February 09 midwest horse digest Page 35
out a lot of excess
squeezing.
If the horse still does
not respond, use an
abrupt action with the leg
behind the girth. Again, it
is done with the lower leg
flat against his barrel and
not with the heel. A quick,
assertive bump behind
the girth should get a
Communicating with Your Aids …
reaction from the horse.
When it does, go back to
Keys to Success, Part 4”
asking him with a light
squeeze with the leg. A
away from the rider’s leg pressure, a horse can
golden rule of aids
The rider’s aids are the tools with which the go forward, sideways, or backwards. The legs
communication is that no matter what level of
rider communicates with his/her horse. The as an aid are used slightly behind the girth.
communication you must use to get a
“natural” aids the rider uses are the seat, the When the rider applies her legs to
response from your horse, always go back to
legs, and the hands. The rider’s legs and seat communicate with the horse, it should always
the lightest aid possible.
control the two-thirds of the horse’s body from be first done with the lightest squeeze possible
The Hands
the withers back. The rider’s hands control the slightly behind the girth.
The rider’s hands control the reins. To give
forward one-third of the horse’s body including If the rider does not get a reaction when a
rein aids properly, the hands must be in the
the shoulders, neck, and head. It is important leg aid is lightly applied behind the girth, the
correct position in front of the saddle at all
to understand how each of these natural aids rider should then move her leg slightly further
times. The rider uses the reins for two
works. back on the horse’s barrel and reapply the leg
purposes—speed control and turning.
The Seat aid. To do this properly, the rider should move
Speed control is achieved through the action
The rider’s seat works as an aid to help the her leg back from the hip and only slightly bend
of the rider’s fingers on the reins. With her
horse go forward or slow down. The seat her knee to bring her lower leg further back.
hands holding the reins, the rider closes her
works by applying weight into the saddle on The heel should stay down. When the rider
fingers around the reins to ask her horse to
the horse’s back according to what response applies a leg aid further back from the girth, it
slow down. When she wants her horse to go
the rider wants. The rider uses more weight in always is a stronger request of the horse to
forward, she opens her fingers slightly to allow
her seat for more response and less weight for move his body. When using this stronger aid,
her horse the freedom to move forward.
a lighter response. The weight that the rider avoid the common error of bending the knee to
The second use of the hands on the reins is
applies through her seat has two functions. It lift the lower leg higher on the horse’s barrel.
to turn the horse. I like to use an “open rein” to
indicates to the horse her desire to go forward This brings the heel up high on the horse’s side
direct the horse to turn. Starting with my hands
or to slow down, and it helps the horse accom- which is not a good position for an effective leg
in the correct position in front of the saddle, to
plish these actions. aid.
turn the horse to the left, I move my left hand
The Legs If the horse does not respond to the rider
and left rein sideways and slightly away from
The rider’s legs work as an aid because the bringing her leg slightly further back on his
the horse’s neck. I do this through the action of
horse moves away from pressure. In moving barrel, then the rider should use a vibrating leg
my elbow not my wrist and never by pulling
pressure.
back on the rein. Pulling back restricts the
Keeping the
horse’s forward motion, and it is impossible to
heel down,
do a turn without forward motion!
the rider
When turning, the inside rein (rein on the
should apply
side toward where you will be turning) is the
a rapid
positioning rein. Its job is to position or direct
on-and-off
the horse in the direction you want to travel.
pressure
The outside rein is the turning rein. The
with the side
turning rein is held against the horse’s neck
of her lower
without the rider’s hand crossing over the
leg behind
horse’s neck. The horse moves away from the
the girth. A
action or pressure of the outside turning rein
vibrating leg
lying against his neck. To turn left, I would lay
pressure is
the right rein against the horse’s neck, asking
not the
him to move away from the rein pressure and
same as
turn to the left. At the same time I would use
poking the
my left rein to lightly position him for the turn.
horse with
the heels!
If more turning action is needed, the rider
Poking and
should slightly raise the outside hand to move
kicking will
the turning rein further up the neck. If less
irritate the
turning action is desired or a lighter response
horse and
is sought, the rider should keep the outside
eventually
rein closer to the base of the horse’s shoulder.
make him
duller to the
Next month I will share with you some
leg aids. A
exercises to improve the use of your seat, leg,
vibrating
and hand aids. For more information about
pressure
Palm Partnership Training™, our training
should wake
materials and our courses, visit our website at
him up with-
www.lynnpalm.com or call 800-503-2824.
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