"Leg On!" / Contact / Leg Aids... COMPLETELY confused!

[deanrobertsnet]

Hello there!

I have a question and am dying for an answer.

The horse I'm learning to ride on is very slow with me. When going into trot, he will do it for a little while and then slow down.

And of course, instructor says "More leg" or "tap" or "nudge him".

Well I tried doing all those things to no avail, or to limited response.

I got home and realised that I try and "hug" the horse's girth by squeezing. I think I've been doing this cos I read somewhere that if you take your "foot off the gas", then the horse will stop.

But then I've read somewhere else that you should keep legs in contact with the horse (i.e, not flying all over the place), but NOT gripping (in other words, tensing your leg muscles around the horse). Only tense briefly as a leg aid to get the horse to go faster etc.

It made sense to me that maybe I'm gripping with my legs and not relaxing to the point that the horse cannot distinguish between me just riding and wanting him to speed up.

Is this where I've been going wrong? Maybe in my next lesson I won't grip at all, and just make sure my leg is touching the horse's side, and then briefly tense to nudge him forward into trot or whatever.

Is this right?

Many thanks for your wisdom!

 

[Pearlsasinger]

You are correct, your legs should be 'draped' round the horse but not gripping. If you grip with your legs, you will not be able to sit deeply enough to have a secure seat.

 

[outinthefens88]

Quote :

"But then I've read somewhere else that you should keep legs in contact with the horse (i.e, not flying all over the place), but NOT gripping (in other words, tensing your leg muscles around the horse). Only tense briefly as a leg aid to get the horse to go faster etc.

It made sense to me that maybe I'm gripping with my legs and not relaxing to the point that the horse cannot distinguish between me just riding and wanting him to speed up.

Is this where I've been going wrong? Maybe in my next lesson I won't grip at all, and just make sure my leg is touching the horse's side, and then briefly tense to nudge him forward into trot or whatever."

Your reading is correct, as is your analysis of why the horse drops back to walk.

Grip up too much on a 'sensitive horse' - ie not your sterotypical riding school plod and you will be in canter/gallop before you know it!

Echo the fact that this gripping up will affect your position in the saddle too. All comes with practice!

 

[Micky]

Maybe try this, make sure your hips/pelvis are relaxed, so as said previously, your legs hang, draped down the sides of the horse. When you ask for forward movement, try to just use your lower leg ( calves), nudging from the knee inwards. Also check you are not pulling ( subconsciously) back on the reins, this will obviously confuse the horse as to stop or go!

 

[nianya]

What I was always told was that your seat is from your knees up. Your lower leg is basically independent and that's where your "forward" aids are. So you're right that you shouldn't be gripping him with your lower leg at all. In fact that is going to throw your seat off which will make it even harder to ask him to move forward. Also, what Micky said about reins. It's incredibly common for people to think "forward" with their legs and pull back at the same time. Try to think about pushing your hands forward when you ask to make sure you aren't.

 

[Palindrome]

Here is what I do (or at least try):
Sit tall and still. When you want forward, squeeze with your legs, if horse doesn't go forward immediately give a tap with the whip (I always do it on the horse's quarters as I think it's better for saying forward rather than shoulder). When you want a downward transition also squeeze your legs but sit even taller/lighten your seat by contracting your bum then close your hands on the reins tighter (in that order).

At all other times try to keep your legs still and not squeeze, you don't really need to nudge with your heel or kick, the horse feels it when you squeeze with the tights/calves and it looks tidier/you can stay balanced/you are riding from the seat. My friend says: "squeeze the toothpaste out of the tube", I think it's an image that suits.

 

[CarolineJ]

Does this help at all? I think this is one of the best explanations of use of the leg I've seen:

http://youtu.be/LOj9SiUwa-Y

 

[deanrobertsnet]

That was very, very helpful! I shall be trying all this out on Tuesday and hoping that there will be a massive transformation!

EDIT: Thank you so much for that!

 

[Cortez]

Very good advice from the youtube clip (you won't get much better!), but just curious why your instructor couldn't help you with an explanation? Unfortunately it's not just about doing it, it's also about learning to become effective with the aids, and that takes time, experimentation and practise. Best of luck with learning to ride - it's wonderful when it all starts to make sense, but can be frustrating getting there (and you may need a better instructor by the sound of it).

 

[maccachic]

Have a read through this: http://www.aebc.com.au/articles it makes some very good points esp in regards to conflicting signals.

 

[Wandering Star]

My coach taught me that if I constantly kept my leg on, it was like I was nagging the horse and it would become fed up with this nagging and ignore the aid. She taught me that I should give the aid and when the horse obeyed it by going forward, to reward it by taking my leg off. If the horse slows again, you put your leg on again...consequently, the horse learns that it is more comfortable and pleasant to go forward than to slow down and be constantly nagged by leg aids and taps! I found this an effective way to remember how to use the aids correctly.

 

[deanrobertsnet]

Thanks for all of the advice everyone! I had a lesson today and it was INFINITELY better. Progress!!! Very pleased with myself, but also with my lovely riding school horse. He's so patient!

Now I need to work on giving more leg whilst doing rising trot - this is the next hurdle to clear. Any advice?! Haha! At the moment I'm coming back to sitting to give more leg, then attempting rising again. It doesn't help that my horse slows to a walk when he gets near the door (cheeky so and so!)

 

[nianya]

Thanks for all of the advice everyone! I had a lesson today and it was INFINITELY better. Progress!!! Very pleased with myself, but also with my lovely riding school horse. He's so patient!

Now I need to work on giving more leg whilst doing rising trot - this is the next hurdle to clear. Any advice?! Haha! At the moment I'm coming back to sitting to give more leg, then attempting rising again. It doesn't help that my horse slows to a walk when he gets near the door (cheeky so and so!)

Is your instructor asking you to give him leg constantly while trotting? Because as Wandering Star saids that's basically nagging and they will become insensitive to the aids. If you feel him slowing down give him a bit of leg, but otherwise he should keep up a trot until you ask him to do otherwise. With one exception Since you know that he will do it at the gate, leg him up before he gets to the gate to keep him trotting and then back off again once he passes it. He's just taking advantage of you at the moment.

Pay close attention to your aids though, if you are holding him back unintentionally you'll also have the slowing down issue. So check again, are you balancing on the reins while posting? Also, are you actually behind his rhythm? A dressage trainer I know with completely changed how I post by teaching me to use my seat (it's not all in the leg). You can slow him down by posting a bit slow to his gait, you can also speed him up by posting a bit fast. It's very likely that if you're concentrating really hard on giving him leg you're ending up behind his movement and he will naturally slow down.

 

[deanrobertsnet]

No, she's not constantly asking me. He has started to obey my leg aids most of the time, it is just the gate and sometimes corners that he slows down.

I think he was probably expecting me to nag him yesterday, so now that I've started using a better leg aid, he'll probably be even more responsive next week. The issue I have with putting leg on, I suppose, is that my calf muscles aren't strong enough yet so I'm actually giving him more heel than leg... so when I do give an aid, it's more likely that I cannot get my stirrups cos I lose them, then by the time I've found them he's by the gate... and so the cycle starts again But I am learning!

 

[nianya]

Then it's just a matter of practice and probably muscle training. I ride with my stirrups too long due to some joint issues, so I often lose them too. You can leg him fine without stirrups though so if you're balancing ok, leg him past the gate then worry about getting your stirrups.

 

[gnubee]

If you feel like you are using more heel than leg, and are losing your stirrups, you are probably letting your heels come up. Focus on keeping your heels down when you squeeze. The reason I used to do this was that my legs were too far forward so I couldn't give an effective squeeze and would compensate for that by bringing my heel up. You are probably going to need your instructor to tell you if they are in the right place, but can assess it yourself in walk by holding the squeeze on for a second and considering whether your heels are under your shoulders and hips (correct) or in front of them (ineffective ).

Even if it is right in walk, a lot of people who aren't corrected by an instructor once they get their balance in trot will have the lower leg too far forward in rising trot as when you first learn, too far forward makes it harder to rise but lands you safely back in the saddle, whereas too far back pivots you onto the horse's neck. If this is your issue, work in sitting trot can help you get used to the correct position before you have to refind your balance in rising.

 

[deanrobertsnet]

Thanks for this advice. Yes, I certainly get what you mean about the balance in trot. If I concentrate, I get it right and it's all fine. I think what I might be doing is not putting enough pressure on the stirrups to keep the friction between the boot and stirrup so it comes undone if that makes sense.

Basically, I'm a perfectionist and need to realise that I can't be perfect straight away!

 

[Firefly9410]

You do not need huge amounts of pressure on the stirrup as you rise to the trot, no more than if you were walking or doing sitting trot. Your lower leg should be still in trot unless you are giving a leg aid. The rise does not come from your stirrups it comes from your seat. Think of your knees as the pivot but do not grip with your knees. If you grip with your knees your heels might come up and your bottom is prevented from sitting so deeply in the saddle. Hope this makes sense. Cycling is good for building leg muscles as is standing on the edge of a step and repeatedly raising to tip toe then lowering your heels to below the step. It is better to do a few trot strides well than lots badly, as your leg strength builds so will your ability to keep the trot going longer. Tired muscles mean legs that flap about and you lose balance, which affects the horses balance and could cause him to slow, though to a certain extent riding school horses will ignore this kind of thing.

 

[Mike007]

Horses arnt daft , You signal that its ok to relaxand they do. If a horse fails to respond to a leg aid it should be immediately be backed up by a slap behind the leg with the whip. not hard but firm.

 

[Bernster]

Also,don't be afraid to ask, I've had lessons with people,shouting the same expression at me and I thought I was doing it right (turns out I wasn't) and I really should just has sacked. Instructors will often use a term that they think people understand but often they don't, or its confused.

I loved Mary Wanless book -ride with your mind essentials. Helped explain a lot and improved my position loads. its well worth a read.

Does your instructor focus on your position ? I've known lots who don't, and focus on the horse mainly. Ask her for tips,on your position if she/he doesn't.

 

[deanrobertsnet]

Again, thanks for all the support and advice! I had a lesson last Tuesday and it was SO much better. I'm making progress. I actually think it's a case of practice makes perfect and also training my muscles.

I'm sure I will have many more questions as I go along!