JANUARY 2011 THE RIDER /37


The rider uses more weight in her seat for more response and less weight for a lighter response. The weight that the rider applies through her seat has two functions. It indicates to the horse her desire to go forward or to slow down, and it helps the horse accomplish these actions.


The Legs Building A Partnership


with Your Horse Communicating with Your Aids - Keys to Success, Part 4


By Lynn Palm


The rider’s aids are the tools with which the rider communicates with his/her horse. The “natu- ral” aids the rider uses are the seat, the legs, and the hands. The rider’s legs and seat control the two-thirds of the horse’s body from the withers back. The rider’s hands control the forward one- third of the horse’s body including the shoulders, neck, and head. It is important to understand how each of these natural aids works.


The Seat


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.


The rider’s 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 backwards. The legs as an aid are used slightly behind the girth. When the rider applies her legs to communicate with the horse, it should always be first done with the light- est squeeze possible slightly behind the girth. If the rider does not get a reaction when a leg aid is lightly applied behind the girth, the rider should then move her leg slightly further back on the horse’s barrel and reapply the leg aid. To do this properly, the rider should move her leg back from the hip and only slightly bend her knee to bring her lower leg further back. The heel should stay down. When the rider applies a leg aid further back from the girth, it always is a stronger request of the horse to move his body. When using this stronger aid, avoid the common error of bending the knee to lift the lower leg higher on the horse’s barrel. This brings the heel up high on the horse’s side which is not a good position for an effective leg aid.


If the horse does not respond to the rider bringing her leg slightly further back on his barrel, then the rider should use a vibrating leg pressure. Keeping the heel down, the rider should apply a rapid on-and-off pressure with the side of her


Robert Dover Rehired as Interim Dressage Canada Technical Coach/Advisor


Ottawa, ON—Dressage Cana- da is pleased to announce the rehiring of Robert Dover as Technical Coach/Advisor on an interim basis, for the period of January 1 — April 1, 2011. Robert Dover’s prior contract with Dressage Cana- da expired October 15, 2010. During his tenure and under his guidance, the Canadian Dressage Team achieved its highest placing at a world championships (seventh at the 2010 World Equestrian Games), and earned a bronze medal in the Nations Cup at CDIO5* Rotterdam.


“I am committed 100% between now and April to helping our Canadian riders and horses achieve the great- est results as we head toward the Pan American Games and the London Olympics,” said Dover.


While Dressage Canada has recently posted a search for a new Technical Leader, it is imperative that our high performance athletes receive the additional support they need during this Pan-Ameri- can Games year and leading up to the 2012 London Olympics. Should a new


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Technical Leader be found during the period of this temporary contract, Dover will assist in the transition until April 1, 2011.


Dressage Canada wishes to acknowledge and thank the Govern- ment of Canada’s Own the Podium program, which has provided funding for Dover’s interim contract.


About Dressage Canada


Dressage Canada, as a commit- tee of Equine Canada, is the national governing body for dressage in Cana- da. Dressage Canada’s objective is to foster the growth of dressage and the pursuit of excellence in the sport at the local, national and international levels. Dressage Canada provides support and guidance to both amateur and professional through the follow- ing programs: coaching education and programs, officials’ education and programs, rules and qualifying crite- ria, sport development, and publica- tions and awards. For more informa- tion about Dressage Canada, please visit the Dressage section of the Equine Canada site or connect with us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/dres- sagecanada or Facebook at http://tinyurl.com/lp8cnd.


About Equine Canada


For more information about Equine Canada, please visit www.equinecanada.ca.


2007 Filly, Cotton Candy


lower leg behind the girth. A vibrating leg pres- sure is not the same as poking the horse with the heels! Poking and kicking will irritate the horse and eventually make him duller to the leg aids. A vibrating pressure should wake him up without 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 reaction from the horse. When it does, go back to asking him with a light squeeze with the leg. A golden rule of aids communication is that no matter what level of communication you must use to get a response from your horse, always go back to the lightest aid possible.


The Hands


The rider’s hands control the reins. To give rein aids properly, the hands must be in the cor- rect position in front of the saddle at all times. The rider uses the reins for two purposes— speed control and turning.


Speed control is achieved through the action of the rider’s fingers on the reins. With her hands holding the reins, the rider closes her fingers around the reins to ask her horse to slow down. When she wants her horse to go forward, she opens her fingers slightly to allow her horse the freedom to move forward.


in the correct position in front of the saddle, to turn the horse to the left, I move my left hand and left rein sideways and 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 the horse’s forward motion, and it is impossible to do a turn without forward motion!


When turning, the inside rein (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 turning 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 turning rein lying against his neck. To turn 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. At the same time I would use my left rein to lightly position him for the turn.


The second use of the hands on the reins is to turn the horse. I like to use an “open rein” to direct the horse to turn. Starting with my hands


2007 Filly, Spring Fever


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 turn- ing action is desired or a lighter response is sought, the rider should keep the outside rein closer to the base of the horse’s shoulder. Next month I will share with you some exercises to improve the use of your seat, leg, and hand aids. For more information about Palm Partnership Training™ training materials and courses, visit our website at www.lyn- npalm.com or call 800-503-2824.


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