaclyn and Cooper competing at the 2020 USDF region 7 championships
My current GP horse is very sensitive, a very delicate flower! Riding him in the Victoria model was a complete game changer. He was able to be comfortable in his long back and I credit this saddle with allowing him to make it to GP!
WEB: What a testimonial! Thank you Jaclyn!
