Rein back

[mjohorse]

I am currently schooling on the flat a young show jumper. I have taught her to do rein back but the show jumper who the owner has lessons with disagrees with the method. Can a show jumper please tell me how to teach a horse to do rein back? I know show jumpers use this a lot to get the horse to sit on its hocks & thought that as long as the horse is going back & sitting on the hocks the method of getting to it doesn't matter, obviously what works on 1 horse may not on another?? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks

 

[Peanot]

When the instructor says that she disagrees with rein back, it is probably because as the horse is young, the main thing is to get the horse to go forward and so don`t like to teach the young horse to back as it can be used as an evasion. Another method to get the horse to use hocks is lots of transition, esp walk-canter-walk transitions.

 

[Bossanova]

I've been taught never to do rein-back on a young horse, there are far more effective ways of balancing the horse and lightening the forehand

 

[mjohorse]

It isn't that the show jumping instructor disagrees witht he rein back, he is all for it, it is the method of which he wants it ridden. The horse is actually 9yrs & about to go affiliated. The horse will go back if using the sliding leg method but this is not how the show jumper wants it done, he says lower leg forward & on with low strong hands!! I would of thought that as long as the horse goes back & sits on its hocks then the method of rein back is irrelivant.

 

[Sparklet]

I was always taught both lower legs slightly back, light seat and soft hands. Not sure your instructor is right.

 

[mjohorse]

As I believe it different people do things different ways & what works with one horse may not work for another & the better rider/instructor will try different methods if one doesn't work on that horse. I ride mainly dressage but have some experience of show jumping but not really at affiliated level. I find it hard that someone will be so hard fast about the way they want things done & this particular horse doesn't like being pulled in her mouth but the sliding legs works, just like when you ask for canter the reason you bring you're outside leg back is to work the horses back legs!!! As long as the horse goes backwards to sit on the hocks the result is the same which ever method you use. Thank you for your response.

 

[Sparklet]

This may help -

aids for rein back. If you horse is unhappy about being pulled in the mouth I am surprised your instructor is asking you to do this particularly as her method is not correct.