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Last issue, we learned how rein position can make a difference. Now we’ll look at tieing around to let him figure out what works best in response to pressure from the bit.

The goal of tieing a horse around is to get him used to giving his neck and to teach him that resistance against the bit is not going to accomplish much for him. It’s a good way to let him figure out the best response to pressure from the bit without him being able to blame you for his discomfort. If the horse is particularly stiff to one direction, there’s nothing wrong with tieing him off to that side every day until he loosens up.

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Last issue, we looked in detail at starting lateral flexion from a standstill. Now let’s look at rein position.

Once your horse is giving his head readily to the side from fairly light pressure, it might be a good time to experiment a little with how the position of your direct rein hand affects your horse. Although different horses will respond a little differently depending on conformation, you will find some general consistencies.

As you’ve probably experienced, if you take your direct rein way out to the side, the horse will oftentimes respond by sticking his nose out. Keeping your hand closer to your body and lifting up will encourage him to turn with more curl to his neck, keeping his chin closer to his body.

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Last issue, we looked in detail at the first exercise for lateral flexion. Now we reinforce it at the standstill.

This exercise is designed to limber and stretch the horse’s neck and shoulders. It may be uncomfortable at first for older or thick-necked horses, but that’s all the more reason you should spend time on it. In the long run, it will really help your horse’s balance and agility.

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After reviewing our foundation last issue, we look at an important exercise for flexion.

Basic Steering
Even if you have a trained horse that you’ve ridden for years, it’s important that you don’t skip this section. If you’re tempted, ask yourself these questions:

(1) When I start to pick up one rein, does my horse start to give his nose BEFORE I’ve taken all the slack out of that rein?

(2) When my horse turns his head in response to rein pressure, does he bend his whole neck and keep his head more or less perpendicular to the ground and level with his withers, or does he twist his neck and just stick his nose toward the direction I’m pulling him?

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Before continuing on new steps in next issue, we’ll revisit these reference points
USING YOUR HANDS
Ideal rein position

• Hold your reins as wide or wider than your shoulders for maneuverability
• Keep your reins near or in front of the saddle horn
• If your reins are too long, you are sacrificing reaction time and ability
• Remember to keep slack in the rein
• To shorten your reins, you should learn how to shuffle them down as shown

• When your hands start to feel resistance does an alarm go off in your head telling you to get them moving? You don’t want to move to the next level until you have trained your hands to work the snaffle, not pull on it, and you’re doing it at the walk, the jog and the lope.
• If you lay a leg on your horse and he doesn’t respond, do you instinctively start bumping him with your boot top rather than just squeezing harder? If you’re still squeezing with your legs and not using them in a rhythmic fashion, you need to stay here until the movement is second nature at all three gaits.

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After getting relaxed in the saddle last issue, we focus on the reins

Every time you ride, be conscious of whether you’re letting your horse pull on your hands or not. There are two situations where you will feel resistance and you need to train yourself so that alarms go off in your head when they happen. First is when you pick up on a rein and feel resistance; that is, your horse doesn’t give right away to the pressure; and second is when the horse takes the slack out of the rein and starts leaning on you. Any time you feel resistance, you need to instinctively start working the snaffle in his mouth, until the resistance goes away and he gives his head with a soft poll. You don’t have to tug or pull, just move the snaffle back and forth with enough pressure to remind your horse it’s in his best interest to give to you and soften his poll.

Since this may be a new concept to you, it’s important that you stay at it until your response is instinctive. Compare it too the way you first learned to shift your car. At first you had to think about putting in the clutch, then shifting the gear, then releasing the clutch, all without giving yourself whiplash! But after a while you were just shifting gears without really thinking about it. Until your hands respond like this to pressure from your horse, you don’t want to move ahead into any of the next levels. Keeping your horse’s neck soft and supple at all times is a cornerstone of this program, and if your horse is leaning on your hands when you ask him to do something, you need to work the bridle until he yields to the pressure, and then make sure to reward him with slack.