Schooling, which leg to use??

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chilworth23

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Sorry to ask, what is probably a stupid question, bit of a debate at yard going on today, young girl was schooling, and was being told by her mum, to pull/open left rein and use left leg on horses side to make the horse go left.

Another instructor, said no, feel /open left rein and put right leg on to go left, and right rein/left leg to go right.......

Girls mum then said why on earth do that, i then found myself wondering which is right? is it personal preference or is there a right way......
 
Most horses are trained to move away from the leg, so if I put my right leg on behind the girth and my left leg on the girth but not as strong my horse would go left. However, this also works for going around corners, but I don't use it as hard.
 
i think it depends on the horse, if it falls in or out perhaps.

also how the horse was taught, i have been taught to use oppisit leg to hand, but iv had a horse that was taught to turn with the same leg and hand, it was a very confusing ride!
 
i find when schooling i need to keep my outside leg on, or she slacks and mucks about, hacking i only need to squeeze the rein gently the way i want to go and she goes that way, can you train a horse to turn towards the side ur putting the pressure on???? is she going to create a really confused pony??

Cuz i think if i had been taught to do something one way and then rider hopped and and did it another way, i'd want them off lol
 
both - use outside leg to hold the hind quarters and inside leg to create bend through the body... you want the horse to go left, the barrel has to bend out...
 
When i turn left i would steer left and use my left leg so as my horse bends round my leg and doesnt fall in!! If i was to steer left and use my right leg he'd go side ways and possibly get confused lol
 
Above... but it depends. Was she on a circle or attempting to leg yield?

If circling, and presumably not achieving the bend she required, I could understand someone telling her to increase inside leg pressure. However if she was asking the horse to move laterally, it would be correct to use the opposite leg, to ask the horse to yield away from the pressure.

In either case, both legs should always be on the horse, just applying differing degrees of pressure to slightly different areas of its body.

Also in either case, she shouldn't have been told to "pull" anything. The rider would only move back the rein to take up slack introduced as a result of the horse bending correctly as a result of the leg aid. Seems to be a dying art, though.
 
Lol much debate at yard now, of people saying different things so...
1. when working in circles, is it inside or outside leg on???
2. when working on straight lines, eg to turn a corner, do u use left leg to turn left or right leg to turn left???
 
Munchkin said:
Worrying that it's causing a debate among people who can supposedly ride as it's very, very basic. :confused:

Inside leg on the girth (bend) outside leg behind the girth (controlling quarters). In both cases.
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Completely agree and what's more worrying is the fact that an instructor is saying only outside leg on but nothing about it being behind the girth to control quarters or that fact that inside leg must be on and is actually the one asking for the bend (or maybe I read the OP wrong)
 
I was taught that 'inside leg to outside hand' is a basic principle of schooling, so I think to ride a turn/circle on the right rein I'd have my right leg on the girth, a good steady contact in my left (outside) hand, left leg on slightly behind the girth to stop quarters swinging out and ask for the bend by giving and taking with the right (inside) hand. However my co-ordination is rubbish so we don't often achieve this!
 
Its all about inside leg to outside hand IMO.

You should be able to turn a circle using only your legs and outside hand to catch the shoulder, and your inside hand doing nothing ;)

You use both legs to keep horse straight - so you want to be straight when turning the corner as well - so you use both around the corner, and turn your hips to turn the horse - like you are "plugged in" to the horse :)
 
only_me said:
Its all about inside leg to outside hand IMO.

You should be able to turn a circle using only your legs and outside hand to catch the shoulder, and your inside hand doing nothing ;)

You use both legs to keep horse straight - so you want to be straight when turning the corner as well - so you use both around the corner, and turn your hips to turn the horse - like you are "plugged in" to the horse :)
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You are so right - my instructor is always on at me to give away my inside hand, especially on the left rein. Lo and behold, when I do this the horse miraculously stays on the circle and keeps her outline! ( provided my legs and outside hand are doing what you say above).
 
it was one of those conversations where i said when working in a circle, say clock wise, i keep both legs on but inside leg on more and outside rein has more contact, using my inside hand to kinda pulse the rein, but i kinda got jumped on by 2 or 3 mums, who started saying different things, and its a LONG TIME since i had a lesson, so i though "jeez am i right, i think i am" but had a little niggle of "are ur sure" running about in the thoughts, stupid huh!
 
Sammi&Leigha said:
coss, so schooling clockwise, you'd keep your outside leg permanently on, and inside leg squeezing???
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This from Munchkin:
Inside leg on the girth (bend) outside leg behind the girth (controlling quarters). In both cases.

So, to go clockwise: long side/short side, legs equal on both sides of the horse at the girth. to corner, inside leg (right) on and asking for bend to move the barrel of the horse out, outside leg (left) behind the girth, but not asking anything, just blocking/holding should the hindquarters go to swing out. To circle, ride like a big corner (corner is about a quarter of a 6m circle on a supple horse).
I don't personally like the squeezing term as then i think you need to have one thing (eg horse) between two things (eg legs) to actively squeeze - its more of a nudge/push but that is just my interpretation :p
both of my horses can be turned without the use of the reins at all, however, the outside rein is one that is given away less as it contains the energy in the front end and aids turns and circles
 
It's not so much about which leg to use as making sure your seat is correctly aligned.

Riding to the left: right (outside) leg back from the hip has the effect of placing your on your left (inside) seatbone. Your inside leg is the supporting pillar and should be on at the girth. Shoulders turned to the inside so your shoulders are parallel to the horse's shoulders and your hips and parallel to the horse's hips. The reins should only be used to align the head and neck, everything else comes from the seat and leg.
 
Humble said:
What happens when you want to turn the horse left and keep the horse bent right e.g. in counter canter?
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all down to the position of your seat as RobinHood has stated - and use of inside leg - making sure its not back to encourage flying change...
move the seat with the horse and you can encourage direction...
 
I have been trained with the basic rule to ride from my inside leg to outside rein.

When circling I was taught it is inside leg at the girth to outside rein to control the bend and outside leg behind the girth to control the hind quarters. The outside rein to prevent the horse pushing though it's shoulder (with outside leg at the girth to back up if required). The inside rein in combination with the inside leg at the girth to avoid any leaning in. During the movement fourth finger on whichever rein to control the head carriage.

A dressage trainer once explained that the reins are to indicate the space to move into and the leg and seat to tell the horse to actually perform the movement.

On my current top horse slightly shifting my weight in the saddle or body position prepares him to move in that direction. Very little is done from my reins it is mainly seat, position and leg to reinforce the idea. The rein is just a quick tweek as a reminder if he needs a mild correction. However on a youngster or less well schooled horse I will cheat and shift some weight to the outside to assist balance on a corner/circle and use more support from the reins.

It really depends on how the individual horse has been schooled as to how they will respond, hence lots of different ways of doing it!! Mine is a SJ who needs to be ready to turn before he lands in a jump off so he is very alert to subtle weight shifting prior to take off. He is set up for his particular job and how I ride so he will behave differently to horses doing different jobs.
 
cyberhorse said:
I have been trained with the basic rule to ride from my inside leg to outside rein.

When circling I was taught it is inside leg at the girth to outside rein to control the bend and outside leg behind the girth to control the hind quarters. The outside rein to prevent the horse pushing though it's shoulder (with outside leg at the girth to back up if required). The inside rein in combination with the inside leg at the girth to avoid any leaning in. During the movement fourth finger on whichever rein to control the head carriage.

A dressage trainer once explained that the reins are to indicate the space to move into and the leg and seat to tell the horse to actually perform the movement.

On my current top horse slightly shifting my weight in the saddle or body position prepares him to move in that direction. Very little is done from my reins it is mainly seat, position and leg to reinforce the idea. The rein is just a quick tweek as a reminder if he needs a mild correction. However on a youngster or less well schooled horse I will cheat and shift some weight to the outside to assist balance on a corner/circle and use more support from the reins.

It really depends on how the individual horse has been schooled as to how they will respond, hence lots of different ways of doing it!! Mine is a SJ who needs to be ready to turn before he lands in a jump off so he is very alert to subtle weight shifting prior to take off. He is set up for his particular job and how I ride so he will behave differently to horses doing different jobs.
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this - horse and rider with different levels of experience will need to use different aids.. its is very difficult to teach a beginner to use their seat before they can feel what is going on...
 
Inside leg to outside hand is correct so technically you to turn to the left you should put your left leg on firmer to create more bend and then 'allow' with your outside (right hand). But in order to do this the horse has to be engaged and moving correctly and understand these aids... pulling with inside rein will have the effect of turning the horse in an unschooled horse. (If I opened my inside rein and used my outside leg I would expect the well schooled horse to either go sideways or pirouette depending on the positioning)

Blitz
 
coss said:
this - horse and rider with different levels of experience will need to use different aids.. its is very difficult to teach a beginner to use their seat before they can feel what is going on...
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Exactly. A school horse for instance will usually turn fairly well with just neck-reining as they accommodate and interpret what a beginner is trying to tell them.
 
when i school, say clockwise, i keep inside leg on girth, outside rein with steady contact, outside leg on and behind girth, and inside rein occasionally sponging or just steady
 
Sammi&Leigha said:
when i school, say clockwise, i keep inside leg on girth, outside rein with steady contact, outside leg on and behind girth, and inside rein occasionally sponging or just steady
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The 2 legs are "on" in different forms. Inside rein is steady in a schooled horse, may need the odd tweak in a horse that is not relaxed through head/neck/jaw to encourage inside flexion- its the last bit to fall into place though.
 
LeneHorse said:
I was taught that 'inside leg to outside hand' is a basic principle of schooling, so I think to ride a turn/circle on the right rein I'd have my right leg on the girth, a good steady contact in my left (outside) hand, left leg on slightly behind the girth to stop quarters swinging out and ask for the bend by giving and taking with the right (inside) hand. However my co-ordination is rubbish so we don't often achieve this!
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This is what i was taught.
the outside leg controls the quarters, moves away from contact and creates a bend.
The inside leg is what the horses body effectively bends around.
 
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