How to Lighten Your Horse
to Both Legs and Reins

How to Lighten Your Horse to Both Legs and Reins

Transcript:

Here's a big old gelding that was giving some problems, turning to the left and snatching the bit when stopping. You can see how violent that reaction is. Ridden conventionally, this horse really feels heavy and unresponsive to both bit and leg. You will see when I rode this horse, how every time you touch the bridle, it wants to dive down into it.

And it's very dominant. This horse wants to try and dominate the rider. You can see me really struggling to make it move off my legs at all. And every time I touch its mouth, it's really reacting and diving down into that bit, and until one gets a horse light, you've got no chance. So here is an easier solution to the problem.

Remember, that horses are always strong when they... their spines are straight. If you bend them they go weak, it's like you, if you bend your spine, you half as strong as when you're standing straight. So I'm going to touch one rain and then the other, and get him to where he understands that I actually mean whoa, when I touch it.

The other thing one can do just to lighten up the touch on a side that they really tough on is just to bend them and then to move the backside out of the turn. Come. There. Yes. That's that first lesson, do you remember? Of move the backside round the front side. So when I touch here, I want his backside out.

And now that turn to the outside rein is already half as light. Do you see? Because he's not resisting and dropping a shoulder. Touch here and just touch there. And now you've got this horse making this turn with a very light touch of the rains here. And then you will progress from there to where now, look, when I touch. Okay. He's ready to stop.

And now just the touch of this rein, and I'm just touching to keep the head there, and it's the neck rain you can see literally I'm holding it with an open hand and that's enough to make him turn. Okay. And now when I stop, I'm gonna stop him in that bent position. I'm not going to let him go straight. Cause once he's bent, he's soft.

So I'm going to encourage him to do this to the side that he's weak to cause to the other side, he'll stop much easier. Cause he's, he's, he's strong to that side. You see, he's getting up a bit and strong. I get him soft here and now the touches there. And he's going to stop with literally just a touch of the reins.

You feel it? But put your whip on the other side, Anthony, you wanting to use it on his backside, on the inside. Okay. So when he gets... resists that touch on the inside rein at all, just touch him on the bum on the inside. So touch that inside rein, touch there and touch him with a whip on the backside and take your right hand across as you do it. That's what I'm wanting.

And as you touch with the whip, so you lay your right hand on the neck. So he associates the touch of the whip on the backside to the touch of the rein on the neck. There you go. And there's that lovely soft turn feel. So he wants to throw his head out this turn. So now on a horse like this, you've got to encourage him to put the head on the inside and then step back to the side that he's put his head.

Now check, step backwards and make the turn... to that, to that side. That's what I'm looking for. That's fantastic. That's exactly what I'm looking for you to do.