“Aids” are absolutely essential when dealing with our horses. Effective aids are the means by which we train our horses to do basically everything. Also known as cues, aids can have a tremendous amount of positive influence on your horse. When used correctly, aids can be used to get your horse to do almost anything, within reason of course.
But aids can also inadvertently teach your horse how to do things the wrong way. Aids can teach your horse bad behaviors. Aids can teach your horse to do things completely the opposite of what you are intending, if you are using your aids incorrectly.
And finally, aids can become completely meaningless to you horse as well.
Meaningless Aids
How does an aid become meaningless?
Let’s go back to the raw basics for a moment. You were probably taught very early on a handful of some of the most basic aids. Do “X” to go forward, and do “Y” to stop.
Lets look at the leg aid as an example. You know to put your leg on to “go.” And you will probably put your leg on again to “go more,” such as go faster or go up to the next gait. We’ve all been doing this for as long as we have been riding.
But then one day you realize, “My horse won’t go when I put my leg on!” You are fine in the walk perhaps, but your horse’s trot is soooooo slow and it remains slow, even when you put your leg on again and again! What has happened?
You might be tempted to think that your horse is being bad or disrespectful because he’s not listening to you. But most likely, that is not at all the case. It’s very probable that your leg aid has become a meaningless aid to your horse.
How Aids Become Meaningless
So why is your horse not obeying your leg aid? …Because your leg aid means nothing to him. And how did your leg aid become so meaningless? Basically because of how you are using the aid.
You are no longer using the aid effectively in a way that makes the horse understand what the correct answer or reaction is.
So how did you get into this mess? … Well, first of all, it’s not that you are applying your leg incorrectly. You put your leg against the horse. Or you hug his barrel, or maybe you even thump the horse’s side. There are many way’s to apply your leg, and none are “wrong.” That’s not the issue.
The whole problem arises when you fail to take your leg off.
You put your leg on and leave it there, expecting the correct answer from your horse. Or you repeatedly press your leg into the horse’s side again and again, still waiting for the correct response. You are nagging the horse to death, but nothing changes.
This is the horrible cycle that leads to your aids becoming absolutely meaningless.
Imagine that you ask the person sitting next to you at dinner to pass the bread to you. And they politely pass it over to you. What do you do next? Do you ask again? And then ask even again and again even though the person did the correct thing by passing the bread to you? You wouldn’t keep asking. If you did, the person might be confused and wonder if they understand the question or not. They might pass you the peas instead, wondering if that is what you meant instead.
Many riders are unknowingly doing this to their horse. They are asking the same question over and over again. So the horse doesn’t learn what the correct answer is, and he may not even understand what the heck you are asking in the first place.
So what do you do after the bread is passed to you? You probably say “thank you.” And that is exactly what we need to be saying to our horses as well. And the way we say thank you is by not asking the question again.
How Horses Learn
In order for your aids to actually mean something to your horse, you need to apply them in a way that is meaningful to the horse.
Horses learn mostly by the release of pressure. It’s called negative reinforcement, but the word “negative” tends to throw people off. It’s not “bad,” it’s a part of everyday life.
Take this example: A child starts crying and whining because they don’t want to finish the gross vegetables on their dinner plate. So the mother removes them and then the child stops crying. The child has learned to cry to get something “negative” removed.
Or how about when you put sunscreen on at the beach? You are applying the sunscreen to avoid getting sunburned. There are many examples of how this plays out in everyday life all the time. With horses, it’s more of a pressure and release approach.
The idea is that when you apply pressure to your horse, you immediately release that pressure when the horse gives you the correct answer. You ask a question, and when you get the correct answer, you stop asking the question.
Effective Aids – How it Works
Pressure and release is the key element as to how horses learn. When you apply pressure (ask a question), and fail to release that pressure when the horse responds correctly (stop asking), you are incorrectly using the your aids.
And if you release the pressure when the horse gives you the wrong answer, you are teaching them to do the wrong thing.
You see, it’s all about the release of pressure. When you release that pressure, whatever happened in that moment is what the horse will interpret as correct.
An entire series of books could be written to really dive into this, because every situation is different. And sometimes you have to release and reapply with greater intensity, and sometimes you just release and call it a day. Every aid you are giving can be tweaked a bit differently. It’s just some of the “tools” you collect in your “toolbox” along your journey, but the concept of pressure and release is the same. Next I’ll go into detail with some specific examples.
Effective Aids – Examples
The Leg Aid
When you put your leg on to ask the horse to go, take it off when the horse goes, and don’t reapply again until the horse isn’t going to your standard anymore. When you fail to remove your leg, the horse doesn’t know that he gave you the correct response, and your legs become white noise to the horse. So in time, the horse will completely ignore your leg. And then you are going to have to use more and more leg each time you ride. Eventually, it’ll be way too much work for you.
The goal should be to get a response from the lightest aid possible. Use as much pressure as necessary and as little as possible.
So if, when you put your leg on, the horse gives a response by going forward, you need to release your aid and praise. If the horse gives you no response at all, you need to keep the pressure in place, but more so in an approach-and-retreat kind of way. You don’t want to just press in your legs and hold them tighter and tighter until the horse goes. Instead, you want to take your initial aid off, and immediately reapply the aid with greater intensity. If you use the same intensity as before, your leg aid will become white noise, but when you reapply with greater intensity, that is telling the horse, “Wrong answer, try again.”
What you are aiming for here is to find the appropriate amount of pressure needed to get the answer you want. Apply as much as necessary but as little as possible.
After the second try, if the horse goes forward, release and praise. If you still do not get any response, release and immediately reapply with yet another notch of intensity. Eventually the horse will give you the correct answer. And the next day the horse might go forward after only the second try. And eventually the horse will be re-trained to your leg appropriately.
Lateral Work
When applying your leg for lateral work: Don’t put your leg on and press it into the horse’s side and push and push. That will turn your leg yield into an ongoing struggle where the horse will no longer move over for you. Instead, put your leg on and take it off as the horse starts to move over. Then refresh your aid as often as needed.
So don’t “hang” on your aid. You can refresh the aid as needed. Hanging on with your aids also makes the rider stiffen, lean, and contort there bodies. Then the horse may be getting mixed signals. Your leg might be saying “go left” but your contorted body is telling the horse otherwise.
Rein Aids
Always remember not to pull or hang on your reins. This leads to a whole host of problems. Instead, with the rein aids, you want to use it, then get off of it. You can use the reins as often as needed, but have to let go and not just hold, hang, or pull.
Suppling the jaw with the inside rein – a common aid with the reins. Remember that this too, is a form of pressure and release. When you use your inside hand to supple the horse’s jaw, you are applying pressure. You have to wait for the split second that the horse relaxes and gives to the pressure, and then you immediately release. That tells the horse, “Yes! Yes, that’s right.” Check out my article about 3 major reasons why you shouldn’t pull on the inside rein here.
Stopping or slowing down – Ok, you are not suppose to pull on the reins to stop or slow down. But I understand that it happens. Beginner riders often have to do this. So for you beginners out there, just remember not to hang on the reins to stop. If you have to pull, try a soft pull for one second, followed by an immediate release. Repeat only if needed. Take and release, take and release. Never ever take without a release. For more intermediate riders, you might only need to squeeze and release, squeeze and release. Eventually you will need to learn to stop with far more of your body than anything else. Check out my article about how pulling on the reins to stop actually makes it harder to stop here.
Mastering the effective use of the reins takes a long time and requires a certain amount of ‘feel.’
A Bucking horse
What about when you are doing canter work and your horse starts bucking? In this example, the canter work is the pressure, and the bucking is the horse’s response. (This is assuming the horse is otherwise healthy, sound, and all tack fits properly.)
If you immediately dismount because you are afraid, then you’ve just released the pressure and told the horse that bucking was the correct answer. You’ve rewarded the horse for bucking, and he’ll surely do it again. And soon enough you will have a bad habit.
Now, your safety comes first, so if you need to dismount, do it. But if you are an experienced rider, or there is one nearby, you need to put the horse back to work. I dive more into this topic in one of my other articles here.
When Your Horse Learns Something New
Let’s say you are teaching your horse the flying changes. This is a difficult thing for the horse and the trainer. In this situation you really really really want to reward your horse for any effort toward a flying change. And this is another pressure and release situation. Asking for the flying change is the pressure. And let’s say your horse gets it and delivers a decent change for you.
You must immediately release the pressure and reward! I feel like the best way to do this is to immediately dismount and end the training session. Make a big fuss over the horse and tell him how great he is. You want the horse to walk away knowing that he gave the correct answer.
Effective Aids – Conclusion
Above I have outlined only a few examples, but we are essentially giving our horses aids almost continuously. From leading them on the ground, to mounting and beyond. Just remember that when you are with your horse you are in the process of training him, whether your know it or not. You are constantly applying pressure, whether you know it or not, your horse is constantly giving you answers, and you are constantly reacting to those answers, whether you know it or not. And you have less than 3 three seconds to react after your horse reacts, or the opportunity is lost.
So it is important to think some things through. If you are in a particular situation, think about how the horse needs to understand what it is you are trying to teach them. How do you need to apply pressure and how do you need to release it in a way that the horse understands?
I guarantee that once you start becoming more aware of how you are influencing and responding to your horse, your bond together will strengthen.
Keep Riding, Keep Refining
The Refined Rider
