Glenshee Equestrian Centre

Tips for maintaining correct contact: Grip: Grip on the reins should be medium – that is, the fist should not be clenched on the reins, nor should the fingers be open Some old manuals of riding claim that the rein should cross the palm of the hand, but if the rein touches the palm at all it is being gripped too tightly; the reins are held in the fingers , with the thumb pressed gently on top to prevent them slipping. The tips of the fingers may just touch the palm, but the grip should be no tighter than this unless giving an opposing aid. Keeping the fingers loose will prevent the arms from becoming tense and enables the rider to “slip” the reins when the horse stretches, and well as making a simple closing of the fingers into a significant and noticeable aid; with the fingers loose, any change in the tension of the rein, as from squeezing the fingers closed, will be felt by the horse. Likewise, with fingers half-closed, the release can also be immediate and significant. This help...

Few standard treatises on riding include more than a rudimentary treatment of snaffle* rein aids, and those that do attempt to explain them do so either incompletely or incorrectly. Most tend to break the rein aids down into two types - direct and indirect – and leave it at that. However, this is incomplete; there are, in fact, five distinct rein effects possible with a snaffle, and each has variations and combinations, making the possibilities of their use and the precision of their guidance endless, but also increasing the occurrence of misunderstanding and inadvertent misuse. In addition, these rein effects are not used in isolation, and no one rein aid, when used properly, accomplishes a complete movement of the horse, but must be combined with other rein, seat and/or leg aids. Then, for more advanced work, the curb is sometimes added, which has its own unique effect to be used alone or in conjunction with these snaffle (bradoon) aids. As if that were not complicated enou...

This post is in response to a comment from White Horse Pilgrim. Thanks WHP, for stopping by and for your great comment. I am so glad you brought up this subject, as it is something I didn’t address in my previous post, but probably should have! White Horse Pilgrim said... This is a most interesting discussion. I'm curious to hear your opinion about riding outside the arena. I was taught by some stereotypical (and sometimes rather fierce) English instructors to ride on a firm contact and to drive the horse forward into it, and was told to trail ride in that style too! However it was a fatiguing way to ride, and didn't seem to help the horse, though many English horses seem to need that contact to push against. I began to ride out on a loose rein using a curb bit after spending time with riders from the American West, and my horses (which were not English riding horses) performed well on the trail. I like them to be able to balance themselves when out riding for hours, espec...

Everywhere you go in the hunter/jumper world, it seems you’ll find a majority of trainers, judges and riders advocating riding horses – and particularly show hunters – on a loose rein. I have never shown my own horses this way, and never will, despite the fact that most judges seem to require it if a horse is to pin in a class, even though the USEF Rule Book states that “ light contact with the horse’s mouth is required ,” (HU128 Under Saddle and Hack Classes,) as opposed to no contact. Of course, there are times when a loose rein is beneficial, but knowing when and where it is appropriate is key to good horsemanship. And from what can be witnessed at any show barn or showground across the country, it is clear that good horsemanship has become unfashionable, to say the least. When is it appropriate to ride on a loose rein? · When first mounting and settling in (if the horse is quiet) · When cooling out or resting · While executing a “free walk” (thou...