Using your inside rein to turn puts the focus on steering the inside shoulder but as a result you lose the outside shoulder, but if you put the focus on steering the outside shoulder, the inside will follow. It’s like riding in an arena with fencing, the horse will turn when it gets to the end of the arena because it has met a boundary; and it is our job in training to recreate that boundary on the approach to a fence.
Losing your horse through the outside shoulder will often leads to a run out somewhere within your jumping course. So, a really simple way of practicing these aids is without any jumps.
Ride 2m off of the track and train yourself to create a wall with your outside aids, which in turn will train the horses to respect your direction. Then take that same feeling into a jumping exercise such as two small jumps on the long side of the arena, keeping the same distance away from the fence from one end of the arena to the other.
If you like to be really technical, here is a more detailed breakdown to keep the outside shoulder:
1. Rider's body: Turn your core toward the turn, allowing your shoulders to follow and look in the direction that you are going. Your head and shoulders should always be facing where you want the horse’s head and shoulders to be facing, so either ahead or around the circle. The smaller the turn or circle, the more you turn in yourself.
2. Inside Seat Bone: Weight is on the inside seat bone. This is because you are going into your turn and want the horse to step up and under your weight.
3. Inside Leg: The inside leg applies pressure to the horse's side and the horse should step away from the pressure.
4. Outside Rein: The outside rein "fills up" when the horse steps away from the inside leg. Now, you can use the outside rein to turn the horse (apply pressure as a neck rein), or just accept the bend with no further activity.
5. Outside Leg: The outside leg has a job too. It asks the hind end to also step away from pressure, to the inside.
6. Inside Rein: While this rein should be fairly inactive, it will open slightly into the direction of the turn. It can act as a guiding rein for less experienced horses and may need to come into play to maintain flexion if you have too much pressure on the outside rein, or if the horse turns his head to the outside.
The easier way that is just as effective!
There is a way to make all the above happen fairly naturally.
Try this on the ground:
- Stand straight with your weight evenly distributed on both feet.
- Hold your hands like you're holding reins, this is what straight feels like.
- Now, turn right as if you are going into a turn.
- Start the turn from your middle, but let the rest of your body just do what it must do in order to allow the turn to happen.
You'll notice that as you turn right, your inside rein will "open", your outside rein will come closer to the neck, your inside leg and knee will soften and come a little forward, and your outside leg will automatically slide a little further back as if supporting the horse’s body.
Straighten again, and do it all in one motion. Everything should just move along together. This is what you want to achieve on the horse's back.
Common Problems
Most riders make mistakes as they develop a really good "inside leg to outside rein" feel.
- The first thing that might happen when you turn your body in to the direction of the turn is that the horse will just lean in to the inside of the arena. This is where your inside leg comes into play. It may take some time to teach your horse to move away, not into, your leg.
- You might shift your weight to the outside. Often, while we focus on using our inside leg, we tend to try to move the horse to the outside by throwing our body in that direction. Just move back to the inside seat bone, and continue.
- The horse sometimes speeds up when you first apply your inside leg. This is when an outside half-halt will be useful. Be sure to be clear in explaining that pressure from your inside leg doesn't mean going faster.
- Another common problem might be that you have to learn how much pressure you need from your leg, and how much from your outside rein.
Learning about your horse and his/her reactions takes time. It's so much about coordinating body parts and creating good communication. It takes practice!
