How to teach the basics?

StellaJones

StellaJones

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Hi everyone,

I'm sharing a very green 5yo NFP (whose owner is happy with me training her), but I am wanting to be certain I'm getting everything right.

The pony knows how to turn around my leg via pressure from my inside leg. Is this the correct aid, or is it always away from pressure?

I had an instructor tell me to use inside pressure, but was raised with outside pressure, is there a right way? I come from a western background, so English cues are not ingrained!

Additionally, if inside pressure is acceptable, how do you teach shoulder in? I think the base of this question is which leg aids are for what? Is on/off girth the key?


I really wish I could bring out a trainer, but I'm a student and the owner isn't interested because she just jumps the pony and isn't bothered with setting up the basics.

I'm sorry if this is ridiculous, but I am just trying to sort it out so the pony is appropriately trained.
 
Think about it sensibly.
Horses are taught, in everything they do, to give to pressure I.e move away from it. It applies to leading, tying up, walking on etc.

Riding is just the same. They need to be taught to move away from the leg pressure. Expecting anything else is just going to confuse them.

The reason YOU'RE confused is the 'why' you use inside leg on a turn. The inside leg is used to stop them leaning and ' falling' inwards as they turn. It's there to prop them up like a fence post for them to curl round. A very established horse will need little propping up. A baby may need strong reminder. Turning in a bend is not the same as moving sideways (which is when you'd use the outside leg to push them in)

As for everything else, think about which part of their body you're wanting them to move over and therefore which leg to use where.
 
Thank you so much. I haven't been confident about teaching anything for the past few weeks because I was so caught up on this. I've never worked with such a green horse before and I didn't want to mess anything up, especially on someone else's horse.

Is there a difference with where you use your leg, as in at the girth for forehand, behind the girth for haunches?
 
StellaJones said:
Thank you so much. I haven't been confident about teaching anything for the past few weeks because I was so caught up on this. I've never worked with such a green horse before and I didn't want to mess anything up, especially on someone else's horse.

Is there a difference with where you use your leg, as in at the girth for forehand, behind the girth for haunches?
Click to expand...

Exactly. I use my leg a little further forward for the shoulder, back for the quarters and in the middle for the ribcage. AFTER I've spend quite a while on the ground teaching them to move different part of themselves away from pressure.

Training should be common sense.and build on a base they already know. If you can break down whatever it is that you want to teach into it's component parts, you can teach anything. Just think it through sensibly.
 
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