INSIDE LEG TO OUTSIDE REIN … HUH?

Published on: July 15, 2013March 3, 2016Author: PatriciaComment: 0

Do you fully understand the essential concept of inside leg to outside rein and have the ability to apply it in your training?

Outside Rein NO? … Well this does not surprise me!

One of the most perplexing, most difficult concepts in riding is the use of the outside rein to turn a horse. It goes against everything that is hard-wired into our psyche. Surely to turn anything you need to show the direction in which you wish to go? NO!

In riding dressage you use inside leg to outside hand, but it is not the USE of the outside rein that you should think about. It’s about how you apply the inside leg and seat bone.

You are looking to encourage your horse to ‘fill’ the outside rein, not apply more pressure on that rein.
Rein contact should be even, inside leg encourages the horse to put more weight to the outside, inside seat bone also encourages the weight shift.
The outside rein is there to catch this weight shift. The outside rein ‘fills’ the inside rein ‘softens’.

When the above occurs correctly, we say you can feel the connection between inside leg and outside rein – just a little hint on the subject, which is vast and complicated, hope it helps.