Does your horse clearly understand what you ask him to do? If your riding-communication skills could benefit from more precision and Lynn Palm's philosophy, read on.
You can communicate with your horse via three natural aids: your seat, legs, and hands. Using them properly, and in the right sequence, makes a huge difference in how well and how quickly your horse responds. The foundation to giving clear cues is good balance and a solid seat.
Think of your cues as though you're producing a great movie. Your seat is the director, while your legs and hands are the supporting cast. If you tend to use your legs and hands, but not your seat, your cues will be unclear, leading to inconsistent responses from your horse.
More specifically, if you grip with your legs, kick and spur your horse indiscriminately, and jerk on the reins, your horse will respond at first, but will likely end up resenting such harsh, unclear cues. He'll express his resentment by tossing his head, swishing his tail, balking, rearing, and running through the bit - undesirable and unsafe behavior in a trail horse.
But learn how to use all three aids effectively, and you'll get a much quicker, lighter and more consistent response from your horse, leading to greater control on and off the trail.
The following exercises are designed to help you cue your horse clearly and effectively. First, practice each step in an enclosed arena with good footing. Then progress to coordinating your cues on the trail. Before you begin, your seat should be solid at the walk and trot. If you're still working on your seat at the lope/canter, take heart: These exercises will help by giving you confidence.
Step #1: Use Your Seat Aid to Increase Speed
Your seat is a useful aid. Your horse can feel your seat/hip action through the muscles that run from his poll, down through his back and into his hind end, which controls his speed. Use your seat cue first whenever you want to increase speed within a gait, or when transitioning to a faster gait.
To use your seat clearly as an aid, you must be able to move your hips back and forth with your horse's motion, as discussed in Part 2. To increase speed, increase this forward-and-back motion.
After you give this seat cue, you can offer leg-aid support, but just give a light squeeze. Think of holding a ball between your legs and squeezing enough to hold it in place without compressing the ball.
"When asking for an increase in speed, riders often use their legs first, with a quick, pinching action," Palm says. "But if you use your seat first, you won't have to be as aggressive with your leg aids."
To use your seat to ask for a lope/canter from the trot, picture yourself in a swing, then mimic the "scooping" motion of your hips you'd do to go higher. Support this seat cue by applying light pressure against both sides of your horse simultaneously.
As you practice giving seat cues, you'll have to exaggerate the motion at first for your horse to understand what you're telling him. When he "gets it" and responds accordingly, you'll find your hip/seat movements can be very subtle.
