I’m a fan of the saying, “Your horse is doing his best with the information you provided.” It directs us to look at the signals we’re sending through our riding aids and to see whether we are being clear.
Often when we mean to ask for something from our horse and receive either no response or a “wrong” response, we assume our horse is being disobedient. We should instead investigate if our aids can be more precise.
Leg Riding Aids
Because Your leg is the basis of your position and therefore where many of your key riding aids come from, we’ll start there. The leg can be used in three ways: for supporting, bracing or displacing.
It is usually the supporting leg that you use, with the toe under the knee and the heel under the hip. It’s called the supporting leg because it’s supporting whatever is happening in the moment through pressure or lack thereof.
A riding aid is to apply pressure with both legs. This will tell your horse…
