# Riding a horse that leans on hands...



## Chiilaa (Aug 12, 2010)

I take weekly lessons at a really good stable. I started on a dead broke, been there done that school master. Then once the instructor was certain I knew what I said I knew, I was put onto a more spirited gelding, who still had been there done that, but would take advantage of you if you let him. So the last two mounts have been good learning horses, and more than within my capabilities.

Last week I got there, and the instructor said that I was ready to start riding a different horse, who was greener. So I go to get the mare that I am now riding. She is 7, been broken for 2 years, and named Ellie. The first thing she did was step on my foot (pretty sure the toe isn't broken, but it's still hurting after 5 days lol) so we had to have a little 'chat' about personal space. So once she realised I was boss, she didn't give me any more issues from the ground.

Once tacked up, we went into the arena, and I got on. She is very forward, which I like, since I hate riding with a crop (I am a sped and my hands go all wonky and I can't use it properly lol). She is very leg sensitive, which is also good. However, she leans on my hands. After just a few minutes riding, my hands were sore already from her constant pull. I found that if I dropped the contact every 3 or 4 strides she would not lean as much, but this isn't really an ideal solution is it?

Anyone have any tips? I am focused on dressage, so I need that contact. I don't thinkI have heavy hands, because I used to but I thought I had fixed it. What else can I do?


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

*heavy on the bit*

Hi Chiilaa,

how long have you been riding? It takes some time to develop a sensitivity to the bit and how to "dialogue" with the horse. I like a forward horse, too. However, sometimes a horse runs forward in an unbalanced, "falling" sort of way, almost as if she is trying to run out from under you. Is her head in the air or does she come behind the bit and lean down on it? Both are evasive manuevers. Running out from under the rider, especially with head high and back hollow can be an indicator of discomfort from an ill fitting saddle or a sore back, or just a long ingrained habit.
you have to get her to come off the bit. and then she has to know that if she stays off the bit, she will be rewarded with soft hands and light contact. But, it is her responsibility to come off first and yours to reward immediateely.
Here's a suggestion,
Start out with very light contact, maybe even drooping reins. As you pick kup the contact, if she braces against you, then take up more contact in one rien than the other, creating a tiny feeling of bend, usually to the inside. Use the inside rein to ask for the bend and put on more, and more pressure with that rein (you can sort of vibrate the rein as you make it stronger and stronger). Do NOT release until she gives something in return, a release in the poll or better yet, a tucking of that side of the jaw inward. When she does , immediately give her a ton of release, do't worry about "throwoing her away". For awhile, your release has to be really noticeable. Then you do it all over again. When she IS on the bit, and carrying her own head and soft, remember to follow the mouth . Think of your hands as actually going through the rings of the bit itself and have the bent tops of your thumbe actually pointing at her mouth, this helps to keep a straight line from elbow, through thumbs to mouth.

The secret is in using UNEVEN rein pressure . Horses feel trapped in exactly even pressure and can brace nicely against it. to break up that brace, you need to have more asking/pressure on the inside rein than the outside. Once she gives, you must be prompt in rewarding her. The outside rein stays steady and eventually becomse kind of comforting to the horse. 
In a horse that is really leaning on the bit, running right through my hands, I screw any dressage form and bend that horse right around until she gives in her mouth and her hind quarters unlock and she steps under herself. She sounds like a braced up horse and for that, one needs a lot of lateral work, bending , bending bending, ONE REIN active, one rein passive.

Wish I could show you what I mean. My explanations , when I read them, are hard to make sense of . Sorry, I do the best I can.
One thing I copy from my trainer is when I really insist the horse give to the bit and he DOES, i say, and I mean literally say, "Thank you" and this helps me remember he complied so I need to reward, NOW!


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## MyBoyPuck (Mar 27, 2009)

Actually, you are already in the ballpark with the solution with the idea of letting the reins go slack every few strides. She cannot lean on something that is not there. That being said, with a greener horse, some training comes into play on your part. Obviously your instructor has confidence in you becoming more of rider than a passenger which is great. Without seeing this mare in person, it's a little difficult to say any one thing would work, but it's a matter of throwing different things at the wall and seeing what works for your situation. The good thing about horses that are sensitive to your legs is, that they are also sensitive to everything else to. Time to add the wonderful half halt to your tool box! When you're first warming her up at the walk, let her pick up a nice energetic walk and follow freely with your seat. Make sure you have a nice spongy consistent contact with her mouth. Without changing the contact, stop following her motion with your seat. Sit up tall, sink your seat bones into the saddle, close your thighs slightly, brace your back and/or stomach muscles, and squeeze the outside rein for a moment. You have just applied a half halt. Your horse should respond to this by shortening her stride at the walk and/or slowing it down. If she does not respond, apply all those aids again stronger. Initially do what you need to do get the response. The second she answers, give with your hands. I don't mean to throw the reins away, but just give your reins an inch or so forward, so she knows she did the right thing. Work on lengthening/shortening her stride at the walk until you can do it with the slightest of aids and it should translate into the trot and canter over time. Bottom line, when she gets heavy in the reins, time to half halt. At first you might have to do it every other stride, but once she gets it, it will quickly improve. Good luck and congrats on your step up to a greenie!


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## Chiilaa (Aug 12, 2010)

Thanks Tinyliny 

I will try the uneven pressure on saturday when I get to ride again  It sounds like it could work well - she is getting behind the bit and bracing against it. Maybe I took the contact too early too, I was a little nervous being on a goer instead of a plodder lol.

I have been riding all my life, and I am now 26. However, I am not one of those "riding all my life, know everything there is to know" riders... I have only started taking lessons in the last 3 months


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## Chiilaa (Aug 12, 2010)

Thanks MBP! 

I will try using the half halt more often. Definitely a great tip


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

Thank goodness you aren't one of those Know it alls. Heck, hope I don't come off as one of those. I took some years of dressage lessons off and on and recently I do more just trail riding and Natural Horsemanship stuff. The stuff I have learned from my NH trainer is a lot different from the dressage stuff. There is a greater focus on having a horse supple throughout the body and riding on loose reins unless contact is needed. What I don't like about a lot of modern dressage is I see a kind of "dead" contact. It is static and becomes meaningless. No wonder the horse leans against it. There is never any relief, so why should she cooperate? She becomes dead to the meaning of the rein. 
The wierd thing is that in order for the rein to become so meaningful that it can be used lightly, one may have to get louder at first. The horse is used to ignoring it. So, to get her to_ see _the rein again, it may have to become stronger than her leaning on it, but just a tiny bit stronger and just long enough for her to think, "hey, maybe I should come off that pressure" and then she gets the reward that says"yep, that's exactly what I hoped you'd do" . Do that enough times and she has relearned that the rein has meaning and not to be leaned on or ignored. If you become only equal to her pulling, then the status quo only continues. You have to meet her pull and ONE OUNCE MORE. I agree with the other writer that also riding her on a loose rein is another way to break the status quo and will be a real boost to your confidence as you see that you can go with a horse moving freely. I know that I wouldn't be able to tolerate that if the horse then started to just race wildly about . I am not THAT much of a rider. 
Half halts. Yeah, basically that is applying some resistance (read "pressure") on ONE rein and using the body to resist forward motion for just long enough for the horse to MAKE A CHANGE in it's balance and its way of going forward, then release.
Everything in riding is about the release. It is in the release that learning takes places. But, for a release to take place, first some change must take place. I.e. when you apply your leg to go forward, if the horse goes forward you release the pressure. if not, by God, you apply MORE until you get A CHANGE and no release until. If you give ther release before a change is made (and it can be tiny) you train your horse to ignore your signals. This applies to you saying "slow down" on the reins, or "bend". You MUST get a small change followed by an instant release. 
THUS comes the beautiful dialogue of the hands to the horse.


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## ~*~anebel~*~ (Aug 21, 2008)

First of all, you have to determine if this is leaning, or stretching. If it is leaning, then your problem does not reside in the contact, but in the hindquarters. If it is stretching, then you just have to channel that energy a bit more effectively.
Fixing contact issues by pulling, dropping the horse etc.. is a very simplistic and uneducated way to deal with a horse that is heavy in the hands for any reason. Focus on transitions. Focus on keeping your core strong by driving your shoulders to your hips and sitting up properly in the saddle. Focus on keeping your wrists and forearms loose and keeping a conversation going in the contact with your fingers. Finally and most importantly, don't let the mare's forward going ness back you off from using your legs, just because she is going somewhere doesn't mean she is doing it correctly and with an engaged hind end. She still must push from behind and respond to your half halts (read: rebalancing aids).

Also remember that you are paying your coach to teach you and answer your questions, ask her too!


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## Chiilaa (Aug 12, 2010)

OK so I rode this morning  Ellie was fresh and wonderful  I took a little of everyone's advice, meaning I kept consistant contact with my outside rein - I used a LOT of half halts - and I kept my inside rein nice and used it to relieve the contact on that one side IYKWIM? 

At any rate, I wanted to say thankyou all for giving me such good advice. I am having such a great time learning how to ride properly  I have to say, I love these little issues that each horse has had, because it has taught me a lot in leaps and bounds  And now that I have her holding herself and not being held up by my hands, I can concentrate on the next issue we have - transitions when _I _say, not when the instructor says so lol. Wish me luck


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## Valentina (Jul 27, 2009)

Chiilaa said:


> ... However, she leans on my hands. After just a few minutes riding, my hands were sore already from her constant pull. I found that if I dropped the contact every 3 or 4 strides she would not lean as much, but this isn't really an ideal solution is it?
> It's actually a good solution - to a point. ANother solution is when she starts getting heavy take inside rein and "BUMP" it straight up (NOT back) once. She will jerk her head up but you reward by placing hands where they're supposed to be - no pull, etc... After a few time getting hit in the mouth (Assuming this is a MILD bit in her mouth) she'll stop leaning until she gets too tired while working and needs to lean for support. So give her lots of long and low breaks where she can stretch but you can use the bump in long and low to keep her from hanging on the reins.
> 
> Anyone have any tips? I am focused on dressage, so I need that contact. I don't think I have heavy hands, because I used to but I thought I had fixed it. What else can I do?


See above.


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## MIEventer (Feb 15, 2009)

> First of all, you have to determine if this is leaning, or stretching. If it is leaning, then your problem does not reside in the contact, but in the hindquarters. If it is stretching, then you just have to channel that energy a bit more effectively.
> Fixing contact issues by pulling, dropping the horse etc.. is a very simplistic and uneducated way to deal with a horse that is heavy in the hands for any reason. Focus on transitions. Focus on keeping your core strong by driving your shoulders to your hips and sitting up properly in the saddle. Focus on keeping your wrists and forearms loose and keeping a conversation going in the contact with your fingers. Finally and most importantly, don't let the mare's forward going ness back you off from using your legs, just because she is going somewhere doesn't mean she is doing it correctly and with an engaged hind end. She still must push from behind and respond to your half halts (read: rebalancing aids).


Exactly and well said.

Stop riding the face and start riding the horses back end. Why is the horse leaning into your hands? Because the horse is unbalanced and not working correctly. You cannot fix the problem of a leaning horse by trying to remedy it with your hands, when instead you should be using your legs, seat, core.

I wholeheartedly agree with Anabel here.


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## MyBoyPuck (Mar 27, 2009)

MIEventer said:


> Exactly and well said.
> 
> Stop riding the face and start riding the horses back end. Why is the horse leaning into your hands? Because the horse is unbalanced and not working correctly. You cannot fix the problem of a leaning horse by trying to remedy it with your hands, when instead you should be using your legs, seat, core.
> 
> I wholeheartedly agree with Anabel here.


The OP said her horse is pulling on her hands, not the other way around. She has since said that she is having success with frequent half halts and her horse is already becoming lighter in her hands. To me it sounds like she is riding the horse properly and just needed a little insight to help her over her current training speed bump.


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## ~*~anebel~*~ (Aug 21, 2008)

MyBoyPuck said:


> The OP said her horse is pulling on her hands, not the other way around. She has since said that she is having success with frequent half halts and her horse is already becoming lighter in her hands. To me it sounds like she is riding the horse properly and just needed a little insight to help her over her current training speed bump.


Horses do not pull on hands unless there is a severe health or training issue. Hands pull on horses and the horses may take it as a nice excuse to have a fifth wheel, or duck behind the contact. I don't know how to say that any more clearly.
To fix it, you need to fix the hands and make them softer, and encourage the rider to use the legs and seat more. The reins are, always have been and always will be basically decoration and an emergency break in severe situations.


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## MyBoyPuck (Mar 27, 2009)

~*~anebel~*~ said:


> Horses do not pull on hands unless there is a severe health or training issue. Hands pull on horses and the horses may take it as a nice excuse to have a fifth wheel, or duck behind the contact. I don't know how to say that any more clearly.


I know of two former school horses I rode that would say otherwise. I ride with such a loose rein, my instructors spend half my lessons telling me to shorten them. Despite my almost non-existent contact, it didn't stop either of the aforementioned horses from occasionally trying to yank the reins out of my hands and apparently my shoulders out of their sockets. I don't know why everyone seems to think the OP has no clue about riding. To me it does seem to be a training issue as you say, and she's working on her half halts to fix it.


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

*Meaningful reins*

Really interesting discussion on dressage here. I agree with other posters that “forward imputus is really important and that may very well help to lift this horse from off the forehand and the bit it is leaning on. But I disagree with the dismissal of the importance of the rein in dressage.

Reins purely decoration? Hm m m. I wonder how well dressage can be ridden without reins. It would be fascinating to see an upper level dressage rider do a test without reins.
Might be successful, but only after the horse has been trained to a high degree and that would most likely entail using reins of some sort, something that connects the front with the driving rear. The reins and contact there is just as important as the impulsion generated from behind. Without them, the energy will fall out the front end rather than being available to the rider, and cannot be amplified or modified in the way dressage requires.

If one goes back and reads some of the old masters’ texts regarding dressage, there is plenty of information on the correct use of the reins. Not just for decoration.

The original poster felt that the horse just leaned on the reins and tuned her out and went faster and faster. The horse wasn’t paying attention to what the rider was trying to say through the reins and probably was going stiff like a board or a freight train around the arena. 

It is not so much how much contact there is (look at top western reiners), but rather that the contact with the reins have meaning to the horse. Meaning, in that they convey a request from the rider, and when that request is answered by the horse, the message stops and the reins reward with a cessation of the pressure. My experience is that a horse that leans on the reins is a horse that has learned to ignore them or fight them because they haven’t held meaning to him to him for a long time. That is the riders’ fault (whoever has done the most riding on him in his life and left a mark there). The rider who holds on steadily creates a horse that sees no point in giving to the pressure, since there is no release. He becomes dead to the rein and it’s easier for him to lean on them. To change that, the rider has to be really sensitive to the asking/rewarding process again. Ask for a give, (don’t give up until the horse gives you some, even a tiny amount) and REWARD. Again and again. This is best done at the walk. 
The other important thing to putting meaning back into the reins is to not have them on equal pressure. Only one rein should be active at any one time. The difference doesn’t have to be huge, but there has to be a small offset.
Once the horse regains sensitivity and give to the rein, THEN you can ride with your hands in a box and focus more on riding the horse from back to front. But if the horse doesn’t understand the rein or is not willing to come off of it, what is the use of pushing him harder against it?
AS far as getting more energy and impetus, of course that is also really important and I would work with that right from the beginning, but I would not try to hold that energy with my hands at first. I would just get a good, honest forward without a lot of rein, 
Later modify that forward with a rein that the horse respects again.


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## Chiilaa (Aug 12, 2010)

Thanks all for the replies! It really is a lot of food for thought, and I will take a lot of the advice offered on board 

Valentina - she is being ridden in a snaffle, so it is really gentle :lol: However, I think half halts work at the moment, since they really made her a lot lighter 

MIE - thanks for the reminder that it is most important to ride back to front. I am sure you therefore remember that a half halt starts with impulsion from the horses' back end  

Anebel - I don't know about health or training issues. I suspect training - Ellie is a school horse, not my own, who has done nothing but give lessons for two years. While she is not a grand prix dressage master, I do honestly believe that she can teach me a lot. Already she has improved my hands to no end, and they were light beforehand. I know they are light now, because I used to be very very heavy and have focussed a lot on making sure that I am not now  I agree with learning to use my legs and seat more, and more efficiently too. That is why I am taking lessons :lol: 

However, I will respectfully disagree with you about rein use. I think that disregarding the importance of the rein to the rider in general and dressage in particular is akin to 'bit bashing' and is misguided. You cannot ride the horse on any one aid, you need a blend of all of them. How do you suggest one achieves true lateral movement without asking for full bend? Without blocking the forward motion? 

MBP - Thanks for the support. I know that it isn't my hands alone, and I am glad you appreciate that I was asking for advice from the masters on here 

Tinyliny - Thanks to you too! A lot of food for thought in your post


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## ~*~anebel~*~ (Aug 21, 2008)

Chiilaa said:


> Anebel - I don't know about health or training issues. I suspect training - Ellie is a school horse, not my own, who has done nothing but give lessons for two years. While she is not a grand prix dressage master, I do honestly believe that she can teach me a lot. Already she has improved my hands to no end, and they were light beforehand. I know they are light now, because I used to be very very heavy and have focussed a lot on making sure that I am not now  I agree with learning to use my legs and seat more, and more efficiently too. That is why I am taking lessons :lol:
> 
> However, I will respectfully disagree with you about rein use. I think that disregarding the importance of the rein to the rider in general and dressage in particular is akin to 'bit bashing' and is misguided. You cannot ride the horse on any one aid, you need a blend of all of them. How do you suggest one achieves true lateral movement without asking for full bend? Without blocking the forward motion?


I was saying that in most cases it is the rider - which you are finding out. It is only in the cases where severe training mistakes or health issues that a horse really truly leans on the bit, otherwise it is the fault of the rider.

About the reins being decoration - that is not to say they are not used - they are just not used in a large capacity. Having to use inconsistent, uneven pressure on the reins to get a horse to stop leaning is incorrect. The fingers and occasionally the wrists are the only influence the actual rein - otherwise they should hang like decorations. The reins should never move and the hands should never move - otherwise how is the contact ever steady?
Bend is not from the neck, ie cannot be created from reins. Slight flexion is a component in bend but again, the reins do not move to create it.
Also, we should never think of blocking forward movement. The rein back is still ridden forward to the bit. The forward motion is only ever stalled, and the best way to do this is through the seat. A very strong half halt can be with the hand, but to truly teach the horse collection, ie how to stall forward movement to shift weight to the haunches, the half halt is from the seat and only enforced with a restriction in the contact for a moment.

I understand you are still learning, but it is important to strive towards not using the hand. This doesn't mean it is dead - the fingers are still alive - but it should not move. A very simplistic way to fix things in the hand is with the hand - only when we can fix a downhill motion purely with the seat is the half halt true. I know everyone hates Edward Gal and Totilas but in my opinion I think he really has some of the best hands out there and is a great rider to watch from an equitation stand point. If you watch the kur at 2009 World Cup I think that's a good example.


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## Chiilaa (Aug 12, 2010)

Even a still, open hand is communicating something to the horse - it is saying "yes, take this impulsion forward, go freely and straight". Disregarding the rein aids as not important, or as inferior aids to seat and legs is not correct in my view. How can you ride the horse from back to front if you don't accept the energy in the front? 

Seat and legs are the most important aids to use, I agree with that. But rein aids are there for a reason, otherwise grand prix riders would ride without bridles.


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## Kayty (Sep 8, 2009)

Chiilaa, I think you are misinterpreting anebels posts. She is not saying 'throw your reins away and don't you dare touch them'. 
The ideal is to merely allow the reins to follow the movement of the horse and not block it, they are a supporting aid rather than a main aid. You should think of riding seat, leg, then hand. All to often riders reverse the order and this is were they run into problems. I believe, and please correct me if I am wrong, that Anebel is trying to point this 'problem' out.
The rein is not there to to do any more than give subtle hints to the horse and allow the energy the rider is creating in the hind end to flow up to the bridle and back to the rider. There should be very little weight in your hands, with all your aids coming from seat more than anything else.
It takes two to tango as the saying goes, and how true when it comes to contact. A horse CANNOT hang onto the bit if there is no hold on the other end. It's like you pulling a piece of rope along behind you that isn't attached to anything. You don't feel force and so there is nothing to brace against. 
As soon as you add the weight of a rider's hand against the rein, that is when the horse can lean and brace. Again with reference to a post by anebel, the horse learns to use it's head as a 5th wheel, why carry itself when the rider will hold it's head up for it? Myboypuck, reefing the reins is not bracing and holding onto the contact, yes a horse will pull the reins out of your hands, but if there is no contact on the other end, it is not bracing against anything is it. 

The solution for this problem, must come from the seat. I am currently riding a mare for its owner, who is a fabulous rider and also a coach, she has kindly allowed me to ride the mare while my own horse is out of work with an injury. Now, this mare was previously an eventer, and unfortunately the owner/rider had little to know idea on how to ride a horse off the forehand. The mare was ridden with the rider hanging off her face, with no influence from the seat at all. She would gallop cross country looking like she was going to fall flat on her face, and in the end, started getting dangerous to event as she was crashing through fences - her weight was on her forehand thus she could not effectively take off.
Now, my coach purchased this mare. And years later, when the mare gets tense or out of balance, she will revert to trying to get the rider to hold her up, while running faster and faster, putting herself on the forehand. The only way that we can steady and rebalance her, is by effectively doing 'crunches' with the seat, keeping a very light rein contact with a slight take and give. By the end of a ride, my abs will be burning, but my hands/arms will feel fine. 
If you dare pull back on the rein to try and pull this mare up, she will simply brace more, run more and end up even more on the forehand. 

I suggest you get those core muscles nice and strong, so you can effectively engage your seat and core to hold this horse together, rather than trying to pull her up with reins.
Half halts are a good start and it sounds like they are helping you, as long as the half halts are coming from the seat, not a rookie's 'kick and pull', then you are on the right track


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## Spyder (Jul 27, 2008)

All top riders/trainers will tell you the most important thing to do when things are not working as they should is to reposition.

Example...

Horse rushes forward into hands and deadens the rein feel. Then DON'T continue to go forward ...at least not in a straight line. reposition the horse...lateral, turns, circles... but NEVER continue with with a horse in the manner you are doing when things are going wrong! 

I would also point out that in the OP'ers first post about the horse being sensitive to the leg. The tendency is for the rider to back off using their leg as they feel the horse is already going forward enough. Totally wrong premise and the OP needs to make sure that their seat and leg aids are still there.


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## MIEventer (Feb 15, 2009)

Great pots Kayty. You are much better at explanations than I. 

MyBoyPuck - did you read my post? I said the horse is leaning into her hands because the horse is unbalanced and not working correctly. You cannot fix the horse leaning into the riders hands by not restablishing the horses way of moving. Get the horse off if the forehand, and get them on their hind end. 



> MBP - Thanks for the support. I know that it isn't my hands alone, and I am glad you appreciate that I was asking for advice from the masters on here :grin:


Everyone seems to be stuck on the hand thing - it isn't about the hands. It is about the seat, the legs, and your core. Every Top Level Rider from Eventers to GP Jumpers to Dressage Competators stress ride Seat Into Legs Into Hands To Soften.

My TB used to be just like this, I would end my ride with my arms sore as hell because they were holding his front end up because he was pulling on my hands. What I learnt from an Olympic Eventer is "if you give them something to lean into, they're going to take it" That was when I was taught to ride Seat Into Legs Into Hands To Soften.

Your seat rides the horses back end. Your legs ride the ribs and your hands ride the shoulders, not the face.

Go back to the training scale. Anabel is stressing this, but all that is being seen is "hands and reins". If your horse is leaning into your hands, and your arms are getting sore from "Supporting" your horse during your ride, it is because the horse is on his forehand and looking for balance, which they find in your hands. 

Rebalance your horse back up, engage the back end, lift the ribs up into your seat and allow your horse to open up underneith themselves and engage forward.

Yes, the half halts help, but they cannot be succussful without your seat, legs and core. As Kayty said, if you are doing your half halts are coming from your seat and your core, then that's great.

I like Reiner Kimke's words: "Horses do not thing in right or wrong. They don't understand reason. They don't comprehend "If", or "Because". They only know Right and Not As Right." and I also like "It is not our horses job to understand our language, nor is it their job to speak our language. It is our job. Our job to understand our horses language and to make sure we are speaking their language as clearly as we possibly can, so that they can understand "right" and "not so right". If we ask our horses for something and they didn't get it "not so right" then it is up to us to make sure we are coming up with another way to be as clear as we can, so that they can understand what it is that we are asking of them"

Which falls into Spyders wonderful post:



> Horse rushes forward into hands and deadens the rein feel. Then DON'T continue to go forward ...at least not in a straight line. reposition the horse...lateral, turns, circles... but NEVER continue with with a horse in the manner you are doing when things are going wrong!
> 
> I would also point out that in the OP'ers first post about the horse being sensitive to the leg. The tendency is for the rider to back off using their leg as they feel the horse is already going forward enough. Totally wrong premise and the OP needs to make sure that their seat and leg aids are still there.


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## ~*~anebel~*~ (Aug 21, 2008)

Thanks Kayty, Spyder and MI. Great explanations


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## Chiilaa (Aug 12, 2010)

I am sorry if my replies gave the wrong impression. I do not ever believe that the reins are the most important aid. I do, however, believe that they are an important part of the rider's communication toolbox. 

Thank you all for your replies, they are all really in depth and informative. I will take it all on board and hopefully apply it to my riding


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