If your horse is distracted by the barn, the gate, or another horse, you might find yourself pulling harder and harder on the inside rein to turn. Unfortunately, that often makes the problem worse. Instead, I want to show you a little trick that can help you understand how your seat and outside rein actually turn your horse.
How to Steer a Horse Without Pulling on the Inside Rein
Let’s say you’re trying to turn left, but your horse keeps drifting to the right. Your first instinct might be to pull harder on your left rein. But as you pull more, your horse continues drifting right, and both you and your horse become increasingly crooked.
Instead, try this special trick to turn. You don’t want to turn all the time like this but it’s a way to break up your habits. Try looking slightly to the outside of your turn. If you’re turning left, look a little to the right. This shifts your weight toward your left, or inside, seat bone and helps engage your right, or outside, rein.
You may be surprised by how much easier your horse turns when you stop pulling on the inside rein. Your outside aids are incredibly important for steering, and this little trick can help you feel that connection.
Feel Your Inside Leg Outside Rein Connection
The goal of this exercise is to help you feel how your seat and outside rein work together. As you look slightly outside, notice how your weight moves onto your inside seat bone and your outside rein becomes more connected.
This is where the concept of inside leg outside rein becomes so important. Rather than trying to steer entirely with the inside rein, you want your horse to respond to your seat, leg, and outside rein working together.
Try looking outside for a moment, feel your weight settle into your inside seat bone, and then release. Repeat it a few times until you start to recognize the feeling you’re looking for.
How to Steer a Horse with the Correct Aids
Remember, looking to the outside is a temporary trick, not how you ultimately want to ride your turns.
When you’re correctly turning your horse, your shoulders should mirror your horse’s shoulders. On a circle to the left, your left shoulder should be slightly back and your right shoulder slightly forward. Your horse should also be softly bent and looking in the direction you’re traveling.
Once the trick helps you find your inside seat bone and outside rein, keep that same feeling but turn your eyes back in the direction you’re going. Then soften and supple the inside rein so your horse can bend correctly through the turn.
Sometimes we need to exaggerate something temporarily to break an old habit and discover a new feeling. You can use this exercise at the walk, trot, or canter, and I’ve even used it when working on pirouettes to help find a better connection to my inside seat bone.
The next time you’re struggling with steering, remember: don’t automatically pull harder on the inside rein. Experiment with your seat and outside rein, then return to the correct aids and see if your horse turns more easily.
Happy Riding!
Amelia
P.S. If you want to better understand how your seat influences your horse, check out my Free Independent Seat Webinar. It will help you develop a more secure, independent position so you can use concepts like inside leg to outside rein more effectively in your riding.
