You Go Together
Next, the outside rein and your outside leg work together. Your outside leg is the gas pedal, and the outside rein helps to shape the turn. The outside rein should lay softly on your horse's neck.
Ed tells riders to "activate the rein-to vibrate the rein just enough to let the rein rub the hair backward." That brings your horse's attention to the light pressure on his neck. From early lessons on the ground, your horse will have already learned to move away from pressure, so that outside rein encourages him to look to the inside.
"You don't want the outside rein to cross your horse's neck," Ed says. "That would pull the left side of his mouth as you're asking him to turn to the right. That wouldn't be fair."
He explains that your horse listens to one rein at a time. "The inside rein gets him to look. The outside rein, along with the outside leg, then asks for the turn."
"With turn signals, you have to give your horse a chance to respond," Ed explains. "Don't pressure him. Put the signal on, and let him find the turn."
Ready, Set, Go
To put it all together, Ed advises riders to visualize through one step, then the next step, then the last step. That way, they take time to do each part right.
It goes like this: You look, which positions your body. You ask your horse to look, which positions his neck. Then you go together-outside leg asking your horse to move his feet, and outside rein telling him to move away from the rein pressure.
This method of turning actually teaches your horse to neck rein. He learns about the outside rein, which is very important, because as you progress with your training, you'll emphasize the outside rein more and more.
As a great exercise to try, Ed suggests setting up cones to form a big square. Go to the right (clockwise), making a turn at each corner. Look to the right, and pick up the right rein to ask your horse to look to the right. Then relax the right rein, and lift and vibrate the left rein as you let your left leg hang long and against your horse's side. A beautiful turn results. Then go straight until you're ready to make the next turn.
"In a clinic we'll spend about 45 minutes doing turns, and then move to something else," says Ed. "That gives riders enough experience to know what they're doing when they get home, which is where the real practice comes in. It's like a golfer hitting a bucket of balls. It's a bit boring, but it grooves in the turn signals for both horse and rider. When you can do it well, it's fun. And riding well is about being in good balance and having fun."
