After all the preparation and discussion we’ve done to this point, it’s nowtime to explore the fascinating subject of Natural Flexion.

Now, as we prepare to trade a long flex for a short flex, pick up a close contact with ourhorse and begin to look at more accurate and refined manoeuvres, it’s important to ensurethat our ingredients of respect and impulsion are in place.

As we will discuss in coming articles, successful Contact Riding depends largely on how wellprepared we are as a partnership. With your reins very short, your horse engaged and yourcommunications small and precise, every slight movement that your hands and seat make willbe felt immediately by your horse through the bit. It’s important now, that you have anindependent seat and that you are not bouncing around on your horse’s back and jagging onhis mouth. Because of the hinges and phases applied through your reins, rein leathers andbit, every tiny movement your hands make on the reins, travels down to your horse throughthe bit to his mouth, where every thing is magnified by its sensitivity.

It’s also very important that you no longer need the reins for either balance or brakes;that you can yield you horse well in all six directions, preferably in all gaits; you arestarting to be able to feel the feet and what they are doing beneath you; that you both havegood impulsion and that your sideways, backwards, hindquarter yields and lateral flexion areall becoming excellent. Your bareback riding and Stick riding from earlier on will havegreatly helped in these areas.

If you feel as though you are still not quite in time with each other, take the opportunitynow to go back and do some more passenger lessons. Try loosening up all of your body partsat the walk, the trot and the canter. Make sure that you can feel the rhythm of the horse ateach of these gaits. If you are going to be influencing the feet through almostimperceptible rein positions in soft feel, it’s important that you are confident in feelingwhat the feet are doing. All of these ingredients will help make your Contact Riding so mucheasier and more enjoyable.

In this point in the programme we will have a closer look at footfalls andisolating the feet, soft and subtle rein positions, weight shifts at the halt, rocking yourhorse, regulations of gait and beginning lateral movements ... all with soft feel. We willalso discover how Soft Feel and vertical flexion can be obtained naturally and easily ... infact, your horse will offer it to you! Look out for the article entitled Natural Flexion.

To help your horse stay interested and confident during these formative Contact Ridingstages, we have added in purposeful tasks to do whilst in soft feel. In the last lesson welooked at dragging things and giving your horse a job to do. This helped him to use hisstrength and power in a positive way, as well as being fun. You might also try kickingaround a beach ball while riding or herding chickens; anything that will be a positiveexperience for your horse.

We hope that you enjoy this part of the programme and the closer connection it will createwith your horse. Whatever your sport or equestrian pursuit, a closer communication willafford more accuracy, precision, greater degree of finesse and refinement and ultimatelymore fluency with your horsemanship skills.

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