TRAINING & SHOWING
to Whisper,
SHOUT
The rider’s aids are her tools to communicate with
her horse. The “natural” aids, which she uses to
respond to her horse, are her seat, legs, and hands.
The rider’s seat, and especially her legs, controls
two-thirds of the horse’s body from the wither
back. Her hands control the forward one-third of
the horse’s body including the shoulders, neck, and
head. Let’s look at each of these important aids.
The rider’s seat works as an aid to help the
horse go forward or slow down. The seat works by applying
weight into the saddle on the horse’s back according to
what response the rider wants. She uses more weight in her
seat for more response, less weight for a lighter response.
The weight that the rider applies through her seat, on the
saddle has two functions. It indicates to the horse her desire
to go forward or slow down and helps him to accomplish
these actions. I’ll explain more about the function of the
seat in upcoming editions of this newsletter series.
The Legs:
The legs work as an aid because the horse
moves away from pressure. In moving away from the
rider’s leg pressure, a horse can go forward, sideways, or
back. The legs as an aid are used slightly behind the girth.
This is the proper position for the rider’s leg. When the rider
applies her legs to communicate with her horse, it should
always be first done with the lightest amount of pressure
with a light squeeze slightly behind the girth.
What should the rider do if her horse does not respond to
her leg aids? Here are some tips for “tuning up” leg aid
communication.
The rider’s hands control the reins. To give
rein aids properly the hands must be in the correct position
at all times which is in front of the saddle. The rider uses the
reins for two purposes: speed control and turning.
The rider’s hands on the reins can be used to slow the horse
down as well as responding with the hands as he moves
forward at the rider’s command. Speed control can be
done through the action of the rider’s fingers. With her
hands holding the reins, the rider closes her fingers around
the reins to ask her horse to slow. When she wants her horse
to go forward, she opens her fingers slightly while still holding
Showing
&TRAINING onto the reins to allow her horse the freedom to move
forward.
64 www.EliteEquestrianMagazine.com Wrien by Lynn Palm
Photo Courtesy Lynn Palm
Palm Partnership Training™
Building a Partnership with Your Horse
The second use of the hands on the reins is to turn the
horse. I like to use what is called an “open rein” to direct
the horse to turn. With hands evenly holding the reins in
front of the saddle, to turn my horse to the left I will move
my left hand and left rein sideways slightly away from the
horse’s neck. I do this through the action of my elbow, not
my wrist and NEVER BY PULLING BACK on the rein. Pulling
back restricts that horse’s forward motion. We do not want
to this because a turn is not possible without forward motion!
When turning, the inside rein (“inside” meaning the rein
on the side toward where you will be turning) is the POSITIONING
REIN. Its job is to position or direct the horse in the
direction you want to travel. The outside rein is the TURNING
REIN. The outside rein is held against the horse’s neck
without the rider’s hand crossing over the horse’s neck.
The horse moves away from the action or pressure of the
outside rein lying against his neck and turns. Going back to
my example if I were turning left, I would lay the right rein
against the horse’s neck asking him to move away from
the rein pressure and turn to the left while I would use my
left rein to lightly position him for the turn.
If more turning action is needed, the rider should slightly
raise the outside hand to move the turning rein further up
the neck. If less turning action is desired or a lighter response
is sought, she should keep the outside rein closer to
the base of the horse’s shoulder.
Next article we will put these aids together to learn more
about their affect on communicating with our horse and
how to improve our conversations!
Use YOUR Aids
Not
The Seat:
The Hands:
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