Don’t pull on the reins, but hold against the reins

Feeling of how much the rider pull on the reins 

Lack of awareness of what the rider wants from the horse

Charlotte Lemming

Charlotte Lemming teaches and works with horses and riders through her business Working Horsemanship. Charlotte’s focus is on the good partnership between horse and rider, regardless of discipline and level. Charlotte helps owners and horses become more secure both physically and mentally. This is achieved through loving and strong leadership and well-founded work, built on understanding, empathy, clarity, consistency - for both horse and rider.

– And how to solve them

Three Typical 

Challenges

As riders, we often have many ambitious goals and want the horse to perform exercises perfectly. But often we can
actually do too much and forget to have feeling with how much we actually take in the reins.

Focus on Horsemanship 

Charlotte works with California traditions in horsemanship, taking Horseman Buck Brannaman as her master. Californian horsemanship stems from classical Spanish riding which has been adapted over time to working dressage. The goal is to set the horse to work, allowing it to feel secure and understand the task, thus relying on collaboration and understanding to ensure the horse’s mental state.

Regardless of discipline and level, collaboration is essential in riding. The magic between horse and rider occurs when the team solves the task together - as a team!

As a rider you need to have awareness of what you are asking the horse and how it responds.

Charlotte is demonstrating how to have the correct feel with the reins.

2. Feeling of how much the rider pull on the reins 

The other typical challenge is that many riders struggle with having good feeling with how much they actually take in the reins. According to Charlotte, feeling is a combination of both sensations and understanding of the horse. So, in essence, it’s about what and how you do when you take hold of your horse.

That’s why I focus a lot on teaching riders to understand the sensation of the horse, so they don’t just grab the reins, but instead reach and feel after how much they actually need to take in the reins to achieve the desired response from the horse.”

The second tip is about when you take hold of the reins and ask the horse for something, to remember to feel how much to take in the reins in order to get the response from the horse that you want, so you don’t just grab and forget to have feeling with the horse. 

To gain an understanding of the typical challenges faced by riders, we visited Charlotte Lemming. The challenges that Charlotte addresses here can be present among all types of riders and horses, and not just in a specific discipline. Therefore, these tips can be helpful to all riders, regardless of your level and the discipline you ride.

1. Lack of awareness of what the rider wants from the horse

As the first classical challenge, Charlotte says that she often sees riders riding their horses without thinking about what they really want the horse to do and without thinking about how they ask the horse to perform the exercise.

“I work a lot on getting riders to think about what they’re actually doing when they ride their horse. So, I often ask them questions like: ‘What are you thinking and what are you doing now that the horse is tensing up?’ or ‘Could you feel something happening now?’ I therefore focus a lot on getting into a mindset where you reflect on and observe what your horse is doing. It’s about becoming a leader for your horse and making sure it feels secure in the given situation.

Through working dressage, I give riders more creativity in terms of the exercises they can do with their horse to achieve their goals. I focus on ensuring that the rider is feeling what is happening with the horse during the exercise, for example when riding a short serpentine. Here I often ask: ‘Could you feel the horse becoming more straight in the shoulder now?’ It’s not just about riding a short serpentine, but also about feeling what’s happening with your horse.

As an instructor, I give riders a bird’s-eye view of what the rider and their horse are doing, and help the rider understand what they need to do to help the horse understand the task.”

Therefore, the first advice is that you need to be aware of what you really want the horse to do, so that you are always a leader for the horse. You need to feel what is happening in the horse’s body when you ask it to perform the exercise, so that you always focus on being competent. It can help to get a thorough explanation of how and why you perform the exercise, so that you and the horse understand it.

Charlotte’s student is understanding the feeling when the horse gives in from the pressure on the reins.

3. Don’t pull on the reins, but hold against the reins

The third challenge that Charlotte typically sees is that many riders have a tendency to pull on the reins when they ride. According to Charlotte, this often happens because the horse pulls on the reins, and the rider feels that they are losing control and tries to regain it by pulling on the reins. Additionally, she also sees that many riders pull on their horses when making a half-pass.

“It’s really important that we understand the difference between pulling on the reins and resisting the reins. When resisting the reins, the rider’s hand does not move. But when pulling on the horse, the horse puts weight in the bit and it disrupts the horse’s balance.

I put a lot of focus on teaching riders that when they take the reins and resist, the horse should give way. This is a fair way to work with the horse because it avoids taking the horse out of balance or making it insecure.

The length of the reins tells what framework I would like the horse to be in. The horse should come from behind, forward and up. When I take the reins, I want the horse to lift its chest, so the horse comes back on its hindquarters. That way, we get a horse that can carry itself and balance its body properly. There is nothing wrong with having contact with the bit, but I focus on it being short-term, so you don’t get in the way of your horse and disrupt the horse’s balance.”

The third advice is about the importance of not pulling on your horse. If you pull on your horse, you disrupt its balance, which creates insecurity and the horse’s weight goes to the front end. By resisting the reins and teaching the horse to give way, you work on getting the horse in self-carriage.

 

All riders face challenges in their training, and some challenges can be difficult to overcome on their own. Trainer, Charlotte Lemming, often sees three challenges that are common among many riders, perhaps also with you? 

Ulla Christensen  // Photo: Malgré Tout & Majken Soelberg

Feeling of how much the rider pull on the reins 

Lack of awareness of what the rider wants from the horse

Don’t pull on the reins, but hold against the reins

3. Don’t pull on the reins, but hold against the reins

The third challenge that Charlotte typically sees is that many riders have a tendency to pull on the reins when they ride. According to Charlotte, this often happens because the horse pulls on the reins, and the rider feels that they are losing control and tries to regain it by pulling on the reins. Additionally, she also sees that many riders pull on their horses when making a half-pass.

“It’s really important that we understand the difference between pulling on the reins and resisting the reins. When resisting the reins, the rider’s hand does not move. But when pulling on the horse, the horse puts weight in the bit and it disrupts the horse’s balance.

I put a lot of focus on teaching riders that when they take the reins and resist, the horse should give way. This is a fair way to work with the horse because it avoids taking the horse out of balance or making it insecure.

The length of the reins tells what framework I would like the horse to be in. The horse should come from behind, forward and up. When I take the reins, I want the horse to lift its chest, so the horse comes back on its hindquarters. That way, we get a horse that can carry itself and balance its body properly. There is nothing wrong with having contact with the bit, but I focus on it being short-term, so you don’t get in the way of your horse and disrupt the horse’s balance.”

The third advice is about the importance of not pulling on your horse. If you pull on your horse, you disrupt its balance, which creates insecurity and the horse’s weight goes to the front end. By resisting the reins and teaching the horse to give way, you work on getting the horse in self-carriage.

 

Charlotte’s student is understanding the feeling when the horse gives in from the pressure on the reins.

As riders, we often have many ambitious goals and want the horse to perform exercises perfectly. But often we can
actually do too much and forget to have feeling with how much we actually take in the reins.

Regardless of discipline and level, collaboration is essential in riding. The magic between horse and rider occurs when the team solves the task together - as a team!

Focus on Horsemanship 

Charlotte works with California traditions in horsemanship, taking Horseman Buck Brannaman as her master. Californian horsemanship stems from classical Spanish riding which has been adapted over time to working dressage. The goal is to set the horse to work, allowing it to feel secure and understand the task, thus relying on collaboration and understanding to ensure the horse’s mental state.

2. Feeling of how much the rider pull on the reins 

The other typical challenge is that many riders struggle with having good feeling with how much they actually take in the reins. According to Charlotte, feeling is a combination of both sensations and understanding of the horse. So, in essence, it’s about what and how you do when you take hold of your horse.

That’s why I focus a lot on teaching riders to understand the sensation of the horse, so they don’t just grab the reins, but instead reach and feel after how much they actually need to take in the reins to achieve the desired response from the horse.”

The second tip is about when you take hold of the reins and ask the horse for something, to remember to feel how much to take in the reins in order to get the response from the horse that you want, so you don’t just grab and forget to have feeling with the horse. 

As a rider you need to have awareness of what you are asking the horse and how it responds.

Charlotte Lemming

Charlotte Lemming teaches and works with horses and riders through her business Working Horsemanship. Charlotte’s focus is on the good partnership between horse and rider, regardless of discipline and level. Charlotte helps owners and horses become more secure both physically and mentally. This is achieved through loving and strong leadership and well-founded work, built on understanding, empathy, clarity, consistency - for both horse and rider.

To gain an understanding of the typical challenges faced by riders, we visited Charlotte Lemming. The challenges that Charlotte addresses here can be present among all types of riders and horses, and not just in a specific discipline. Therefore, these tips can be helpful to all riders, regardless of your level and the discipline you ride.

1. Lack of awareness of what the rider wants from the horse

As the first classical challenge, Charlotte says that she often sees riders riding their horses without thinking about what they really want the horse to do and without thinking about how they ask the horse to perform the exercise.

“I work a lot on getting riders to think about what they’re actually doing when they ride their horse. So, I often ask them questions like: ‘What are you thinking and what are you doing now that the horse is tensing up?’ or ‘Could you feel something happening now?’ I therefore focus a lot on getting into a mindset where you reflect on and observe what your horse is doing. It’s about becoming a leader for your horse and making sure it feels secure in the given situation.

Through working dressage, I give riders more creativity in terms of the exercises they can do with their horse to achieve their goals. I focus on ensuring that the rider is feeling what is happening with the horse during the exercise, for example when riding a short serpentine. Here I often ask: ‘Could you feel the horse becoming more straight in the shoulder now?’ It’s not just about riding a short serpentine, but also about feeling what’s happening with your horse.

As an instructor, I give riders a bird’s-eye view of what the rider and their horse are doing, and help the rider understand what they need to do to help the horse understand the task.”

Therefore, the first advice is that you need to be aware of what you really want the horse to do, so that you are always a leader for the horse. You need to feel what is happening in the horse’s body when you ask it to perform the exercise, so that you always focus on being competent. It can help to get a thorough explanation of how and why you perform the exercise, so that you and the horse understand it.

All riders face challenges in their training, and some challenges can be difficult to overcome on their own. Trainer, Charlotte Lemming, often sees three challenges that are common among many riders, perhaps also with you? 

Ulla Christensen  // Photo: Malgré Tout & Majken Soelberg

– And how to solve them

Three Typical 

Challenges

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