Better Communication Through Our Riding Aids - Part 1

It’s interesting what horses have to say.  I was shocked, not only with the fact that they can talk, but with how intelligent they actually are. But then I always knew they were intelligent. It’s like I have been known to say in the past. “I have known a few stupid people, but I have yet to meet a stupid horse.”

I was thinking about what to write for this article. I thought about getting a horse ready to ride or back, but as I have stated in the beginning of these articles, I would assume that we were dealing with pretty good horses with no major issues, so I will save backing a horse for another time. This article will deal with basic riding aids. What they are and what they mean to the horse, and basic issues and problems that I encounter.

Remember back to the earlier articles, I said that we choose where we go, when we go, and how we go, and I also said that I want my horse to understand me so that he can do what I ask, whenever I ask, to move any part of his body by responding to my leg, hand and seat aids. We do this by applying those aids to indicate to the horse, where we want to go, when we want to do it and how we are going to get there. I think it’s important that horse and rider know which aid means what so that if I want my horse to move over one inch, I can apply an aid, and my horse knows what it means and therefore can move that one inch or move until I ask him to stop.

How do we do that? We teach them, but first we have to understand our basic aids which are rein and leg aids, and yes, our body.  I won’t discuss our seat at this time as it has many functions, but to simplify things, in the beginning, I don’t usually discuss it’s uses until after the basics are covered and understood.

Our Body

Ideally, we would like to sit tall in the saddle, and there will be 3 invisible lines that we should have to be balanced and to communicate properly with our horse.

The First Line
Looking from the side; there should be a line from our ear through our shoulder, through our hip to the back of our heel. We have all been told about this line, and the reason for this line is to keep us from putting our horse off balance. If our legs are too far forward we will be slightly behind the action of our horse, and that contributes to not sitting the lope or canter but instead, having a rough ride and bouncing in the saddle. If our legs are behind us, we will be slightly in front of the action of our horse, and that usually indicates that we are leaning forward and again, we will put our horse off balance and our weight will be on their forehand, therefore inadvertently making them go forward (it’s like walking down a hill. You tend to go faster because you are always trying to re-balance yourself. Your top half is slightly in front of your legs and you are always trying to get your legs under yourself so that you can be balanced and stop.) The same thing with our horse, if we are leaning forward they are always trying to re-balance and get under themselves and therefore they will continue to walk or even go faster) Because of this they would not be able to do a lot of things properly, such as a simple lope or canter transition. Again we will be weighing their front end down where we actually want them to be light and have their weight over their haunches (collected). You will also have difficulty doing anything that requires collection, including such things as a Turn on the Forehand, Turn on the Haunches, Leg Yield, Side Pass, Two Track and so on.

The Second Line
Looking from the front; our centre line should run through the centre of our horse and saddle. It’s a common sense line. It keeps us centred and again balanced. If you sit to a side, even a straight line becomes difficult because you are constantly leaning and therefore turning. Again, horses will move over to get underneath themselves. Try sitting to one side and walk without using your reins and see what happens.

The Third Line
This line is not as commonly discussed. It is the line from your elbow through your wrist to the horse’s mouth. This line is very important. If you have your hands too high (almost a 90 degree bend) then your horse will, among other things, not be able to collect. Your horse’s nose will be routed out and his back will be hollowed. He will always be off balance and your transitions will not be crisp. If your hands are too low your horse will be on his forehand, and again, no collection and terrible transitions, not to mention he will always be leaning on your hands.

Paying attention to all those lines is very important for balance, and if not followed, your horse will not be comfortable and therefore will not be relaxed or trusting of your guidance. He will not have confidence in you, and more importantly, he will not have confidence in himself. We have all seen confident proud horses and the way they move. They are strong and collected and relaxed.  We owe it to our horses to help them to be the best they can be.

Continuing with our hands, following that line from your elbow, through your wrist, to the horse’s mouth, it’s important to have your thumbs on the top, not facing each other. (You can have them slightly leaning, but no more than the angle of your horse’s neck). The reason for this is the action this has on your horse’s mouth. If your thumbs are facing each other, when you apply direct rein pressure, you will inadvertently ask your horse to bring his weight down on his shoulders and therefore be on his forehand. If your thumbs are facing to the top, your direct rein pressure will tuck his nose to his chest, not bring his shoulders down. It’s something small but it will make a big difference and I’ll talk a little bit more on this later.

Rein Aids

There are 4 basic rein aids. The direct rein, open rein, indirect rein (neck rein) and a rein of opposition.

Direct Rein
The direct rein can be used to stop the horse (2 direct reins), to back the horse (2 direct reins) and it is used for direction, flexion and corrections. (One rein) It’s called a direct rein, because it applies direct pressure to the bit. Like I said earlier, our thumb position is important. With our thumbs on top we can bring our elbow(s) back, having the correct line, from our elbows through our wrists to the horses mouth and this will have the correct action on the bit, which in turn helps to bring the horses shoulders (and nose) to the correct position, which in turn sets up the rear end to be in the correct position. When your thumbs are facing each other, and you bring your elbows back, the direct line that you are after is no longer achievable. Instead of a direct line, your elbows start to flare out and the line that you get is shaped more like a V. Try this while you’re sitting here.  Thumbs on top and bring your elbows straight back, now thumbs facing each other and you should notice the difference. Your horse will.

When you use a direct rein, one rein will always support the other. Example: If you ask for flexion with the inside rein; the outside rein will be there to support it. If the horse over flexes, then you can use the outside direct rein to correct the amount of flexion your horse gives at the poll. By doing this we have used almost all the functions of a direct rein; direction, flexion and correction.

Remember, when you use any rein aid, the reins support each other.

Open Rein
The open rein is a leading rein. It leads the horse’s nose in a direction. It also gives a space for the horses shoulder to move into. An open rein opens from your elbow. Again with your thumb on top, keep your elbow close to your side, and bring your forearm out to the side. A common mistake is to move your elbow away from your body, but again, keep it close, not glued, to your side and use your elbow joint only. You can, later on, also move your wrist to help you achieve proper communication, but the open rein aid is, you, using your elbow joint. Try this… rest your elbow on the armrest and just move your forearm keeping the point of your elbow on the armrest and move your forearm. That’s the action you want.

A common error in western riding is using the open rein as a turning aid. I do teach this to beginners, as a way to turn the horse, however, as soon as they understand more I then teach them the proper way to turn, using the indirect or neck rein. (Outside aids…. legs included, more on this later).

Indirect (neck rein)
An indirect rein has a lot of functions but its basic use is the turning aid. The indirect rein lies on the horse’s neck and asks him to move away from that rein pressure. The horse feels the pressure and depending on whether it’s light or heavier, helps to dictate how much to turn, or move away from the pressure. The indirect rein can also be used as a wall, to block movement. The indirect rein should always be used with an open rein, if turning. There should be no pressure on the bit when using these two rein aids together.

Rein of Opposition
The rein of opposition is an advanced aid and usually isn’t taught until the rider is more experienced and understands how to use the other rein aids. The rein of opposition is a correction aid only. Its function is to help correct a shoulder and should always be used with an inside leg. This will be explained more in depth at a later time.

Leg Aids

When we ride we must use our legs properly. We will use our legs to help support the horses’ shoulder and hips and also to communicate more with their body. We will assist our rein aids with our leg aids placed in the proper position to help turn the horse. This is just as important in Western riding as it is in English riding. Basically the only difference is the length of stirrup. English riders generally ride with a shorter stirrup and therefore the movement of the leg is not as easy or as far. The longer the stirrup the easier it is although doing it properly takes a lot of leg strength and different muscles…ask any of my students. If my students say not so nice things about me, I know I am doing my job well. (Insert evil laugh here!)

How do we use our legs properly? Well, for example, if we are turning left, our inside leg remains on (at the cinch/girth) and our outside leg moves back (approx. 4”) and that movement comes from the hip, not the knee.

Our inside leg remains on to help support the inside shoulder, and our outside leg slides back, from the hip, to help control the hips. We can then use an open inside rein (slightly elevated), an outside indirect rein.

Always apply leg aids first…. Why? Because you want to support your horses’ hips and shoulders first.

Alternately we can turn using an inside DIRECT rein, giving slightly with the outside rein and again, inside leg on and outside leg back (4” behind the cinch, from your hip)

The importance of the leg position cannot be underestimated. It is very natural for the horse to respond to proper positioning of our legs. Try this. Sit on your horse, with both legs at the cinch, start to bump with one leg and keep your other leg at the cinch with light contact. Use your reins to stop forward motion. Your horse will probably move their hips over to move away from your bumping leg. Now, bring your outside leg back (from the hip, and I mean really bring it back from the hip, the full 4”) and then continue to bump with your inside leg. Your horse will probably not move their hips but will try to go forward or not move at all. As you can see our outside leg (back 4” from the hip) stops the hips from swinging out, so when you do a turn it makes sense to control the shoulder and hips and therefore obtain a softer, and more supple horse that is in the shape of a banana on the turns. We can actually talk about getting the “bend” from our leg aids.

We will use our legs to actually do the turning. The more leg pressure you use, either at the cinch or behind the cinch will get your horse to move to the inside or to the outside.

A common error is; people tend to bend at the knee and bring their calf back rather than move from the hip when bringing your outside leg back. What we are actually trying to do is keep the line (in your leg) that you originally have while sitting in the saddle and bring your leg back, with the action coming from your hip joint, not the knee joint. The reason for this is simple: the muscles we use in everyday life do not ask us to utilize those muscles. So we have to do some exercises that will help us utilize and strengthen them. Obviously riding and making the effort, is the best exercise, but another one is this.

While at the walk, in the saddle, lock one leg (as if there is a 2x4 down your pant leg) Lock the knee and bring your leg back from the hip and hold it for a few seconds and then do the same thing with your other leg. Keep your butt in the saddle. As you get better and stronger you can hold it even longer. Do this exercise (a couple of times with each leg) and in a few months you will notice a big difference.

Putting It All Together

Let us assume we are doing a large half arena circle. Your inside leg is on (light contact) to help support the shoulder, and to correct a dropped shoulder (to be used if and when needed). Your outside leg slides back from the hip (light contact) and helps support the hip and again is there if needed to correct in case your horse swings his hips out or goes too far out.

An inside direct rein, bringing your elbow straight back, continuing the line from your elbow, through your wrist to your horses mouth, thumbs on top, with your inside rein slightly elevated (to help you and your horses shoulder stay up). Your outside rein is also a direct rein, but you give a little, bringing your elbow slightly forward (following the proper line) thumbs on top. Simple right? Not really but it does become simple once it becomes habit and then it really does become easy. After a while you don’t even think about it. It does becomes habit, which is what all riding becomes, because if you have to think about something while riding, it’s usually too late. Riding is about feel and good habits. If you feel what you and your horse are doing, and you and your horse know what the aids mean, then you can ask your horse to move over that inch and you will both know what it means and how to achieve it.

By getting into the habit of using proper communication with your aids, you will start to see an improvement in behaviour and reactions. Get into the habit of, every turn or circle, inside rein elevated and keep the out side rein low and quiet, (you can use either a direct or open inside rein), inside leg on and outside leg back, and of course, use your most important aid, YOUR EYES.

Next lesson will be on teaching our horses more of what our aids mean and then start on leg yields, turn on the forehand, turn on the haunches and more. Always practice the groundwork from previous lessons, and also remember that when they are hooked up, they are working, and above all, have fun!

Until next time, Walter

If you would like to contact me, please do so at, eternaldreamshorse@hotmail.com