Neck reining and dressage

Of all the things I learned from Philippe Karl in his book, "Twisted Truths of Modern Dressage," the biggest, brightest lightbulb to pop over my head happened when I read his section on using the hand to turn the horse.

Confession time:

The last huntseat trainer I lesson-ed with used to say, "turn the horse with the outside rein." Unfortunately she never elaborated on that statement and I couldn't make heads or tails of it. How exactly was I supposed to make the horse turn left with the right rein? If I pull on the right rein the horse turns right. Since I couldn't get that statement to compute I ignored it.

I also have to admit that I've never understood the statement, "ride the horse from the inside leg to the outside rein." What the heck does that mean? If you Google that phrase something like this will pop up: you create impulsion from the inside leg and then capture it with the outside rein like a handbrake. Huh? If I did that my horse would just turn to the outside! Sorry, but that doesn't make any sense.

Then I read Karl's section on using the hand and it was like the heavens opened up above me, the birds sang, the sun shone, and everything MADE SENSE.

As Karl quoted La Gueriniere:

"We can also note that when we use the outside rein by moving the hand towards the inside, this action causes the outside shoulder to move inwards and makes the outside leg move over the inside one: and when we use the inside rein, moving the hand towards the outside, this movement widens the inside shoulder, in other words it makes the inside leg move over the outside one. We can see, that through these different inside and outside rein actions, that it is what we do with our hands that controls the horse's forehand."

He's talking about neck reining

Cue me having a face/palm moment.

So "turn the horse with your outside rein" means use a neck rein to turn the shoulders. "Inside leg to outside rein" means asking for the bend with your inside leg and then turning the horse using a neck rein. Because your hands move the horse's shoulders- NOT your legs!

(In case you don't know about this: You ask for a bend with the inside leg by gently rubbing it just behind the girth. The horse will automatically bend around your leg- even Gwen does this.)

Of course all you Western riders already knew this, and are probably thinking that I'm about as thick as a brick right now. But in my defense, I haven't heard any English instructor ever utter the words "neck rein." If she'd said, "use the outside rein to turn the horse," heard me say "huh," and followed up with "press the rein against the horse's shoulder like a neck rein and use that to turn" I would have understood immediately. But I doubt that has ever crossed her mind.

(What you should be accusing me of is being totally dense about the concept of the indirect rein. For the record indirect rein = neck rein, they are the same thing. But "neck rein" just makes so much more sense, am I right?)

As BrownEyed Cowgirl commented on my "cession de machoire" post, barrel horses are a lot like dressage horses. Heck yeah they are! All flatwork is dressage, no matter what tack the horse is wearing. But us "snooty" English riders often fail to give Western riders the kudos they deserve and thus try to distance ourselves from our Western cohorts. (FYI- Karl gave you props: "In terms of changing direction, Western riding is much closer than official dressage to La Gueriniere's teachings.")

Have you ever heard that the mark of a really well trained dressage horse is that they can be ridden on the curb only, with a loose rein? A finished Western bridle horse is ridden exactly the same way. Because they are ridden using the neck rein.

Eitan Beth-Halachmy on a gorgeous morgan

I think the master of Cowboy Dressage, Eitan Beth Halachmy, explains it better than I can:

"Since Neck Reining is a term long time associated with Western Riding I would like to expand a bit on it. Neck Reining can be a misleading term. Often people think that if you move the neck you move the horse. Have you ever been on a horse who when you pull on his face to the right, he can still go to the left or move straight ahead? Neck reining is actually a moving of the shoulders. When you lay a rein on the neck the horse moves away from the pressure with his shoulders. It is the moving of the shoulders and the cross over of the front legs that makes the turn. A horse does not always follow it’s nose, but it does follow it’s shoulders."

"What you saw on the Silver Screen in Hollywood Westerns was poor horsemanship. The rein was placed up high near the horse’s poll and he was yanked around with his head up in the air and his mouth open. The American Cowboy did ride with one hand, neck reining, allowing him to carry rope, rifle, gun or whip.  A good finished reining horse that is in the bridle is an excellent example of proper neck reining. Cowboys also wanted a horse that worked well underneath himself. This allowed the cowboy more comfort, as a round backed horse is smoother than a hollow backed horse. A round backed horse stays sounder longer as a majority of his weight is placed back over his hocks and off his front end. A round back horse in self-carriage is quicker and more maneuverable. A horse in self-carriage is pretty to look at. There was and still is a great deal of pride in horseman of yesterday and today.  It was an honor to be recognized and respected for their good horses. The California Vaquero and his bridle horse is a perfect example of pride and horsemanship. They may have never heard the word “dressage” but they were practicing it in its purest forms."

How about that? Long post short: My horses are going to be champs at neck reining!

PS- I wanted to add this picture to illustrate how a dressage master would ride one handed on the curb only:

Philippe Karl