Correct me if I’m wrong, but I guarantee you hear, see, and read TONS about the inside rein. To summarize; JUST DON’T PULL ON IT!!! You never hear much about the outside rein. It’s just inside rein this, and inside rein that….
But yes, the inside rein is VERY important. If you need a reminder why, (like, why you shouldn’t pull on it,) READ THIS. But if you are solid on that, let’s take an in depth look at why the OUTSIDE rein is so important.
The Outside Rein
The outside rein is sooooooooo important! You might as well call this rein ‘the containing rein,’ ‘the half-halt rein,’ ‘the balancing rein,’ ‘the straightening rein,’ ‘the connection rein,’ and you can even call it ‘the rein of truth.’ Not so much can be said about the inside rein.
Let’s face it. If you have no outside rein, you have nothing. The outside rein is everything.
Getting Into the Outside Rein
The outside rein is the holy grail to getting your horse “on the bit.” But you can’t just simply take a hold of the outside rein and consider it a job well done. You must learn to get your horse into the outside rein.
How is that achieved? To put it simply, 1.) bend and 2.) an inside hind leg that is stepping in and under the body.
Well then, how do you get bend and an inward/under stepping inside hind? …your inside leg!
Bingo! You’ve heard that phrase before; “inside leg to outside rein.” The phrase exists because it is your inside leg that creates the ingredients to get your horse into the outside rein!
Why is the Outside Rein so Important?
When your horse is properly in the outside rein, he is most likely on the bit and working correctly. You will have a horse who is floating along beautifully and correctly. And get this, he’ll be properly bent as well, and stepping in and under with his inside hind- which are the two main ingredients used to get the horse into the outside rein.
SO, once you get your horse properly bent, and properly moving his inside hind, it is the outside rein that maintains and contains that amazingly good movement that was created from the bend and the inside hind.
And once you are able to maintain and contain the proper movement ( energy) in the outer rein, you moments away from connection. Learn more about the beauty of connection HERE.
And you will also be able to influence the horse’s energy in a way your never could have dreamed. Half halts will become more effective and clear to the horse.
It all boils down to this: when you get your horse into the outside rein, you then have access to his energy and are able to manipulate, mold, and sculpt it however you wish. The horse will be working from back to front with his energy being recycled and not just dumping out of the front end.
How Do You Get Your Horse Into the Outside Rein?
Here are 4 really cool ways to get your horse into the outside rein:
- Do a leg Yield. Learn how HERE.
- Do a shoulder-in. Learn how HERE.
- Do a turn-on-the-forhand.
- Spiral out on a circle
All 4 of these movements require the mechanism of “inside leg to outside rein” and will therefore naturally put your horse into the outer rein if the movements are ridden correctly.
Each of these require the rider to push over the haunches, and catch the outside shoulder. So the inside hind leg will start to step in and under the body as the rider asks for the haunches to move over. Then, the rider needs to stop the outer shoulder from falling out, or just simply keep it straight with the outside rein. With all this going on, the horse will start to come into the outside rein.
How to Tell if Your Horse is Successfully In the Outside Rein
When a horse goes into the outside rein, the horse’s outside neck will appear to ‘fill up’ the outside rein without pulling on either of the reins. You will be able to feel ‘more’ in your outside hand without having to move your hands at all.
It’s like your outside hand is just there, waiting…..and when you use your inside leg to bump the horse over, all of a sudden, your outside hand gets filled with a steady contact.
You can also test yourself by letting go of either rein and observing what happens:
If you let go of the outside rein completely, and your horse remains bent and his head and neck does not move at all, you are most likely successfully into the outside rein. But if you let the outside rein go, and the horse’s head flings to the inside, that probably means you and the horse were have a tug-o-war with the outside rein. You were puling, he was pulling, or you both were pulling. And because of that, the horse probably wasn’t properly bent and you probably weren’t using your inside leg.
If you let go of your inside rein completely, and your horse remains bent and his head and neck does not move at all, you are most likely successfully into the outside rein. But if you let your inside rein go, and the horse’s head flings away to the outside, that usually means that you were hanging on the inside rein.
The Curse of the Inside Rein
Hanging on the inside rein is one of the biggest and most common rider problems. I understand, its hard not to do it! Sometimes your mind gets tricked into it even!
But pulling or hanging on the inside rein will shut down your horse’s inside hind, and therefore, stop you from getting your horse into the outside rein.
Remember, the inside hind needs to be free to step in and under the horse’s body in order for the rider to receive that momentum in the outside rein. Well, the inside rein is the BRAKE for the inside hind! Remember that!
And I know, I know, I totally know…..We riders sometimes feel a NEED to pull on that inside rein. In fact our bodies just do it automatically because it ‘feels’ right. And it feels right because of how the horse feels underneath our bodies. Why? Because the horse is crooked, and pulling on the inside rein will quickly and easily fix that crookedness in the front of the horse, the part we see, and that feeling of crookedness appears to be remedied. So that’s why we pull and pull, oftentimes without realizing it. It’s an addiction!
In order to rid yourself of automatically pulling on the inside rein for a quick fix, you really need to be mindful and ride thoughtfully and with focus. You need to be thinking and concentrating with every step. When you feel yourself starting to make that mistake, you need to decide what you should do instead. ( inside leg)
The Cure
But think about it this way; if you actually properly get your horse into the outside rein, that NEED to pull on the inside rein completely disappears and your body won’t just decide to do it automatically. Why? because your horse will be moving properly and be straight. That instinctual need completely goes away, and you will be well on your way to creating a self-going horse that requires no micromanaging.
The outside rein is KEY!
Keep Riding, Keep Refining
The Refined Rider
