Pulling on the inside rein whilst gripping up with the inside leg and allowing the seat to slide to the outside seem to be the basic aids. Staring at the horse's inside shoulder whilst rounding your own adds a little finesse, and for some extra cadence try tensing up your entire body.
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Pulling on the inside rein whilst gripping up with the inside leg and allowing the seat to slide to the outside seem to be the basic aids. Staring at the horse's inside shoulder whilst rounding your own adds a little finesse, and for some extra cadence try tensing up your entire body.
God that article explaining shoulder in is drier than a packet of water biscuits!!!
Its interesting that the travers is explained before the shoulder in... hmmm
Anyway i teach it along the lines of
1. ride a circle, 10m. on this circle think about your balance inside to out side, ie. the inside shoulder should not be lower that the outside [ think of carrying a tray of drinks in your hand and this will give you a pretty good idea] concentrate on your shouders and the horses shoulders being parrallel to each other. Make sure you hold the engagement of the inside leg by making sure the outside leg is behind the girth. the outside rein is in contact with the neck and as the elbow is bent and above your hip and you have turned your shoulders then the inside rein leads the inside shoulder inwards. the inside leg then activates [ knudges] at the girth in time with the inside hind leg leaving the ground.let the thigh be open from the hips dont tighten the inside leg,it needs to wrap around and be long.
Once you feel active and in balance then think of the shoulder in being the first step you take in this 10m circle as you leave the track, but rather than take the second step you take in the outside rein as the outside shoulder comes back towards you and you keep your shoulders at the angle of the 10m circle while continuing to activate [not drive as this knocks the horse out of balance]
The horse will do one of two things
They either step off your leg and loose the shoulder inwhich case you need to support more in the outsde rein and the outside leg or they step inwards towards the center of the school, inwhich case you need more inside leg [ for me this is the lesser of the two evils and i use this to keep the young horse stepping forward rather than falling against the outside rein]
Always remember that you aim to keep the hind leg stepping forward on the same tracks it would be on if straight , its the shoulders [ and hence your shoulders that are turned inwards]
There should always be a clear 'corridor' between your reins and the flection is slight its the ribs 'yeilding that give you the feeling of bend.
less is more so youstart with just a little[ shoulder fore] and once you have this in balance[ you are able to maintain rythmn in the pace , and not for more than about 20m] then ask fore a little more angle.
The thing is with the shoulder in it is easy to think that the ' alleluiua chorus [sp] should ring out when you get it right, but sadly not! its quite an 'normal feeling. it just gives you feeling that you could do anything with the horse, change the rein ,ride a change of pace and that it would happen like breathing. this is when its right as it has captured the hind leg ina way which helps the horse understand our demands for balance and collection.
oh god , i have rambled on BIG Gand T if you get this far!!!!
Now what was it i said about being dry....??????