What's Inside

Yesterday my instructor chased me around the arena shouting “more leg, more leg,” and finally threw a water bottle at my horse’s butt. But the harder I squeezed, the slower he went until we finally meandered to the center of the arena. That’s when I burst into tears and my instructor headed to get a lunge whip. Why is it every time I try to add lots of leg to go faster, the opposite happens?

- All Whipped Up in San Antonio

Dear Whipped,

Riding is an art, and like art there are the Rembrandts and there are the stick figure artists. Unfortunately, not all Rembrandts are great at breaking down their master strokes into language we stick figure artists can decipher.

“More Leg” is an anthem we’ve all heard. I think my own trainer could pipe it through the speakers in our arena and take the afternoon off. But many students would end up just like you, meandering into the center, in tears, atop a slumbering steed.

For us lower level riders “More Leg” rarely means take what leg we’re using and press harder. That almost always backfires. We hear “More Leg” and we huff and we puff, we squeeze, brace, grip with our knees, stiffen and lose leg position, all the while killing what little forward motion we had. Ultimately our horses tune us out. Or buck us off. Depends on the horse.

What your instructor really means by “More Leg” is effective leg. The best way for us lower-level riders to get “More Leg” is to release what leg we have – after all, it’s not working – and make a few strong taps over a few strides. (I’m going to forego detailing the dressage whip aid here because it’s one less thing to think about – but if you’re somewhat handy with it, use it to back up your taps. Or beat your instructor. Whatever…)

Even as a novice rider I find this easiest to sort out in sitting trot. If sitting’s not your bag, do it posting, but avoid dropping hard onto your mount’s back which defeats the purpose. If you find you’re dropping to make the taps happen (a common beginner dilemma) then practice timing your tap at the start of the up post. It’s more advanced than tapping as you sit the down post, but your ultimate reward will be a solid lower leg that you can actually use.

Try two or three strong taps over two or three strides -- and I mean take your leg off and pop it back on. This gets the point across to your horse and shows you what a few good taps can do.

Most importantly, be ready for the forward motion by pushing your hands forward a bit and keeping your shoulders just a smidge in front of your hips to prevent falling back and blowing the whole thing.

Yes, I know -- easy to type, hard to do. So don’t be frustrated if you blow it because you probably will at first. Be happy if you feel the forward motion even for a stride or two because that means you solved dilemma #1. Now keep at it and work on dilemma #2 -- staying with your horse’s motion after you’ve created it.

Keep on Kickin’! The Nervous Novice

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