Someone just told me that if you were to go left, use the left open rein and hold your left leg on the girth, with your right leg behind the girth to keep the horse from swining its hindquarters out.
One of my questions is, wouldn't you put your right (outside leg) on the girth, to get the horses body to turn, and put the inside leg behind the girth, to keep the hindquarters from actually swinging in? That's what I've been doing.
2. How do you ask for an extended trot?
3. Difference between extended,lengthened,and faster?
I appreciate any answers at all, even if you only can answer one. So if you could take the time that'd be fantastic.
Update:thanks. That's what I was wondering,if the still go off outside leg like a western horse would.
Going around a corner but trying to keep them along the rail. Someone said put your outside on the girth and your inside behind so their butt stays on the rail too. Then someone else said put your inside leg on the girl to keep the horse on the rail and put your outside behind to keep the butt from swinging outwards.
I think the legs for doing basic turns are basically like western. Especially how you described it. All horses move away from pressure right?
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What exactly are you asking the horse to do in your first question? I'm not sure I really understand that one.
Extended trots are easy if your horse knows how to do them, if they don't then you do the same thing, but it will take longer for your horse to understand what you're asking of them. To ask your horse, you squeeze with your legs as you sit, and hold your horse in it's frame, as it will probably want to put it's head up. With my horse, I have to post a little bit more forward while we're in the entended trot, because it's telling him to make his trot bigger, not necessarily faster. You pretty much just have to ask your horse to trot bigger, just the same way you ask them to trot, look forward, and kind of hold them back. When you try it out, it seems a little less complicated than it sounds. I guess I'm just not very good at explaining it, sorry. lol.
The last question, as far as I know, lengthened and extended are the same thing... Well, you extend the trot (or whatever gait, it doesn't matter) or you lengthen it. And faster is just faster. When you extend or lengthen you don't necessarily want your horse to go faster, you just want it's gait to be bigger.
I hope I helped you a little. I think I ramble a little too much, but I just want to make sure I can get something helpfull across. :D
EDIT: Turning off of the rail, or turning through the corner?
These are pretty much the same aid, just more pressure if you're turning off of the rail. I hold the inside rein, and push with my outside leg. I really don't do much with my body, I look where I want to go, and use slight pressure with my legs and hands, and my horse (usually) goes where I want him.
EDIT: All the horses I've ever ridden move away from pressure, but sometimes when you work with horses in-hand, they move into pressure. lol.
what exactly are you doing?
your left rein will open the door for the shoulders to come through. your left leg at the girth will keep the shoulders from falling to the inside, and your right leg behind the girth will keep the inside leg underneath the horse.
there are different types of moving away from pressure. theres a direct pressure to a body part that will make that body part move, and there is indirect pressure to a body part that will make a different body part move.
example direct pressure:
pulling on the left side of the halter puts pressure on the right side of the face, thus the horse moves its head away from the pressure to the left.
example indirect pressure:
pressure on the outside rein so that the horse's head is tipped to the outside puts anatomical and physical pressure on the inside shoulder, causing it to drop to the inside.
For the first question, all of those sound wrong. Maybe I am just not understanding. For example. when you are going into a corner of the ring and you are tracking right, then you would keep your right rein taught so that the horses head stays bent in and you can bend around the corner with your inside leg, so right, on tight. That'll push him into the corner. The outside leg with the inside rein is used to ask for things like a right lead canter and a flying lead change.
Edit: The reason why you want to use your inside leg when turning is to make him bend around your leg almost. Stay round.
And when you are doing circles, same thing, but keep your outside rein tight so that you can keep the circles round and you can especially keep it round around the last bit of circles. Which is always the hardest. (: