Rein Action, Weight and Leg Action

By Christian Moon

There is no way to talk about how to use your reins without first saying something about the bit. The reins may be the lines of communication, but the bit is the receiver and any reception can be marred by improper bit placement so that the horse is more concerned about the bit’s placement in his mouth than the aids coming down the reins.

You can relate to this by putting the handle of a piece of cutlery in your mouth and then trying to find a comfortable place for it. Eventually you will realize that if you had a few teeth missing you would be able to place the bit in a comfortable place where your cheek is not stretched backward and your tongue could still move.

The horse has that gap in it’s teeth as you all know, but how far back can we or should we place the bit? I like to see ONE wrinkle in the cheek of the horse just behind the mouth piece in any snaffle type of bit. With a curb type bit I let the mouth piece come lower so that the wrinkle in the cheek is harder to see. Ideally the bit should rest comfortably on the tongue if it is snaffle type and on the tongue and bars of the mouth if it is a curb type of bit. (Snaffle type = a jointed bit with rings. Curb = a bit with a curb chain.)

For the most part in polo we have 2 sets of reins split either side into upper lower, inside and outside.

Holding the reins in the Argentine style.

Each rein has a different action on the bit inside the mouth. The action of the bit on the tongue, bars, and cheeks tells the horse what the aid is. The action of the reins on the neck have added effect in communicating the riders intentions.

The “top” rein: often  referred as the “turning” rein because this rein can be used “directly” or “indirectly” to turn. A direct rein is a gentle pull on the rein to the inside of the turn that places the horses head. In dressage terms this is referred to as the “placer”. An indirect rein is a contact with the horses cheek to the outside of the turn. Notice I say CONTACT not pull. There should always be contact from the outside rein in a turn since this contact can be used to tell the horse to shorten it’s stride and place more weight on the inside (opposing.) hind leg. At the same time the outside rein can be used to “push” indirectly in the form of a “neck” rein and with the correct support from the rider’s legs and weight we have a roll back, or pirouette. As an aside it is important to note that you can’t get a pirouette (roll back) from a cirlce turn unless you have the horse’s head placed to the inside of the turn. If the polo pony is allowed to do a “barrel racing” turn with the head to the outside it cannot properly engage the inside hind leg and has to “run” around the turn. An indirect, or neck, rein aid can be given anywhere on the horse’s neck. It is incorrect to assume that a neck rein in one position means one thing and in another position means something else. Creating sideways movement in the horse involves the rein and the leg and that is another post!

The bottom rein. Widely referred to as the “stopping” rein, this rein has other functions in communicating flexion at the poll and therefore engagement of the hind quarters on which the horse will stop or pirouette. As you can tell this rein is going to be used directly along with the indirect top rein in a roll back. Unfortunately in polo it is this rein we are told to pull on real hard if the horse won’t slow or stop which is a great shame to both instructor and rider. The lower rein or “curb” rein (so called since it works the curb chain on a pelham.) works when pulled hard because of the leverage it has via long shanks on a pelham or the rings of a gag, but can you imagine how that feels to the horse. There is another way! It is still harsh but instead of a dead pull which results in a dead mouth, get the horse’s attention with a sharp jab at the moment the horse is in suspension in the canter or gallop. This will shorten the horses stride and it will not resist your attempt to slow or stop for long. It is not correct to deliberately hurt any thing, but if a horse is running through the bridle  then you must fight fire with fire at the time, knowing that you will go back to schooling before ever using that horse to compete on again.

This pic is of the indirect rein in support. You can see the rider’s hand off to the left yet the horse is on the right lead and the horse’s head is placed to the left to help make the shot possible. The fact that the horse is on the right lead tells us that the rein action here is supporting along with the rider’s right leg to facilitate a head placement to the oposite side of the leading leg. If the horse were striding to the right whilst moving to the left on that lead this would be a counter canter with an incorrect head placement to the outside of the bend.

The rider is placing the horse's head using an indirect rein

Just a quick word on draw reins. We use them almost exclusively. They help us get leverage, but since we as polo players often throw away the contact with the horses mouth, it is my opinion that the draw rein helps maintain that contact. I think we use them because we get a better feeling from our horse when they are ridden in draw reins. After all the effective leverage from a draw rein in training for other disciplines causes visible flexion at the poll. On the field we want a flexible poll but we are not using the draw rein to make it “visible”.

Legs and weight.

Reins should be held lightly and never used with intent to do harm. The effectiveness of the rein aids is dependent upon how the rider uses his legs and weight, so rein aids on their own are not complete in facilitating anything more than head placement. For example, a horse that is good across the neck and when you buy it changes leads with just a flick from one neck rein to the other will soon stop changing all four legs in favor of just changing the front legs for balance until the turn is over when it will cease to cross fire and change its front legs again. Eventually it will seek the path of least resistance and cease to change at all. Now this unfeeling player is turning left on the right lead. This is unbalanced and will lead to a fall. A well trained horse just needs the rider to know that when turning the inside leg stays on the girth and the outside leg goes behind the girth. If at the same time as flicking the neck rein across the neck the rider switches his leg position this should change the hind legs too. Your weight should be in the outside stirrup.

So it’s easy to see from this example how the legs and reins should be used in conjunction to complete the command to change leads on a well trained horse.

In my next article I will go into leg pressure for other moves.