Raise your hand if you struggle with keeping a nice light contact and consistent connection! Honestly, contact and connection are something every rider is working on improving. From the very beginning to the Grand Prix, you’re always striving to get your horse lighter and softer in the contact and develop more engaged in the hind legs. The demands and expectations for contact and connection just get more and more as you work up the levels!
In this week’s video, I’ll be talking about contact and connection and giving you three exercises to help you get your horse more connected. Contact and connection are directly related, and I think you’ll find that when you work on getting your horse more engaged and balanced, your contact will greatly improve. One of my favorite quotes from Christine Traurig, explains this concept perfectly:
“The lightness of the contact is directly related to the relative engagement of the hind end and the balance of your horse.” -Christine Traurig
Okay, now on to the exercises! Here are three tips to help you achieve a lighter contact:
·      Sit Back, Hands Lighter – If your horse gets strong and pulls, first check your rider position. Often, when your horse pulls on you or gets heavy in the contact, you pull back and this will cause you to lean forward and come out of the tack. Remember, it takes two to pull! When your horse gets heavy, think of sitting deep and heavy into the saddle and lightening your hands. When you have a good seat and rider position, it makes it so much easier for your horse to balance!
·      Inside Leg to Outside Rein – Another great exercise for lighter contact is focusing on riding inside leg to outside rein. When your horse gets strong, try pushing them a little sideways. Make sure you have a nice steady contact with the outside rein, push your horse over with your inside leg, and give the inside rein. You can do this on a circle, and leg-yield your horse out a little on the circle line, ride up the quarterline and leg-yield to the rail, or even do a turn on the forehand. Any of these exercises will help your horse engage their inside hind leg, and therefore, put them in better balance, improving your contact.
·      Transitions – When done correctly, transitions are a wonderful exercise to get your horse more engaged in the hind end (remember the engagement of the hind end relates to the lightness of the contact). You can practice transitions within or between gaits. To set yourself up for success, practice your transitions at first on a circle line. This helps you maintain that inside leg to outside rein connection.
I hope these tips help you with your contact! Let me know in the comments below if you are working on achieving a lighter contact with your horse. I work on this all the time, even with my FEI horses!
Happy Riding!
Amelia
