Perfect Timing

A lot has been written about how to position and use your leg. You know how to use each part of your leg and how to get your horse moving off it but do you know when to use it? Knowing the perfect time to put your leg on can make a huge difference when you start to ride more difficult movements.

In standard paces (medium walk or working trot and canter) you shouldn’t need to use your legs just to keep your horse moving. For more on this read ‘Be a Lazy Rider’ (December 2010). Your legs are there to control the hindquarters and to generate extra energy. An extra push with your leg will increase the effort your horse puts into a pace but do it at the right time and he’ll make three times the effort.

Try this.

Walk large around the school. Ride without stirrups if you feel happy to or lengthen them so you can wrap your legs around your horse’s barrel. Make sure he’s walking forward. Keep your body as relaxed as possible. You should be able to feel his barrel swinging from one side to the other.

When a horse walks he brings his hind legs under his body. To make room for each leg he has to swing his barrel away to the side. When his right hind leg comes forward his barrel swings away to the left. When the left leg comes forward his barrel swings away to the right.

As your horse swings his barrel away from your right leg his right hind leg is coming under his body. This is the time to use your right leg. Use your left leg as his barrel swings to the right. Think of using each leg to push his barrel from side to side. Pushing as he lifts his hind leg up and forward will encourage him to stretch further under his body and his steps will become more energetic.

This is so much more accurate than just pushing. Now you can alter the effort he makes with each hind leg. The harder you push his barrel to one side the further he’ll stretch with the leg that’s leaving the floor.

Trot and canter are harder to feel. In the long term you’ll learn to feel the exact moment each hind leg leaves the floor. As with the walk the stronger you push the further he’ll stretch. Initially try something a little easier.

In trot and canter you need to be sitting. Both paces have an up stride and a down stride. Keep your seat relaxed and be patient. If your horse is going forward you’ll find it easier to feel. The time to use your legs is on the down stride. At this moment his inside hind leg is about to leave the floor. Catch it at the right time and you can encourage your horse to lift it higher and push it further under his body.

Think of using your legs to lift your horse up off the floor. The harder you push the higher his back comes up for the up stride and the more powerful his steps become.

Using your leg at the right time will have an instant effect. You may find it easier to concentrate on walk out hacking. Stay relaxed. Tension in your body will stop you from feeling anything. Be patient. It’s similar to learning about trot diagonals. Once you get it you’ll wonder why you ever had a problem. Good luck.

On the Bit ... or Off it?

There can’t be a rider out there who hasn’t 'screwed' their horse’s head down at some stage. The problem with this ‘method’, other than the fact it’s unnecessary, is that it really doesn’t work. Ok, it makes your horse tuck his nose in but the second you try to swap your whip over, shorten your reins or even scratch your nose his head will, quite rightly, pop straight back up again.

On the bit should be self explanatory. It means what it says. Your horse should settle (not lean or hang) ON the bit. Sounds simple, doesn’t it? So why do so many riders spend most of their time trying desperately to get their horse OFF it? Snatching, pulling or swinging the bit from side to side is hardly relaxing for your horse. For him to settle on the bit you have to keep your hands still.

In the last few posts you’ll have read that your hands control everything in front of the saddle. Your legs control everything behind it. Riding from leg into hand creates and then contains energy. Do it right and you can’t fail to put your horse on the bit.

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Contained energy has to go somewhere. Compare your horse to a coke bottle. Shake it with the lid on and the coke fizzes. If the lid is tight the bottle expands to allow for the extra fizz. Push your horse from behind into a steady contact and you’ll create the same effect. The energy bottles up between his hindquarters and his mouth. If your contact is consistent there’s nowhere for this energy to go. His barrel, like the bottle,  will expand to allow for it.

If he’s comfortable in his mouth your horse will round his spine. His back will come up under the saddle and his head will go down onto the bit.  If he’s uncomfortable he’ll tighten his back. Now he can’t round his back so he’ll hollow it. His back will drop from under the saddle and his head will come up.

It’s your job to ensure your horse is comfortable in his mouth. Moving your hand or your whole arm puts all your weight behind each movement. Move your fingers, as if you are squeezing water from a sponge, and you create a softer feeling which he can relax onto. This movement of your fingers keeps you in contact with his mouth but prevents you both from fixing on each other.

Of course, some horses are easier than others but stay calm and consistent and you’ll get there in the end. The next time you take a pull or try to ‘get your horse’s head in’ think twice. Do you want him on the bit or off it?

Be a Lazy Rider

The best thing you can teach your horse is that legs don’t just mean “Go”. You shouldn’t have to kick for every stride.  He should continue at the same speed until you tell him otherwise. It’s easy to get into a habit of kicking every stride but eventually your horse becomes dead to it.

Become a lazy rider. Teach your horse to go forward from the slightest of squeezes. You’ll need to be consistent and patient but it will be worth it in the end.

Warm up as usual but be prepared to spend the rest of the session in walk. Once he’s picked it up you’ll find the other paces come a lot easier but trot before the penny’s dropped and you’ll be wasting your time and energy.

Start by riding large and expecting him to walk from one marker to the next without you having to kick. At each marker give him a squeeze but if he slows down before because you’re not kicking then you need to use your whip.

When you use a whip don’t dither. Use it and mean it. It’s better to use it once and get a reaction than have to use it five or six times and get half the response. Riders often feel guilty about using a whip but never worry about banging at their horses sides with their heels. Which would you prefer?

You may find initially that you have to tap him every few strides but if you’re consistent he’ll soon learn and you’ll find you’re able to get further and further without using your leg.

Your aim is to increase the distance you can go without having to kick on. All horses can learn to do this in all three paces. Their riders just have to believe it too.