Horse & Rider USA – September 2019

Fall 2019 / 105

parallel to the fence or barrier, with

two to three feet between you and it.

Place your outside leg in position one

while you simultaneously lift on your

direct rein. The goal is for your horse to

complete a 180-degree turn toward the

barrier or fence. It doesn’t have to be a

perfect rollback; he just needs to move

off of your leg, changing direction.

As he commits to the turn, respond-

ing to your leg and rein pressure, remove

your foot from position one. This release

rewards him for moving away from

the pressure. Continue to practice this

exercise to the left and the right until

your horse becomes responsive to the

combined leg and rein pressure.

He should understand that when you

place your leg in position one, he should

prepare to turn away from it. This drill

teaches him to move his shoulders free-

ly away from your legs as he continues

to follow his nose and the direct-rein

cue. After he’s mastered this drill, pro-

gress to a more challenging exercise.

EXERCISE 3: BACK IT UP

Now that your horse understands

leg pressure, you’ll begin to actively

incorporate the indirect rein, or neck

rein. This exercise is similar to Exercise

2, except this time, you’ll back up before

the direction change. Prepare to back

your horse, this time away from the

fence or barrier.

As you back him up, apply leg

pressure in position one with the leg

opposite the direction you want to turn.

Again, if you want to turn right, you’ll

apply pressure with your left leg. At the

same time, use your direct (right) rein to

turn your horse’s nose, but now actively

support the cue with your indirect (left)

rein, placed at the middle of your horse’s

neck. Ask for a 180-degree turn or, at

least, a significant change in direction.

The leg pressure and direct-rein cue

are the same as in Exercises 1 and 2, so

they will feel familiar to your horse. In

this exercise, though, you reinforce the

cue with the indirect rein, letting him

feel a clear sensation of the neck rein.

Practice this in both directions until

your horse begins to anticipate the turn.

While ordinarily you try to avoid antic-

ipation, in this case, you use it to your

advantage. Anticipation is an indication

that he’s learning. Framed another way,

if your horse moves at the first sign of

leg and rein pressure, he’s responsive.

EXERCISE 4: WALK ABOUT

This exercise involves forward move-

ment while continuing to reinforce

the indirect rein cue. First, bridge your

reins in one hand, in front of your sad-

dle horn. This crosses the reins over the

top of one another, such that one rein

comes out next to your index finger and

the other next to your little finger. If

you’re riding with a single rein, bridge

them the same way, ensuring that both

sides of the reins are even and that

they’re short enough that you make

contact with your horse’s mouth when

you tip your hand.

For this drill, it’s easiest to use the

hand that’s on the same side as the

direction you’re turning. For example,

Hold your hands like this to prepare to apply

both direct and indirect rein pressure when

you want to ask your horse to begin to turn

after a few steps of backing up.

Reinforce the neck rein by bridging

your reins in one hand and asking your

horse to make small circles, with your

direct rein tipped to the inside and the

indirect rein laid against his neck.

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