If you’ve been following this page for a while, you’ll know that I’m very invested in developing an understanding of how we can ride our horses in a way that makes them strong, supple and sets them up for many healthy years. Understanding how to do this is so important for anyone involved with horses. Because unfortunately, poor riding techniques can really wreak havoc on a horse’s joints, muscles, ligaments and fascia, creating the perfect set up for long term issues.
On the other hand, riding in a way to support your horse’s muscles and joint alignment is pure magic, allowing them to build strong bodies that will support them for many years, and allowing us to really tap into their power and movement. When done well, a horse that engages should feel like you’ve suddenly hit 6th gear. It’s a powerful movement, and often hard to sit properly and not interfere with. It’s not speed. It’s power.
There are several points that we could look into but today I want to talk about the reins and how we are taught to use them, as well as the effect these “hand actions” are supposed to have on the horse’s body. I was told, and I know many others were too, that the reins are for steering, stopping, and putting our horse “on the bit,” shaping their head and neck into the desired frame to help them “work their back muscles.” The problem with this is that, unfortunately, holding a neck in flexion and using the back are 2 separate things, meaning your horse can have their neck in flexion, all round and pretty, with an extremely hollow back. And this is actually what tends to happen, the neck is held in flexion and the back therefore is forced in extension, even if you try to ask your horse to engage the back legs. Their bodies just don’t work like that.
And there’s a question that I started to ask myself a few years ago, thanks to an instructor. Because if our horses are round in their necks, and we are taught that this is self carriage, then how come we need the reins to hold them there? How can this be called self carriage when the horse isn’t carrying himself, but I am? Because let’s be honest there for a second. Even if your contact feels light, what would happen if we took the reins away? Where would the horse’s head go? And the answer, most of the time, is up. The horse’s head would come back up. Because this isn’t self carriage.
This question was posed to me by an instructor a few years ago, and it struck a chord. If we were to cut the reins as I’m riding, where would the head go? When we use reins to force a shape or to dictate movement, we aren’t necessarily supporting the horse’s natural balance. Instead, we might be interfering with it, restricting their ability to carry themselves correctly, to use their muscles properly, to lengthen their spines and access their deep spinal muscles as they practice balance.
The effects of this approach are visible everywhere: horses with tense, overdeveloped under-neck muscles, strained backs, sore hocks, and compromised SI joints. And of course there are other reasons for those symptoms. But a horse that is trained against its own biomechanics will struggle to get better, where a horse trained in a way that encourages and support the natural movement of the joints, will find progress a lot easier.
We think we’re creating lightness and engagement, but in reality, we might just be trapping them in a frame they are longing to break free from. But if we aren’t using the reins to direct and control our horses, then, how do we ride? Well, with our bodies: our seat, our legs, our balance. I know some people who were taught like that from the get go, and I know many who, like me, have had to unlearn and relearn how to ride. Whichever side you’re on, this is a much better way to ride. Because as it turns out, steering and stopping was always supposed to be done with our seat, just the same as putting our horse on the bit, or more precisely to help a horse to engage the back muscles and the muscles that support the spine. And this question, the question of where would the head go if I cut the reins right now, is one that I use regularly, especially when I see people who ride for a living. Because you will know if they are truly riding their horse well or if they’re just very good at convincing horses to comply.
If you’ve been taught the way I was, this shift in perspective is definitely not an easy one. It challenges so much of what we’ve been taught, and it challenges so much of who we are as riders. And it’s very much the tip of the iceberg when it comes to riding our horses in a way that is truly helpful to them. But understanding where we were taught wrong, accepting that and looking for better solutions and techniques is a part of being a horse person. Because chances are, even if you were not taught to ride with your hands, you may have been taught other misconceptions about horses. And it’s our responsibility as horse people to question everything, for the happiness of the horses.