At this level, it’s imperative to be really conscious of your body dynamics.With two short reins and more intricate manoeuvres, your accuracy and offer will be more andmore important.

One of the necessary elements in achieving success with horses at this level is how much‘try’ we have. To come this far in the programme proves just how much you have, which is toyour credit. Be very aware however, that sometimes when we try, it’s very easy to almost trytoo hard. When we try too hard, we tend to start to make.

Make can be a very small thing, as we discussed in a previous article. It might just mean weforgot to offer, maybe we went straight to phase 2 and forgot phase 1. Maybe we pushed alittle too hard when we could have emphasised the offer instead.

In contact riding, this predisposition to make or push rather than offer can cause a coupleof things to happen.

One; a loss of rapport. We know that when we act in a predatory way we cause ourhorses to go into opposition reflex. In Level 3 this probably won’t be anything dramaticlike your horse rearing or pulling back, it’ll probably just be a little resistance, orheaviness by them automatically leaning against our applied pressure.

Two; loss of flexion. For example, let’s say you want to ask your horse for atransition to canter. Your horse is soft and flexed in the direction you are going. Now, youforget to offer an open door and instead put your leg on to push your horse up into thecanter. Your horse feels the pressure of your leg and changes flex to the outside, you getthe lead but you have lost your pattern and softness as well as the lateral and verticalflex!

When riding sideways or laterally, remember to turn your toe out. As discussedin Level 2, this will enable you to use your whole leg more effectively and lightly as yourmuscles contract through your phases. Instead of pushing harder with your leg - putting youout of position - you can use all of your muscles to communicate more subtly and clearly toyour horse.

Remember the offer, keep your focus up and out, make sure you offer an open door, be softand obvious and reward the slightest try.

Read more Road To Horsemanshiparticles.

Visit Quantum Savvy

Follow us on Facebook.

Comment on this article using the Comment Function below. Discuss this article with otherusers on the Horse Forums.