It’s not common knowledge like you think it should be.
Any trainer worth their salt should tell you that the less you “pull” on a horse the better.
Constantly pulling on a horse is like bein’ nagged by someone.
Just because a horse is a horse doesn’t mean we can nag on him.
They resent it just like we do.
But one of the things I wanted to point out is nagging a horse while riding him.
How does that happen?
It happens from unskilled hands.
What I mean is the rider’s hands are not still and balanced.
If your hands are still when you ride, you’re not pulling on the reins which pull on the horse’s mouth.
Pulling on the horse’s mouth again and again is nagging him.
He doesn’t like it and eventually he won’t want to put up with it.
So the trick is to develop the feel.
Develop hands that are calm, still, and balanced.
Now you may think your hands are good and still when you ride…and they may be.
I don’t know what your riding level is.
But there’s a way to check your hands to see just how still they “really” are.
Believe it or not, you can use a spoon and an egg.
Get in the saddle and have your horse walk around.
You’ll find out just how still your hands “really” are whether or not that egg falls out of the spoon.
Truth be told…the egg WILL fall out because it is very difficult to do.
But you’ll find you can increase the length of time before the egg falls off the spoon.
That’s telling you you’re getting steadier hands.
What it does more than anything is get you aware of your hands.
This is one of the nifty little tricks Diana Quintana teaches her students.
She also shows it (and several others) in her horse training video.
If you want to read about it, click on the following:
http://horsetrainingresources.com/dvd-quitana-riding.html
Just remember.
The less you pull on your horse, the happier he’ll be.
He won’t feel nagged.
And when he doesn’t feel nagged, he’ll be happier and much more willing to do what you ask.
Check out one of our professional horse training videos:
http://horsetrainingresources.com/dvd-quitana-riding.html
Make sense?
Check out reining horse training, too!
That’s it for today. Stay safe around your horses.
Charlie
P.S. Diana shows a LOT of valuable tips in her riding video and is an excellent and experienced instructor. And, she has the ribbons and trophy’s to prove she knows what she’s doing!
