How do you, personally, ask your horse to go in an outline?

[Skib]

I personally dont. I was an adult beginer and I was taught that the important thing was to move the hind legs well and have them come under his tummy. I have a book by Sarah Wyche (I thnk it is the Anatomy of Riding) which has diagrams of a horse showing it like a bridge which will sag in the middle under the weight of the rider. And a child can understand that one can reduce that sagging if one gets the hind legs of the horse working well. For the child rider, they will feel this as a side to side movement under their seat (not up and down). And can also (if their legs are long enough) feel the tummy of the horse swiging from side to side to make room for the hind leg. I was taught that the longer the stride, the further forward the nose of the horse needed to be, and the longer the rein. This eventually becomes walk on a long rein across the diagonal.

 

[Tarragon]

I personally dont. I was an adult beginer and I was taught that the important thing was to move the hind legs well and have them come under his tummy. I have a book by Sarah Wyche (I thnk it is the Anatomy of Riding) which has diagrams of a horse showing it like a bridge which will sag in the middle under the weight of the rider. And a child can understand that one can reduce that sagging if one gets the hind legs of the horse working well. For the child rider, they will feel this as a side to side movement under their seat (not up and down). And can also (if their legs are long enough) feel the tummy of the horse swiging from side to side to make room for the hind leg. I was taught that the longer the stride, the further forward the nose of the horse needed to be, and the longer the rein. This eventually becomes walk on a long rein across the diagonal.

I like this! I remember teaching someone how to do a rising trot, and it was all about closing your eyes and trying to feel when the hind legs came under the horse. I also like the imagery of the bridge.