I was posting a video, entitled “A Smart Girl Correcting a Bucking Horse,” and thinking what a big role tact plays in a rider’s success.  When a horse begins to resist a rider, it’s not just what you do, but how you do it that will define the result.  Trying to bully a horse into compliance never works—it only makes the horse more frustrated and fearful.  You have to remember that the animal is so much larger than us that it’s dangerous to have outright warfare with it. This doesn’t mean that you can’t be the boss; it’s just means that you have to be a benevolent dictator.

At horse shows, I often see riders schooling their horses in a frame for too long without a break.  (A horse needs a break on a long rein about every five minutes, and the total time for working on the flat should be about 20 minutes.)  The result of working too long without a break is that the animal becomes uncomfortable and frustrated, so it begins to resist the rider.  Since the horse is resisting, the rider usually decides to work it even more!  This is a vicious cycle, with the rider insisting that the horse improve, while the animal is unable to be compliant because it is so uncomfortable and is literally trying to pull the reins out of the rider’s hands or raise its head to get out of the uncomfortable position. If you horses becomes worse in the course of a workout, the problem is probably you!

In the video I mentioned above, the issue is not the frame of the horse, but rather the horse’s desire to buck, move sideways, switch leads, etc.—probably because it was feeling frisky and maybe because it was a little “herd bound” or “green.”  What I loved was that the girl only did what she needed to do to get the horse back on track in its training.  She didn’t jerk, kick, beat, or overwork the animal, but rather did what she had to do to get the horse moving forward safely.  Whatever was causing the problem, she tactfully worked through it, and the horse is now a better-trained animal because of her.  I think it’s a wonderful example of good riding and hope you’ll take the time to give it a look.

I was recently looking through some horse forums on the Internet and noticed that a rider was shown riding one horse with draw reins and another with side reins. She had posted photos of herself to see if others readers would critique her. It was interesting that her position had shown marked improvement in the span of a few months, but that she was relying on equipment to hold her horses’ heads down.

First thing, you should never ride with side reins, unless you are being longed by someone standing on the ground and have your regular reins tied properly in the horse’s mane.  The side reins are to keep the horse from bowing to the outside of the circle on a longe line so that the horse won’t injure its outside legs with the inside legs.  The function of the side reins is to help the horse maintain its frame and balance, not to force its head down.  (You can find out more about longeing equipment and how to properly longe a horse in my book, The Complete Guide to Hunter Seat Training, Showing, and Judging.”

Secondly, draw reins are for very advanced riders who know how to use them.  They are intended to help the horse keep its balance and frame, but they should never be used to pull the horse into a head carriage that is behind the vertical, which is exactly what most inexperienced riders try to do.  Even advanced riders sometimes use them as a shortcut to good training and end up with a terrible result.  I once saw a famous three-day event rider warm up with draw reins, then take them off right before entering the dressage arena.  The horse trotted down the centerline, halted at X, then reared when it realized that the instrument of torture was no longer in place.

The famous instructor, Gordon Wright, used to say that draw reins were “the razor in the monkey’s hand.”  Personally, I feel that if you ride well, you don’t need contraptions to hold your horse’s head down.  Framing a horse properly is all about positioning the haunches of the horse with your legs, accompanied by soft hands and frequent half-halts to help the horse keep its balance.  Once this is accomplished, the head and neck will follow a natural downward curve that is comfortable for the animal.

Although the position of the girl’s lower leg was improving with time, her use of side reins and draw reins will continue to prohibit her from developing the proper relationship with the horse’s mouth.  Expertise comes from work on one’s position so that the body is in balance with the horse, and development of a feel for the animal so that the horse and rider can work as a partnership, not as master and slave.  Avoid using any gadgets that keep you from becoming a better rider, for today’s shortcut can mean tomorrow’s ultimate failure.

Imagine that you’re a teenager and your mother walks up to you, slaps you on the face, then angrily says, “Go clean your room!”  What a shock this would be, especially if you were a person who usually kept your room in reasonably good order.  Even if you were the messiest person in the world, it would be a big surprise to have your mother slap you before asking you to do something.

Imagine that you’re a horse standing in the riding arena with several other horses.  Suddenly, your rider kicks you hard and jerks you away from the other horses to start a course of fences.  This is how the story goes for many horses around the world.  The rider often doesn’t ask the horse  to do something with subtle signals of the legs and hands, but rather resorts to force that makes the horse frustrated and upset.

The motto you should use in riding is, “Only do what it takes to get what you want.”  By using the least amount of pressure on the horse’s mouth and sides that it takes to accomplish a task, you’ll end up with a horse that is calm and obedient.  It is ideal for the animal to have willing submission to the rider, rather than responding out of fear.

This doesn’t mean that you never have to use your aids strongly, for you must increase the strength of their application until you reach a point where the horse responds; but it’s important to start with soft aids and only increase them to the point where the horse gives you a positive response.  I noticed recently that Gordon Wright’s famous book, Learning to Ride, Hunt and Show, is in print again.  Gordon Wright was a master teacher, who emphasized the subtlety of the rider’s aids.  This would be an excellent book to add to your home library.

There are lots of errors that can be made in equitation classes over fences, but there are a few that are bound to drop your scores significantly, so I think they’re worth noting.  First, if you have a refusal (or “disobedience”) at a fence, you’ve committed a grave error, for anything that spells danger is going to be heavily penalized.  Just the fact that the horse was disobedient—unwilling to do what you asked—is a problem; but add to that the possibility of the rider being thrown when a horse shuts off at a fence makes it one of the worst errors a horse can commit.  (Historically, it was also deemed a very bad error because a horse that wouldn’t jump a fence in the hunt field was going to be left behind, with the rider desperately figuring another way to get home safely, since he would quickly lose sight of the other horses in hot pursuit of a fox.)  If your horse refuses a fence, make sure you get over it the second time.  I often see riders making half-hearted, short approaches to the fence the second time, with so little impulsion that it is easy for the horse to stop again.  Remember that you are constantly training your horse, whether you mean to or not.  If you allow refusals to be the norm, then you’ll successfully train your horse to be a “stopper.”  When a horse has a single refusal in the show ring, the score is normally 45, which would be an “F” in academic terms.

Another frequent error in classes over fences is the horse not being on the proper lead on the corners of the ring.  Having the wrong lead or being on a cross-canter (with the front legs on one lead and the hind legs on the other) are severely penalized because they jeopardize the horse’s balance on corners.  Anything considered unsafe is heavily penalized, so when a rider risks his safety by allowing the horse to be off balance on a corner, the judge makes a large deduction on his card.   For a cross canter that lasts for one step, it could be a 5-point deduction; and for a cross canter or wrong lead that goes on for a long time, it could be a 20-point deduction or more.

Breaking gait is another major fault on course.  It shows that the horse is not “in front of the rider’s leg.”  The horse’s unwillingness to go forward at the proper pace can affect the animal’s jumping effort and may lead to the horse refusing fences, which is just a more severe demonstration of being behind the rider’s legs.  When a horse breaks from a canter to a trot on course, the typical score for the course is 60, which is the academic equivalent of a “D.”

A dangerous fence is also at the top of the list of severe errors.  When a horse takes off from an overly-long spot and dives over a fence, the typical score for the course is 55, which is an academic “F.”

Adding a stride in an in-and-out is usually scored as 55, an “F,” because it shows that the horse lacks the proper pace and impulsion to safely jump the fences.  (Eliminating a stride in an in-and-out also is scored as a 55 because of the danger of it.)  Loss of a stirrup (that is, the rider’s foot slipping out of the stirrup on course) or the loss of reins (that is, the reins falling out of the rider’s hands) are usually scored 55, and “F,” because these two errors jeopardize the rider’s security and control of the horse, respectively.

Off course, 3 refusals, or a fall of the rider and/or horse result in elimination.  It’s important to keep in mind these major errors and do everything in your power to avoid committing them.

One of the major things I’ve noticed when judging equitation classes around the country is that many riders lack an understanding of the use of two-point and three-point position.   This is especially evident in equitation on the flat.  For many years, the USEF Rule Book has stated, “At the walk, sitting trot, and canter, body should be a couple of degrees in front of the vertical…” (EQ 108, #4)

If you think about it, a couple of degrees in front of the vertical—that is, 2 degrees in front of the vertical—is nearly a vertical position, with only a small allowance for staying with the forward motion of the horse.  If you were riding at the walk with your upper body 2 degrees in front of the vertical, then picked up the canter and tried to maintain this same inclination with your seat out of the saddle, you’d be standing erect in your stirrups—that is, until you lost your balance and fell backward into the saddle.  It must be concluded, then, that the rider’s position at the walk, sitting trot, and canter are exactly the same, with the rider sitting at the canter.

There are benefits to remaining seated at the canter:

• You can feel the placement of the horse’s feet, so it’s easier to pick up the correct lead, to notice if the horse is about to strike out on the incorrect one at the canter depart, or to feel that the horse is unbalanced and about to switch leads.
• You can use your weight in a subtle way to help control the frame of the horse and the speed of the gait.  This is especially helpful during difficult equitation tests, in which a shorter, more controlled step puts the rider at a great advantage over those whose horses are travelling in a long frame.

People who keep their seat out of the saddle at the canter often don’t know how to relax into the rhythm of the horse and are “saving themselves” from a rough ride.  Work at the sitting trot without stirrups will help the rider find a place to comfortably sit.  Once the sitting trot is comfortable, the canter should be a snap!

As for two-point position, it is used to free the horse’s back for greater speed and jumping.  The greater the speed, the higher the rider’s stirrups should be.  For this reason, the dressage rider has the longest stirrup; the equitation rider on the flat has a shorter one; the equitation rider over fences has a slightly shorter one (usually one or two holes difference on the stirrup leathers); the steeplechaser has a much shorter stirrrup; and the flat-racer has the shortest stirrrup of all.  Speed, then, dictates the stirrup length.

As for jumping, the rider needs to maintain his own balance, with his weight lifted off the horse’s back and his body inclined forward to remain with the motion of the horse as it jumps.  Oddly enough, one of the major faults I see in the United States is riders sitting on course.  The weight of the seat hinders the flow of the horse’s stride and makes it difficult for the animal to jump smoothly as the rider hurls himself forward at take-off to catch up to the motion.   Once a rider picks up the canter for a class over fences, he should rise into two-point position, with his body inclined forward about 30 degrees in front of the vertical.  He should use the circle to increase the pace until the horse is on a twelve-foot stride (which is the national standard upon which courses have traditionally been based) or a longer stride if the course is set with longer than normal distances, which it often is for high-level competitions.  Being inclined forward with his seat raised above the saddle, he is poised to help the horse throughout the course by freeing its back and remaining with the animal’s motion between the fences and over them.

Nothing thrills me more than to look at a rider and see that he understands the theory of what he’s doing.  The difference between “guessing” and “knowing” is education, so give yourself the best chance of pinning well by showing the judge that you know you’re supposed to be sitting at the canter and that you know you’re supposed to be in two-point throughout a course of fences.