What this means for us as riders is that the legs become quiet and are used primarily as a balance point, but please don’t misunderstand and think I mean balance through squeezing or holding on with the legs. There is a large issue of overusing the legs as it compromises your balance, creates tension upwards into your seat, can radiate into your hands and promote pulling on the reins not to mention add confusion and complication to your communication with the horse. The less that we have to use in order to let the horse know what we want, the better.

Contact on the reins can only be appropriate if the horse is pushing/propelling himself forward from the hind legs calmly, while also maintaining the proper bend. Without these our ability to communicate through the reins is compromised at best, though often worse – disconnected.

The magic happens quite brilliantly however when these elements are all in concert with one another, as you can orchestrate collection in the horse, gait transitions and spectacular lateral work that is forward, light and graceful primarily through the reins. The legs working secondary to the hand in providing support. On the other hand, to rely upon the legs primarily the hands are left to working in excess to either contain the anxious energy created by the overuse of the legs and force position to create second rate lateral work and dull transitions.

Why bend is so important is because it is the basis of posture, and posture is how you direct the horse’s movements. Posture is also how you affect the horse’s speed and balance. So you can see they all go hand in hand. Bend comes before posture, because if you lose the bend or are obtaining it through force (and with force comes resistance on the part of the horse) and then attempt to create the posture to then direct the horse, it will not work as efficiently or may not work at all.

There are particular instances when straightening, and thus losing the bend, is appropriate. In between lead changes for example. If the horse has changed the bend away from you, he places you at a distinct disadvantage and in danger if you are on the ground. From the saddle you lose your ability to influence him with the reins in a predictable manner. It becomes more clear why the bend is so important as we look at the dangers.

Bend controls the direction the horse travels in, affects your ability to posture the horse which controls the speed that the horse moves forward, sideways or backwards, and the horse’s balance.

Bend cannot be forced or coerced from the horse, but rather finessed. It takes tact, patience, timing and rhythm to develop and maintain the bend. It is the basic of rein aids and can be trained before the horse is ever ridden.