Laura Graves with Rebecca Ashton at the QSEC Masterclass

Connection for me, is the energy from the hind leg into the contact.

The rider’s job is to show the horse the feel.We know we must ride back to front, which is all true, but the second part to the equation, to get the horse sharp to the leg, is to educate the hand. You get all types or sensitivity to the leg, some are jumpy, some feel safe. It’s the same for the mouth. Some horses don’t like to take contact from the beginning, some really hang on the rein. Confidence in the bridle is the main thing I want to give the horse.”

As Kaitlin trotted Lyon around: as Kaitlin crossed the centreline she was to push Lyon away from the new inside leg, like a little thought of leg yield until she felt more pressure in the outside rein, the pressure she liked. “You can stay rising trot, I like rising trot. How’s the feeling you’re getting off your leg?

“He’s a little short in the neck by conformation, and maybe he needs to be taught through the contact the feel we want in the mouth. We want him to stretch out the neck, but first we want to teach him the amount of pressure we want. It means he might go a bit deep to start, but later when I give the hand he will understand to stretch the neck and keep the same pressure in the hand.”

“I want you to always to create the amount of pressure in your hand that you like. For every rider this is different, and that’s ok. We’re also going to help him work more through the body. I don’t think this is discussed enough. Nobody talks about the part of the horse between the front and the back.”

Laura and her Grand Prix star Verdades at Aachen

“If he goes to pull on your hand you have two choices: yes, I like it or no it’s not quite what I want. When you love the feeling, turn across the arena and find the same feeling the other way. I like changing directions a lot on a young horse. You want to bring the left side of the horse and the right side closer together until you find the middle of the horse. When you put your inside leg on, his inside hind leg should come to your hand.”

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https://www.horsemagazine.com/thm/2019/08/laura-graves-a-masterclass/