daverns equestrian centre

To understand about horse riding, you need to know about "the aids". The rider communicates his or her wish to the horse with a code of signals (the aids) that all horses should understand. When you are learning to ride, therefore, and your horse either does not do what you want, or does something quite different, you probably have given it the wrong signals.

The natural aids are seat, legs, hands and voice. The horse feels the different pressures exerted by you in the seat. A downward pressure will tell it you want to go forward; the sideways pressure, which will occur naturally when you are turning you horse to right or left, will help it to do so correctly; the ordinary sitting-on-hand pressure should be the normal contact of your seat with the saddle. The seat works with the legs and the part of the leg that is used is the inside of the calf.

The hands control the speed of the movement and help indicate the direction. Voice is also important. Horses have a very acute sense of hearing and are quick to recognise and respond to different tones of voice.