Riding – Prevention of Pulling on the Horse’s Mouth
In schooling horses, pulling on their mouth is unnecessary and causes them anxiety and eventually physical damage. The discomfort and stress to the rider is also enormous, unnecessary, but well deserved. The rider should hold the reins but not his horse. Nature made the horse to balance perfectly on his four legs. The rider’s duties do not include lending the horse a “fifth leg,” the reins, to lean on. In fact, classical horsemanship cherishes the ideal of a horse in self-carriage. While that concept includes several ideas, depending on the horse’s gymnastic development, it always includes the notion of a horse moving free from the rider’s encumbrances on the reins. In fact, the reins may do a number of things but not these three: they should not inhibit the horse’s liberty to use his limbs freely; they should not attempt to shape the horse’s neck and posture; and they should not steer separately.
The reins in the rider’s hands are tools and, as with all tools, can be put to good or bad use. Pulling on the reins, even in transitions, is a misuse of the reins. It is possible to think of dressage as desiring the elimination of pulling hands and any painful contact in general. Thus, strong contact through the reins, whether constant or occasional, is counterproductive to the goals of dressage.
by andy Posted in Articles | 1 Comment »