The 10 Must Haves of Great Contact!

I’m very passionate about the topic of contact, connection and everything to do with the classical hand plus aids in general, as my experience is it’s the hand or the wrong use of the hand that really applies the most contortion to the spine of the horse.

The hand is not the primary aid, although most riders, even experienced riders, ride as though it is.?A common way to see if the contact is wrong is seen in horses that go behind the vertical, above the vertical or hang on the bit in what I call a static frame. I can usually tell what level of rider is riding the horse just based on viewing the frame.

• Experienced?riders often have their horse behind the vertical.
• Beginner?riders often have their horse above the vertical.
• Intermediate?riders generally have their horse in a false frame/static frame.

The answer lies in the middle. The horse should not be above the bit nor should he be behind. He should be exactly on the vertical or ever so slightly above, yet still in full contact with the bit and round through his top line. A false frame or static frame implies that the horse is being “held” in this position and is unable to activate the swing or roundness of his back. In this position the only roundness or curvature to his spine is happening in the neck. The rest of the back is hollow or not engaged.

The problem is that contact is so much more than picking up the reins and framing the horse.

To have true contact you must have the following:

1. A horse that swings upwards over the back, lengthening the topline and stretching his neck like a swan into the contact with the bit.
2. The horse has to be willing to “hold” the bit with his mouth. It’s not enough to have the bit “in the mouth” or that the bit is resting on the corners of the mouth. Contact from the horse has to be a conscious choice. The horse has to willingly reach for the rider’s hands through the bit.
3. The horse must “give” to all forms of contact all the way from his cranium through his spine into the joints of the haunches, causing them to bend and carry weight when the rider asks for it.
4. The horse must be willing to follow the hand willingly forward and down, or upward and into collection when asked to do so without resistance.
5. The horse must have self-impulsion and step to the point of weight with a hind leg.
6. The rider must have a fully independent seat with the core balanced and engaged. The hands should be independent as well.
7. The hand must never act without being in harmony with the core/seat.
8. The rider must have a full understanding of how the classical aids actually work, otherwise you are missing out on crucial information that will improve your contact.
9. The rider’s hand has to have “feel”. Feel means that you, through your fingers, gage how much pressure there is on each rein so that you can match it, not match it or apply just the right amount of pressure to give you the result you are looking for at any given time. This is not possible if you use your reins to balance when you ride.
10. Contact means that there is no slack, no matter how high or low the horse places his head forward or backward. It doesn’t mean that you are pulling though. There is a perfect elastic connection between your hand and the mouth of the horse. The elasticity is the component that causes the most difficulty for riders. The elasticity comes from the swinging motion of the neck and back and must be followed, sometimes back and forward, sometimes up and down like a rubber band.

I could keep going and eventually write a book about this subject (I already am by the way) it’s either gonna be called “Let go of the Reins?or?Connected.” ??

But, as you can see, contact and connection is not for the faint hearted.

Many things have to be in place before correct contact can happen. One of the main things that I mentioned before is understanding that?the seat/core IS the PRIMARY aid!?It’s the aid that has to be applied first, and only then can it be reinforced by the secondary aids. If the primary aid is not functioning well, the secondary aids won’t be much help at all and they will cause resistance in the body of the horse because there is a disconnect between the main body and the hand. The seat symbolizes the whole body and the distribution of weight. The hand can’t fight the distribution of weight without causing damage. It must work in harmony with the seat and the center of gravity.

If you are out of balance – leaning forward or backward, unable to walk, trot or canter without the reins, if you can’t post without the reins, if you turn by relying on the inside rein, if you can’t frame the horse without manipulating his head down with the reins, if you have a tendency to look down at the horse’s neck while you ride (experienced riders the last one is for you), then there’s a good chance your core is not fully engaged or not engaged at all. If so, you are practically asking the horse to do something that you can’t do yourself, which is to engage his core and use his back.

For riders, an independent seat means that both your core and your back are engaged to completely stabilize your position in the saddle.?At the same time your hips must be relaxed enough to allow the hip flexor tendons in your hips to flex up and down, thereby absorbing the swing of the horse’s back and the concussion from the footfall. Further down, your legs must hang loose and relaxed without gripping with your knees. Your heels absorb the rest of the movement by flexing downward every time the horse touches the ground. If your legs are contracted, your heels will lift up and touch or squeeze the horse all the time. This will cause desensitization to the leg. When your leg is lifted, the rider’s seat will be pushed out of the saddle and you will therefore lose contact with the mouth of the horse.

Therefore, good contact has everything to do with the seat and the collaboration between the hand and the seat, it has nothing to do with the hand by itself.

To improve your hand, improve your seat first! Practice riding with no reins if it is safe for you to do. Practice posting, canter transitions, down transitions, up transitions, trotting, turning from the seat, maybe even use a neck rope and feel how the distribution of weight is controlled with your body.

Ride with Lightness

Celie xo

To read more about Celie Weston, past articles and information regarding Classical Dressage Training, CLICK HERE