Problems with steering - help!

[Daphne]

I could not keep the horse next to the side of the school as my instructor said it was because i kept giving the contact away on the left rein. I was going anti-clockwise and have no idea which rein as that is now.

Really confussed as when i turn left i thought it was just the right rein i squeezed but i was told i should be squeezing the left as well.

Daphne.

[Maci]

When you turn a horse, you're right to pull with the rein in the direction you want to go in, but you can't let the other rein go slack/loose. When turning, you are supposed to make what's called a wall on the horses neck with the rein you are not turning with. In other words, when you turn, the rein opposite the way you are turning, should be firm against the horses neck, to help him turn and to let him know that you WANT TO turn. Don't cross your hand over his neck, just put the rein against it, to create a barrier for him.

Hope This Helps!
Maci :)

[Outrider]

I teach all horses that I work with to neck rein. That is, lay a left rein against the neck and he turns right and vice versa. They also respond pretty quickly. It helps in teaching the roll back. The opposite rein, or the direction of travel rein is loose and we use the outside leg to also apply pressure in conjunction with the rein cue. But that's western neck reining. Don't want to confuse you. Just thought I would throw it in for the sake of showing something different. What you guys do in English riding I would call plow reining since you use the dirctional rein to turn the horse...that is, right rein for a right turn and vice versa. To each his own. Viva La Differance! See, I can speak more than just Texan! :) Happy Trails!

[Dizzy]

means you are losing contact between your hand and the horses mouth. When riding a straight line you should be able to feel the horses mouth evenly on both reins. Your reins should pass between your pinky and next finger, through your hand up to your pointer and thumb. Your pointer and thumb are the fingers to hold the rein, the fingers beneath should be soft and relaxed.

Turning left - put your weight through your left hip, making that leg feel heavier to your horse, keep the contact on the outside rein (right) and ask as you said with gentle tweaks on the left rein. Look in the direction you want to turn, pretend your eyes are in the middle of your chest and turn your upper body in that direction, so your 'chest eyes' can see where they are going. Make sure you don't collapse into the turn, sit up straight and keep your shoulders open. At the same time all this is going on use your legs, just before the turn inside leg, and outside leg to bring him round. To turn right is exactly the same but with the opposite hands and legs. I always ask my instructor to say inside or outside rein as I'm hopeless with left and right, so if you're in the school outside rein is the one nearest the wall.

When your horse was falling in, away from the wall, keep the contact on your outside rein and use your inside leg to push him back in, also move your hip to the outside slightly and he should move over to try and 'catch you'.

If you're not sure about anything your instructor says or tell you to do, please ask, don't be afraid to say 'I don't know what you mean' she'll probably be glad to get some feed back and break down her intruction so you understand.

Mine threatened to paint a big red R and L on my boots so I knew which rein she was on about lol, but we get along fine now with outside and inside.

Hope this helps, let us know how you get on.

Lesley

[BethB]

I'm glad to hear I'm not the only who has problems with left and right. I much prefer inside and outside. When my instructor calls out, "Left rein, right leg!" I just go into panic mode. My poor brain starts trying to process the information and by the time I get it, I've hit the wall. Left and right are just about meaningless to me. Maybe I really should consider painting a big red L and R on the backs of my gloves???

[Tammy]

To turn left, keep the exact same contact on both reins as you had when traveling straight. Advance your left hip (push the top of your hipbone forward) with each step the horse takes with his left fore and at the same time just raise your left hand slightly...about an inch. If you need to, squeeze slightly but don't pull back. Practice lots. You will discover when to stop the aids. Don't give up and don't despair!!! Everyone on this board was a beginner too.

If you are having trouble keeping your horse "on the wall" use the inside leg to "push" him over....intermittent squeezes, not a constant pressure.

Good luck, smile and have a good time.

[Edited by Tammy on 14th Feb 2001 at 05:20 PM]

[Tammy]

My farrier is a cowboy too! He explained to me that neck reining is actually the horse responding to a leading rein, not moving away from the rein on the neck. Would you agree? This year I plan to teach my mare to neck rein and am open to all advice.

[Outrider]

When I teach a horse to neck rein, I have a loose directional rein that has no pressure for the horse. In other words, when I turn right, I lay the left rein on the neck, use the left leg and leave the right rein loose. To me, if the horse is responding to pressure from the directional rein, it is more in line with english "plow reining" no offense intended, its just the only way I can describe it. Opposite rein and leg and often heavy leg and light rein, and a horse will turn on a dime and give you 9 cents change! Happy Trails!

[Tammy]

Sorry, Outrider, I didn't explain clearly.... What I meant was actually both reins are very loose (loopy), extremely light contact and held in the left hand. If I were to move my hand to the right, the mare's nose would follow the direction of the hand....as if you were holding a lead rope with a big loop and the mare's head follows any change of direction of the rope with no direct pressure. My mare is very light on her head, no pressure is applied to turn her head.

Is this what you mean? (If you can decipher my babbling!!)

[Outrider]

Yes, that's it. Although something has to prompt the horse to change directions, and the light touch of the opposite rein combined with leg pressure in my opinion is what does it. But yes, both reins are relatively loose, so when you lay the opposite rein lightly against the neck the horse turns.

[jillaroo]

When I first started riding lessons I learnt western and I was totally amazed at the subtlety of neck reining; that I had to shift my hand only the tiniest bit in any direction and the horse would turn, move forward or stop - I was always so surprised when the horse responded!

Outrider, are you off to the Houston Rodeo?! I'm going the week after next.

[Sue Carnell]

Not all there is to turning, but Heather teaches that the outside rein vibrated against the neck pushes the horse around the turn, she doesn't teach riders to pull the horse around with the inside rein. It is begun with a simple advancement of the inside hip with each step, as someone else has described and maybe followed with outside leg to encourage the horse around, until the ideal, which is practically 'thinking' the turn. Some English (and other European) dressage has more in common with Western riding than you'd think Tim, after all, Europe is where good Western came from and good riding is good riding, whatever the label. :)

Sue Carnell
sue@eclipse.co.uk

[Tammy]

Sue, I haven't vibrated the outside rein, but I do have it as a passive barrier. Just raising the inside rein a tiny bit and advancing the inside hip works for me. At first I did use the outside leg but I don't need it now.

Outrider, try turning using this method...I am really curious to see how your western trained horse will react. Advancing the inside hip will cause your outside leg to move very slightly back. Use very light pressure with your outside leg, the inside leg is stationary.....I think of it as "turning around the inside leg". It took my mare about 10 minutes to respond to only my hip and raised inside rein, and I used a loopy rein at the end of the session. Let me know if it works for you! And thank you for the neck reining help, my mare was started at western, ridden three times and then sat idle for over 3 years.

[Edited by Tammy on 14th Feb 2001 at 11:27 PM]

[Outrider]

Sue, I've always thought that we had a lot more in common in our disciplines of riding than most realize. And I guess you're right when you say that Europe is where good Western came from. If the colonists hadn't come over here and broke away from England in the first place, we'd all still be riding in leather napkins! lol

Jill, you're right about the subtlety of neck reining. I've ridden horses that you can barely touch the neck with the outside rein and he turns.I'm not planning on making the Houston show. Have some other plans for that weekend. You need to come up to Killeen and Ft. Hood sometime and see the First Cavalry Division's re-enactment Cavalry Platoon horses.

Tammy, I have used the inside leg for neck reining on western horses, and it actually worked well, though I don't think I changed my hip position, only the leg pressure. But the owners asked that I train him to turn around the inside leg instead of the outside so I did.

Happy Trails all!

[Sharon H]

Dear Outrider,please enlighten me, what is a roll back? Is it the same as rein back?

[Outrider]

I'm not sure what you call a rein back is, but a roll back is when a horse is going forward and is suddenly stopped and turned, doing a complete 180 degree turn back in the opposite direction and moves out at a canter from the roll. It is really impressive to watch quarter horses, cutting horses and reining horses who know how to do it perform! Happy Trails!