[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

Ok you two, I want to pick your brains a bit about dressage stuff.

I think it was AAM who said that when you are cuing to make a turn you cue with the outside foot in front of the cinch, and the inside behind the cinch.??

What part of each leg/foot are we talking about?

When I cue on the outside I am using the toe of my foot mostly, and on the inside the calf of my leg..???? If he doesn't really listen good on the calf I turn my heel in and use the spur????

Becky

[AnAmericanMother]

OK, let me give you the cues again. HOTD, you back me up here, OK?

Think of your inside leg as a pivot or fulcrum around which the horse bends. The inside leg is right at the girth (or cinch), just behind. It's a supporting leg, not an active aid, so you have the entire leg laid against the horse's side, pressing as needed. The outside leg goes farther back behind the girth (not enough to throw your upper body forward!); I pivot the outside toe out slightly to make sure my spur makes contact - but I DON'T turn my heel all the way in and dig! At the same time, bend the horse's head in with an intermediate rein on the inside.

Once you achieve the bend, use your inside leg pressure AT the girth to press the horse forward into the outside rein - but hold the outside rein so that the energy shoots forward through the bend!

Is that clear as mud? If you have any questions, ask away!