How do I get my horse to accept my leg?

One of my students recently sent me this question:

Gatsby has been objecting to my leg when I move it back. He either shoots forward, leaps to the side, or gets sticky and just goes up and down. How do I get him to accept the leg? I don't want him to ignore it, just tone down the reaction a bit and not get worried about it.

Great question.

One of the happy dilemmas riders find themselves in as they advance is having horses with greater sensitivity and sometimes more power and eagerness than they can control. These hot horses tantalize us with their talent, but often frustrate our efforts to control and direct their energies. This isn't a willful disobedience by the horse. These horses need patient, knowledgeable trainers in order to learn how to work with their riders and allow their riders to balance their bodies and control their expression. Even brilliant horses, or I should say, especially brilliant horses, must learn to work normally in order to make it safe for them to express their wonderful talents. We have to help the horse balance the power of the forehand and the hindquarters in order to prevent the horse from becoming disconnected in the middle of his back.

As you know, in order to do this you need your legs. Your legs are an important component of balancing your horse at all stages of his education. As his rider, you are constantly refining the recipe for his balance by adding or subtracting energy and shaping it with your body. Your legs are a critical component of getting the energy and shape right, so it isn't an option to decide that your horse just can't tolerate your legs. However, there are ways to school your horse to the leg that will help him accept the leg and discover a better partnership in your guidance.

I believe that teaching horses to warm up is the most critical component of a performance horse's education. It doesn't matter how talented a horse is if he is always working with tension. We see a lot of horses even at the highest levels whose performance is marred by tension. The ideal dressage horse stays relaxed even as he is collected to the highest degree. He remains elastic, swinging and balanced and is beautiful to watch. This relaxation is also at the core of his soundness and mental well being throughout his life. Relaxation and elasticity should be established every day in the warm up. The routine for doing this may vary from one horse to another and take months to develop, but it should be established as the basic training for every horse.

With a horse like Gatsby who is over-reacting to the leg, this training may need to start on the ground. It's true you don't want to desensitize him to your leg to the point that he ignores it. But he may need help on the ground to accept and understand the pressure of your leg when you are riding him. When you saddle him, prepare him first with some ground work. Try adding a polo wrap around his belly that sits right behind your saddle, tucking under the panels and falling in the vicinity of where your leg hangs. Tie it loosely, but not so loosely that it flops around. It should give him the most gentle touch all along his rib cage and under his belly. Try to find a pressure he doesn't object to when you lead him forward.

Outfit him in head gear you like for ground work. We want to practice some basic bending on circles of about ten meters at the walk, just leading him from the left on the left circle and from the right on the right circle. Make sure he relaxes and accepts the belly band. Using a piaffe or lunge whip, or a flag if you prefer, have him step around you on the circle but stay close enough to touch him. Keep focusing on having him release and stretch his neck forward and down on the circle line. Watch for the swing of his barrel to grow and his inside hind leg to step under more as he stretches forward -downward and relaxes. When he relaxes and begins to swing, lay your hand on his side in the vicinity where your leg falls when you sit in the saddle. Just let your hand swing with his barrel. Do this in both directions, adding in a little more push with your hand as his inside hind leg comes off the ground and reaches under his body. This will also be at the moment when his barrel is swinging away from you anyway. You want to feel the timing as if you were teaching him leg yield from the ground. The hind leg should swing more under his center of gravity as a result of your swinging pressure. 

When he is comfortable with this exercise, try it from the saddle. Remove the polo wrap before you mount. Begin your warm up walking on circle lines. Think of your legs as lying lightly around your horse like a soft polo wrap. Your seat, from ankle to ankle, should be shaped more like an upside down "U" than a "V." Think about the way his back feels and the way his rib cage swings from side to side as he walks. Allow your legs to gently follow his motion, swinging your lower legs from side to side with his barrel. Keep riding your circle line and begin to gently add in a tiny bit more energy with your inside calf as his barrel swings away from your leg, just as you did with your hand on the ground. Your outside leg should soften, or open away ever so slightly in order not to block the swing of his barrel. But don't let it disconnect from his side--just allow. Try to find a soft, elastic connection on your outside rein that in essence "catches" the little pulse of energy from your inside leg.

If he stiffens or wants to run, keep your circle line and try to connect him into the outside rein as you flex him to the inside and continue following his movement with your seat and legs. Try to make even pressure all the way up and down your leg, through your whole seat. Keep working to relax him through the bending and by guiding his inside hind leg deeper under his body. Encourage him to stretch forward and down and lift his back, but don't throw him away. Focus on having him fill up the outside rein, stretch and swing. It's ok during this exercise, during the warm up, if he pops his shoulder out a bit. You can fix that later. What you need is to establish relaxation and understanding that your leg is a friendly tool that helps him find balance and a more comfortable posture.

Work in both directions at the walk until you feel the relaxation really take root in his mind and body. Then try it at the trot. In the trot, focus on being able to keep him connected between your inside leg and outside rein on your circle line, and that he accepts the influence of your legs. I've had horses that took several sessions at the walk before they began to breathe normally and swing, so don't worry if this takes a while. I find that this work is actually a lot of fun when the horse begins to understand that his body moves in relation to your leg. It's the beginning of the dance. As his understanding improves, you can begin to practice turn on the forehand, asking him to step his inside hind leg in time with your pulsing inside leg and using your outside rein to stop his shoulder so the hind legs can step around the forehand.

Of course, if you find that he is not becoming more relaxed with these sessions, you will need to check that he doesn't have a pain issue--saddle, ulcer, sore ribs from being kicked! You know the drill.... Good luck and have fun!