My sister-in-law is right now in one of Harry's clinics in Copperopolis and loving it. She's teaching me things she has learned while she and I are on the trail. I am loving these posts. Thank you.
Hello, I have taken the liberty of using this photo in a brief article about how Harry handles rope reins. Here it is: How Harry Whitney Handles Rope Reins
At the Bible Study Horsemanship Camp I attended last month, Harry Whitney gave a quit detailed explanation of how he handles rope reins.
In this illustration, Harry has asked the horse to go left. You can see the way he has moved his reins to the left and, it looks to me that he has opened his left leg a bit. Notice the right leg, no pressure. In fact, he is not putting any pressure on the horse at all. He is just asking. He always asks first but often his ask is so subtle, an observer doesn't even see it. In this case the horse is responding to the ask, but suppose the horse ignored the request. If I were the rider I would probably pull back with my left hand and put right leg on the horse, not Harry, however.
If Harry is working with the reins, he would want apply pressure only with the reins. A common reaction is to pull back on the left rein, which inevitably twists the body to the left. Not only is the twist itself a big fat cue to the horse as to what is wanted, it will also, almost automatically, put right leg on the horse. How is the poor horse supposed factor all this out and know it was the reins he was supposed to be paying attention to?
What Harry would do is leave his left hand in place and move his right hand out pulling the reins through his left hand. You will notice he is prepared to do this and has all the excess slack taken out of the reins and has the reins looped in his right hand. If he wanted the horse go the right, he would reverse the whole process. If he wanted to put back pressure on both sides he would spread both his arms.
The bottom line of Harry's advice (and reining technique) is to be sparing (light) with your cues when asking a horse to execute a maneuver
My sister-in-law is right now in one of Harry's clinics in Copperopolis and loving it. She's teaching me things she has learned while she and I are on the trail. I am loving these posts.
ReplyDeleteThank you.
Patricia,
ReplyDeleteThank you for the comment! You can also find daily quotes from Harry on the newsletter's Facebook at:
www.facebook.com/betweenthereins
Thanks for sharing,
Sarah O'Brien
Editor
Hello, I have taken the liberty of using this photo in a brief article about how Harry handles rope reins. Here it is:
ReplyDeleteHow Harry Whitney Handles Rope Reins
At the Bible Study Horsemanship Camp I attended last month, Harry Whitney gave a quit detailed explanation of how he handles rope reins.
In this illustration, Harry has asked the horse to go left. You can see the way he has moved his reins to the left and, it looks to me that he has opened his left leg a bit. Notice the right leg, no pressure. In fact, he is not putting any pressure on the horse at all. He is just asking. He always asks first but often his ask is so subtle, an observer doesn't even see it. In this case the horse is responding to the ask, but suppose the horse ignored the request. If I were the rider I would probably pull back with my left hand and put right leg on the horse, not Harry, however.
If Harry is working with the reins, he would want apply pressure only with the reins. A common reaction is to pull back on the left rein, which inevitably twists the body to the left. Not only is the twist itself a big fat cue to the horse as to what is wanted, it will also, almost automatically, put right leg on the horse. How is the poor horse supposed factor all this out and know it was the reins he was supposed to be paying attention to?
What Harry would do is leave his left hand in place and move his right hand out pulling the reins through his left hand. You will notice he is prepared to do this and has all the excess slack taken out of the reins and has the reins looped in his right hand. If he wanted the horse go the right, he would reverse the whole process. If he wanted to put back pressure on both sides he would spread both his arms.
The bottom line of Harry's advice (and reining technique) is to be sparing (light) with your cues when asking a horse to execute a maneuver