In this video I describe how to properly apply your leg when riding Dressage.
Using your upper thigh and calf, applying the spur (when needed) and kicking your horse can all be useful tools when training a dressage horse if done correctly!
Okay, so let’s talk about how you should use your leg and how you should not use your leg. We’ll start with the positive ways of using your legs.
Using your upper leg, specifically your inner thigh and knee pressure into the saddle, can help with the turning aid—you can actually close your inner thigh and knee into the saddle, which can help turn your horse’s shoulder. Another correct way to use your leg is to close your calf.
If closing your calf doesn’t work, you can use a little spur.
The third way to use your leg is to kick. When you kick your horse, you want to kick and then take your leg off. Obviously, you’d start with your calf, and if your horse doesn’t respond, you can give them that kick.
How NOT to use your legs:
The biggest one I see is the “death grip,” where people just grip with their lower leg incessantly, leaving their spur dug into their horse. Oftentimes, people even bring their knee up over the knee roll and just grip. If you ride like this, your horse is going to completely ignore your leg.
Another is when people just kick and grind. They kick, and then they just hold their leg on the horse. When you kick your horse, you’ve got to kick and release, kick and release—not kick and then grind your spur into them. That’s not a correct way to use your leg.
Another incorrect way to use your leg is to wiggle your foot. Your horse is just going to ignore that.
It’s super important whenever you use a leg aid to keep your leg long. You never want to be drawing your leg up or too far back—you want to try to keep your leg as long as possible so that your seat and your hips stay free.
I hope this helps!
Amelia
