Inside rein to soften mouth?

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Spacejet

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My instructor told me to gently 'piano key' the inside rein to encourage my horse to soften and accept the contact, with 'steady' half halts on an elastic outside rein when needed (coming up to corner, speeds up etc to rebalance).
She tell's me to keep an elastic contact when she listens and not give with the reins when she hollows and doesn't listen.
Now, I've read a little bit ( i mean a little bit! ) into classical dressage, where riders use their seat and legs to encourage the horse into the contact, with no help from fiddling reins!
I DO NOT want to force my horses head into a false outline, is this what my instructor is making me do, or is it just to get my horse softer and lighter in the mouth so that I can then push with my seat and legs to get her moving correctly?
 
If you read back what you've written you clearly state "soften and accept". That is not "force my horses head into a false outline". Your instructor is best placed to help you, she can see what your horse is doing and how you respond and vice versa.
 
If you have no rein contact, all that energy you will create with your seat and legs will go straight out of the front door. Obviously it's difficult to comment without seeing you and the horse, but I can't see anything wrong with what you've said your instructor is asking you to do. Maybe you should chat with her about your concerns and ask her to talk to you about the differences?

BTW, all dressage aims for the above, not just classical. And the "classical masters" weren't soft and fluffy like people seem to think!
 
Spacejet said:
My instructor told me to gently 'piano key' the inside rein to encourage my horse to soften and accept the contact, with 'steady' half halts on an elastic outside rein when needed (coming up to corner, speeds up etc to rebalance).
She tell's me to keep an elastic contact when she listens and not give with the reins when she hollows and doesn't listen.
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I'd like to reply with two quotations from Nuno Oliveira who is generally considered to be one of the classical masters:

"One has to have an immobile hand with mobile fingers"

"The hands have to be like concrete when the horse resists and like butter when he yields"

Classical dressage doesn't (or shouldn't!) mean slopping around on a wishy washy contact (sometimes there's reasons for loopy reins, but...) with the horse not working, and it also doesn't mean the horse gets away with blue murder! Authority of the aids and all that. I'd be worried if your instructor suggested moving your hands or sliding the bit around in the mouth to get them round, but moving fingers subtly is a bit different.
 
JFTD said:
I'd like to reply with two quotations from Nuno Oliveira who is generally considered to be one of the classical masters:

"One has to have an immobile hand with mobile fingers"

"The hands have to be like concrete when the horse resists and like butter when he yields"

Classical dressage doesn't (or shouldn't!) mean slopping around on a wishy washy contact (sometimes there's reasons for loopy reins, but...) with the horse not working, and it also doesn't mean the horse gets away with blue murder! Authority of the aids and all that. I'd be worried if your instructor suggested moving your hands or sliding the bit around in the mouth to get them round, but moving fingers subtly is a bit different.
Click to expand...


This is a clear way of thinking about it ^^^^ also you can push your horse from your seat and legs all day, every day but if it does not understand what the question is, if you are not doing anything with your fingers to receive the energy and help it understand, then you will be asking that question forever riding round and round, you can ask quietly, sympathetically but you need to ask something.
 
To go back to the original question (as opposed to what is looking more and more like advertising fly masks??) it seems to me your instructor is trying to get you to ask your horse to flex and soften his jaw in order to accept a soft contact. You can teach him that from the ground so that it isn't affected by your seat (which may or may not be independent and steady).
Take a rein in each hand and apply gentle slightly upward pressure - the instant he flexes and softens, release the pressure, so that you are teaching him to be as soft and light as you are. (Tom Widdicombe covers it really well in his latest book, deriving from Baucher who propounded flexions). And then when you are in the saddle, lift your hands high so that you are lifting the bit towards the horses ears - he will relax and flex, and you can also do the same thing one hand at a time so you are getting sideways flexing and releasing the poll.
Once he is soft and relaxed, and your seat is truly independent you will be able to ask for this while doing exercises to engage the hocks, at which point he will drop his head and offer you the outline you are looking for.
Just fiddling with his mouth will more than likely set up a resistance if he is unaware of how to flex and soften IMHO.
 
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