Having a 'discussion' about inside and outside leg

yaffsimone1

yaffsimone1

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Ok, at the moment i'm having a light hearted discussion with a collegue about which leg is the inside and outside...this discussion will soon turn nasty if it isn't put to bed.

I've always been taught when your in the school on the right rein (for example) your inside leg is the one facing the middle of the school and your outside leg is obviously the other one next to the hedge or fence. So for example when the horse is cantering and leading with the right leg this would be his inside??.....

now my collegue is saying its like driving a car in that you have nearside and offside. She says the nearside (the leg next to the fence or hedge) would be inside leg and the offside would be leg facing towards the middle of the school i.e outside leg.

Which one is right??
 
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Inside/outside and near side/off side are 2 totally different things! Inside/outside changes when you change the rein. Near side is always the side you mount and off side is the side you don't.
 
Ok she has just thrown this at me and its making me really uncomfortable cos it making me think!! "When your jumping and your horse runs out to the right that is because you haven't put on enough OUTSIDE leg"...this is what she says. Its a silly post but its really bugging me
 
Nope. That's only the case if you are on the left rein. If you were on the right rein and the horse went to right you need more inside leg. She is confused out inside/outside near side/offside.
 
galaxy said:
Nope. That's only the case if you are on the left rein. If you were on the right rein and the horse went to right you need more inside leg. She is confused out inside/outside near side/offside.
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Yes i'm thinking the same as you. But she is saying when there isn't any left or right rein as such i.e when out hacking everything is automatically outside leg...I think the woman is outside leg obsessed. She is 70 odd years old if that makes any difference, i'm wondering if when she was young it was taught differently
 
Inside leg is the one to the inside of the circle or bend or nearest to the person lunging for example, outside leg is the one on the outside and nearest to the manege fence. Can't see what is complicated about that! Nearside is ALWAYS the left, offside is ALWAYS the right. Tell her from me :)
 
If you're out hacking or doing a XC course then no, you won't be on a rein - unless you're being extra-specially anal and checking which leg your horse is on when it ducks out to the side ;) Or if there was a fence, say, to the left, I'd consider that my outside as it's an 'edge'.

But good luck convincing her, I don't fancy your chances if I'm honest..!
 
yaffsimone1 said:
Yes i'm thinking the same as you. But she is saying when there isn't any left or right rein as such i.e when out hacking everything is automatically outside leg...I think the woman is outside leg obsessed. She is 70 odd years old if that makes any difference, i'm wondering if when she was young it was taught differently
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OK, but in order to move your horse closer to the hedge you use your inside (right) leg. Outside leg is what stops your horse putting you IN the hedge. There is still bend because leg yielding moves away from the direction of bend. I suspect her brain is getting a bit of old-age sogginess.
 
There is near side (the side most people lead and mount from ) and off side (opposite) or there is inside (inside of a bend or circle, or school) and outside (outer side of a bend or circle). If you are jumping there is always something of a bend to indicate which is the leading leg, so the same applies, jumping left handed the left leg is inside. And I'm nearer 70 than 60 so tell her she is wrong! Simples x
 
You are correct OP. Your colleague is not getting confused with "nearside" and "offside" in a car, but with 'inside" and 'outside" lanes, I think Nearside and offside are the same for horses and cars (left and right respectively) but inside and outside are different.

I know I am right because this caused me great confusion when learning to drive!

With horses, "inside" (rein/leg/whatever) refers to the one closest to the middle of the school/circle. The "outside" leg/rein is closest to the fence.

With cars, "INSIDE" lane is the one closest to the fence/hedge/verge. The "OUTSIDE" lane (or overtaking lane) is the one closest to the MIDDLE of the road.

So "inside" and "outside" refer to opposite sides for cars and horses.

Hope you can understand how I have explained it!
 
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