Hello Ange

This confuses me a little as well. My Aunty Hellen taught me to ride and she was a very strict english rider. I remember being taught to use the inside leg during a turn and the reason was to encourage the horse to bend and turn.

I do barrel racing now, and while many of the barrel racers I know run their horses past the barrel and do a bit of a roll back to come around it, I encourage my horse to keep his shoulder up and back end moving forward and to bend around the barrel using my inside leg pressure to facilitate this. This was taught to me by a good friend of mine who has been a National Barrel Racing Champion here in Australia.

So, now you know that there at least three other people in the world who use their inside legs to facilitate turning just like you :-)

I have found that I can move my horse's front end to the left when I place pressure on the right side and leave my left leg open (and vice verser) - but this is a different type of turn. The horse's body is more straight and I think that that kind of turn can be refined into a spin - not positive about that though.

The other thing I have found is that if I want a nice round circle that is big - I put more pressure on with my inside leg to push him out and around. If I want the nice round circle smaller, I still have pressure there to bend his body, just not as much.

Any comments on this topic will help me out as well because I am also not sure if I am doing the right thing or not.

Kind regards,

Gen

Thanks Gen! It is good to know I'm not the only one doing it! :-) Someone tried to teach me about 'opening the gate' and 'closing the gate' with your legs (metaphorically speaking), and I understand that theory when asking your horse to move sideways, but I still want to use my inside leg on the girth to ask a horse to bend around it... I too use my inside leg for impulsion when riding in a circle. When asking for a canter though, I use my outside leg slightly back from the girth, but once cantering, I'm pretty sure I still use my inside leg for impulsion.

Hi again Ange

Yes, I have heard of opeing and closing the gate too. There are three different spots that you can apply pressure with your spur on the horse's side to encourage movement. One at the girth (moving the shoulders), one is back a little further on the side (moving the horse sideways) and the other is further back again to move the hind quarters.

And I do the same as you when asking for the canter.

Facinating really :-)

In English riding the inner leg is a basic aid.
It is used to encourage the horse to engage its inner hind leg and put it deeper under himself. The pressure should also encourage the horse to contract its abdominal muscles in the inner side (the spinal cord is quite stiff, so there isn't much bending going on there) which causes the horse to move on a curved track.
BUT you need to keep in mind that turning is not done with the inner leg alone. You need to use your outer leg to keep the horse moving forward with its outer hind on the same track as the outer foreleg. The outer hand must support the shoulder so the horse stretches it outer abdominal muscles but doesn't "fall out" in front or overbend its neck. The inner rein should ask for a bend at the poll in accordance with the size of turn you want to make.
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You can control your horse's shoulders by pressing your knee/upper leg aid against the saddle when the same side fore leg is in the air. (Or else you can't influence the movement.)

I also use my inside leg to facilitate turning. I was taught as a child to do this and it always seemed natural to me. I have people tell me this is incorrect but it works for me. When asked what is correct, I always say whatever works best for you and your horse.

Thanks Kicki for your advice... Wow, what a lot to think about! And thank you too "dawnmechelle2", I agree with you. I guess whatever works for my horse and I is right for us! I don't ride in any competitions, so it's not like I have to make sure I am doing the right thing for the judges! :-)