"Inside Leg to Outside Rein" - What this means and an exercise to finally FEEL it 

Yes, This! I realised this the other day when my trainer alwaayys yells heals down. But once she hopped on the horse and i saw her riding most of the time her heals were no way near down.

so true. i often have coaches tell me to put my heels down more when I physically can't without discomfort.

@@briannamercedes4016 See here's the issue though you shouldn't be jamming them down to infinity but you should have them at least level or it's a safety issue

Agree, she has a real talent with words.

You will get there. Horse class has some incredible information and the professionals that are irk together here to put out all of it are amazing Just keep in mind that you should always frequently check in with yourself to check you position and the alignment of your skeleton. If your position or alignment is off, always start with your seat/pelvis first and make sure it is neutral with seat bones pointing straight down through the saddle like laser beams or flash lights and learn to properly engage the correct core muscles for stability in the saddle and then that will allow you to be more supple in your joints and muscles in the legs, lower back and all the way up to your neck and then down the arms to the hands. Always start with the seat. Even if you are just leaning to one side Or collapsed in the rib cage (left or right), your seat is probably off to the opposite side you are leaning and instead of lifting your shoulder or straightening up through the side where you are leaning, reposition or shift your seat or seat bones so that they are 50/50 equal on each side of the saddle. Here is a fantastic video that shows how the rider needs to actively move their upper arm from the shoulder joint and open the elbow to match the amount of movement that the horse makes with its head and neck in the walk and canter. And then in the trot the head and neck are steady and the rider rises and goes back down when posting so the elbow opens as you rise and then closes as you sit and in the sitting trot, the rider does move the pelvis and lower back slightly up and then back down again with the bounce in the trot, so again the elbows must open very slightly and then close again back to neutral. You can try a neck strap or a bucking strap with your pinky finger wrapped around the strap to help you keep your two fists in the same place while your elbows open and close in the rising or sitting trot. m.ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-0Mbt-6bB1tY.html

Hello! Because of the way the horse naturally moves his body and head in walk and canter, you actually have to allow your hands to follow that movement forward and back, otherwise you will never be able to keep the soft contact with his mouth. In trot, the head doesn't move forward and back as much, and you can keep your hands more in the same place. Start practising in walk. The goal is to keep a continuous, steady, soft pressure in the horses mouth with your reins, i.e contact. Don't think about keeping your hands still, instead focus on keeping that contact constant. Your hands will have to move with your horses movement, otherwise the contact will change with every movement the horse makes. It will get hard when the head moves forward and you will loose contact when the head swings back. Instead, follow the movement and keep the contact constant. The same goes for canter. Rising trot is easier. The head stays mostly in the same place and you can keep you contact steady while your hands stay in the same position. This is more difficult in sitting trot, because your body has to take up more of the movement from the horses back, and you have to be able to absorb that movement while keeping your balance, and this often means you're stiffing up a bit and your arms and hands get tight and they follow your body's movement. Instead, try to disconnect your arms and hands from the rest of the body. You can practise this on the ground by walking with a glass full of water. As you walk, to keep the water in the glass, your arms and hands have to be still while you move the rest of your body. Practise this on the ground, and notice what you have to do with your arms to not spill. Then transfer that feeling to when your in sitting trot. Remember, your hands will never be completely still. The goal is to keep the contact stable and constant. I hope this helps you. And remember, trying too hard makes you stiff up, and being stiff makes things ten times harder :)

In the trot your hands actually don't move much. In the walk and canter they should be following the horses head which will make them APPEAR still. You can feel this by gently resting your hands on the neck.

In my opinion yes. Firm doesn't mean harsh. A floppy contact jabs the horse in the mouth far more than a nice steady one. Firm is subjective but it should be about 5lbs of pressure. Think of the rein almost like a guitar string. If it's loose it doesn't communicate anything.

Required to...no but they probably will 98% of the time. why would that be something you are thinking about. As long as you aren't crossing the reins over the neck and are riding correctly they can touch whatever

Use less rein and more leg

I would focus on keeping his neck centred between his shoulders during circles and loops, supporting him with your seat and legs as well. Don't worry too much about head position, it will come naturally when your horse becomes straight and balanced. A good exercise is asking for leg yield whilst on a 10 meter circle and then asking him to go straight for a few strides before returning to leg yield. This will ask him to be more responsive to the leg and hopefully you won't need to reins to ask him to lower his head but just to support the outside shoulder. This helped with my horse :))

Inside and outside refers to the bending of the horse and nothing to do with the walls or center of the arena. Whichever side the horse is bent, the side that is concave, that is the inside she is referring to. Hope this helps.

Can you elaborate?