Using the Right Tools
We've talked about the reins being the steering wheel, our legs as the gas pedal, and the importance of our seat sitting squarely in the middle of the saddle, not trying to control speed or direction. This sounds pretty simple-and it is-but it is both natural and easy for us to mix up these tools when we ride. It takes practice and self-awareness to realize when we are using our reins to try to speed up or our legs to turn.
It's normal to pull harder or more urgently on the reins when your horse isn't turning fast enough or stopping fast enough, but doing this just deadens the horse to rein pressure. He becomes less responsive to the cue or heavier on the bit. You only need to use the reins to slightly hint to the horse which direction you want him to go while you squeeze evenly with both legs, telling the horse's feet you want them to move.
Your legs are the gas pedal that controls the speed of the horse's feet. You wouldn't push forward on the steering wheel if the car were not going fast enough. That's the wrong tool. The same thing happens when you use the reins to increase speed in any direction. If you want the horse's feet (or the car's wheels) to go faster-even in reverse-then you need to use the gas pedal by squeezing evenly with both legs.
Here's another exercise to show how important it is to squeeze evenly with both legs, no matter what direction you want your horse to go. The first part you do with your horse, the second part with a friend.
Stand on the ground next to the side of your horse and touch his side by the stirrup. You may have to poke rather than touch, but eventually his head will turn toward you and his side will move away as he bends the middle of his body to avoid the pressure. If you poke him hard enough, he will flinch even before you touch him
next time. These are natural reactions, but it's not the way you want him to act, look, or bend when you're on his back. You don't want him to flinch when you touch him and you do want him to look and bend in the direction he's going.
Now do the same thing with another person. If you poke your friend in the left side to get him to move to the right, he will look to the left, bend his ribcage to the left, and begin to flinch if you try it a second time-just like the horse.
Next, stand behind the person and have him look at where you want him to go. If you apply even pressure to both sides, he'll move in the direction you indicate, will continue to look where you ask him to look, will not flex his ribcage and will not flinch.
When you're on your horse, your reins can give him a heads-up hint about where he is to look and move, but your legs are what tell his feet to go there. Your seat is in the middle of the saddle, letting your horse balance you. Sitting as quietly as you can, you're still moving more than enough for the horse to figure out what he has to do.
Simple is Best
Straightforward as they are, simplifying your cues takes work and concentration. There's no reason to beat yourself up or to quit trying because you think you'll never be perfect or that it will take too long to become perfect. Remember that the best you can be is just better than you were yesterday. You're not perfect and neither is your riding and training. Improvement comes quickly. Perfection never comes.
But if you start changing today, you only need to improve one percent a day to have improved 100% in 100 days! I'll bet your improvement will really be much faster than one percent per day, and so will your horse's development.
