The Three Basic Rein Aids Explained

Photo Credit: NBanaszak Photography

Have you ever been told to use a rein aid but didn't know what it was or how to use it? 

When you're riding (especially in a lesson), there might be little time to explain all the nuances of a particular skill in movement. By the time the instructor explains the details, the horse has already moved from one end of the arena to the other, and likely, a completely different skill is needed by that time!

It can be very helpful to know the different rein aids and how to apply them so that you can respond as quickly as possible in the given situation. Also, it helps to know how to apply the rein aids while riding on your own, so that you use the most useful aid at the best time.

So which rein is which, and why should you use which, when? 🙂

1. Open Rein

This rein is generally the first rein a rider learns to use. It's fairly simple to do and the result is instant, so it's easy to teach and gives the rider a sense of control. It is also the first rein aid to teach a young horse, for basically the same reasons. However, it is a rein aid that can be used right through to the highest levels of riding, exactly because it is a basic rein aid that can help pretty much every movement, no matter how complicated or athletic.

It's simple. Just open the rein by taking it away from the neck. I like to think that it creates a small space between the rein and the neck - say about 1"-3" off the neck. Your elbow stays on the body while the forearm opens to the side.

The open rein is usually used to the inside of the movement (so, if you're tracking right, you use the inside rein) but it can also occasionally be used on the outside to help the outside shoulder move more toward the outside.

Purpose

The open rein is useful for two purposes.

The first is that it turns the horse's head (flexion) and neck in the direction of opening, and thus, the horse generally follows the rein and turns in that direction.

The second, which is more complex, is used with a leg aid. The inside leg applies pressure to ask the horse to shift his weight to the outside by encouraging the horse's inside shoulder to step away, which then creates the open rein biomechanically. This type of open rein is often used to keep flexion while in a leg yield.

2. Direct Rein

The direct rein is exactly as it sounds: direct. With your elbows on your body, hold the rein so that it creates a straight line to the mouth. Then, apply pressure toward your hip on the same side as the hand.

Be sure to NOT pull your elbow back off your body. You don't really want to actually pull the rein back. You just want to create the feeling of the pressure, or contact, often done in conjunction with the rest of the aids.

Purpose

This rein is often used to stop the horse. When you apply even pressure on both reins, the horse should respond by slowing or stopping the legs, depending on how you use the rest of your aids (legs, weight, back).

It is also used for the infamous half-halt. So while you are using the "resist" action in the lower back for the half-halt, the reins are used with a direct action (toward the hips) to support the half-halt.




A single direct rein on the inside can also be the creator of "flexion", which is when the horse turns his head just enough that you can see the corner of the eye looking in the direction of the movement.

3. Neck Rein 

The neck rein can be confusing until you have a really good understanding of what it does and how to apply it.

This rein is placed on the outside of the neck. The horse feels the rein, and steps away from it. So for example, the left rein placed literally on the left side of the neck causes the horse to move right

This rein is always used on the outside of the neck, on the opposite side of the movement.

Purpose

The neck rein is a very powerful rein. 

It acts as the initiator of the turn: left rein on the neck means turn right.

It can also stop the outside shoulder from drifting out. This can be especially useful when a horse "bulges" the outside shoulder and drifts out or steps away from the intended direction. 

In a similar manner, it can also straighten the horse's body by encouraging the outside shoulder to stay "in the body" rather than bulging outward.

OK.

There are, of course, other rein aids that are taught for different purposes. But it helps a lot to know these three basic rein aids because you can build on these as you become more experienced and subtle in your skills. 

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Buy the book for many more riding tips! Horse Listening – The Book: Stepping Forward to Effective Riding

From Horse Listening, The Book:
"There are many reasons why we enjoy riding horses. Maybe one of the most appealing facets of riding is the sense of freedom: freedom from our own limitations, freedom from gravity, freedom to (literally) roam the Earth. Time stands still while we have the privilege of feeling movement from the back of our four-legged friend.
Riding gives us the place to just be.
Of course, there are other purposes too. Some of us revel in the challenge of learning the skills required to becoming a good team member of this unlikely duo. Riding is like no other sport or recreational pursuit simply because of the equine partner that must not only carry us, but also do so effortlessly and gracefully. As we develop our specific skill sets, we also grow as human beings in character, emotional maturity and mental acuity.
But there is one other motivation that drives some of us to persevere in the never-ending learning process that is horseback riding: improving the horse. As your own skills develop, you begin to realize that not only can you meet your own needs through riding, but also that you can even become an instrument of benefit for the horse."
And so begins the book that reflects the most important learning I have had in all of my riding years: that I want to be the best rider I can be for the sake of my horses.
This book is geared toward the rider:
- the rider's motivations
- the essential skills for the rider
- some specific strategies
- solutions to common problems
- and the results: the great horsey moments we get to experience
Along the way, you will find chapters that discuss everything from the seat to the leg aids to the reins, discussions on half-halts, imbalance, halts, straightness and more!
Special in this book are the "In The Ring" sections that give specific suggestions based on the preceding chapters. Take these to the barn to try with your own horse!

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What’s The Difference Between The Inside Rein and The Outside Rein?

Photo Credit: NBanaszak Photography

While we generally want the reins to act and feel the same during our rides, they do have different uses and techniques. The better we get at riding, the more subtle these aids can be. However, there are still different things each rein can do at different times to maintain the overall balance, power and straightness of the horse.

How are the inside and outside reins used? What is the difference between them?

Inside Rein

Slightly open for flexion

When you are on a turn or circle, the horse should be looking slightly to the inside, in the direction of movement (flexion). We often see horses either stiffly pointing their noses straight out and against the reins, or even pointing to the outside and turning in the opposite direction! While there are leg, seat and torso aids involved in truly bending the horse in the direction of movement, the inside rein is also a key player in maintaining flexion.

Keep the inside rein slightly off the neck (open) to maintain better flexion.

Slightly open to create room for the inside shoulder

The slightly open inside rein also allows the inside shoulder space to move into. While you don't want the horse to fall to the inside because you opened the rein (use your inside leg to prevent this from happening), you also don't want to block the inside shoulder from being allowed to reach forward in the stride.

People often close the inside rein in attempt to stop the inside shoulder from falling in. Do the opposite. Take the rein only a few inches off the neck and allow the shoulder to move forward. Stop any lean with your inside leg instead.

Give/release often

The inside rein is the giver! Release as soon as you get some desired response from your horse - whether you wanted flexion or better rounding.

The release can be from your elbows or shoulders. Push the reins forward without letting the reins slide through your fingers. Ideally, the inside rein will have tiny fluttering releases as you ride along.

No pull

Avoid pulling back on it. Pulling on the inside rein creates many problems including loss of balance,  crookedness, blocking of the inside hind leg, and much more.

Create contact through a "hold" on the reins rather than a "pull." And then look for opportunities to release.

Outside Rein

Indicates a turn (neck rein)

One of the main uses of the outside rein is to initiate a turn. We often think that we need to pull on the inside rein to turn, but the outside rein is the preferred method because it helps keep the horse much better balanced.

Click here to read a detailed breakdown of how to create a neck rein that turns the horse.

The horse should understand to move away from  the pressure of the neck rein.

Prevents the outside shoulder from bulging 

The outside rein can also work on regulating just how much the outside shoulder can "step out". Many times, the horse will turn but drift out in the opposite direction. It is the outside rein's job to block the drift.

Prevents the neck from pointing too much to the inside

The final use of the outside rein is to keep the neck from swinging too much to the inside. This is also important for balance and control. The rider must help the horse keep a straight body even while bending around a turn.




Hold the outside rein steady when turning and make sure your inside rein isn't forcing the horse to swing his neck too far to the inside.

Steady contact

The outside rein is responsible for maintaining steady contact. It steadies the horse and helps to maintain the horse's overall body outline. This rein should have a "feeling" give to it but much less than the inside rein. The rein should stay fairly straight and consistent in length most of the time.

Half-halt

The outside rein is also usually the half-halt rein, although as mentioned before, the hands are the last component of the half-halt. In general, the half-halt helps to maintain balance and a improve connection.

A few parting notes

Do not cross either rein over the neck (no pull across the neck either)

We often try to prevent the horse from leaning one way or the other with our reins. Have you seen someone take their rein up and across the horse's neck in attempt to control the inside shoulder? Unfortunately, this will never work and actually causes the horse to lean even more on the shoulder.

The pull will block the inside hind leg from coming under the horse's body (thereby preventing him from being able to balance better) and will actually twist the horse's head and neck away from the body - and this will also affect his balance negatively.

Instead, try to use the slightly open rein to prevent leans, drifts and dropped shoulders.

Keep the neck between both reins

One of the oldest sayings about the reins is to "ride the horse straight between the reins and legs." It's true!

Even contact and hand positions

Strive for developing an even contact - not one rein stronger than another. Also keep your hands parallel to each other, in front of the saddle. While you may need to venture away from the front of the saddle area at times, come back to "home base" as soon as possible. In our dreams, the hands stay there just beside each other all the time.

The seat, weight and leg aids

I didn't mention the rest of the aids here because I wanted to highlight just the use of the reins. But there are many other aids involved in all of the turns, straight lines, changes of bends, and transitions that will be included in each of your rides.

Finally! The Ultimate Rider-Centered Program!

Ready for something completely different? If you liked what you read here, you might be interested in the Horse Listening Practice Sessions. 

This is NOT a program where you watch other people's riding lessons. Start working with your horse from Day 1.

Click here to read more and to join one of the most complete programs on the Internet!

Horse Listening

I don't believe in putting my work behind a paywall. But there are expenses in every venture. If you really liked this article, consider tipping us! Your tip will help me keep producing more riding TIPS (pun!) with free access to everyone. With thanks for reading!

Horse Listening Book 4: 20-Minute Exercises
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Horse Listening Book 4: 20-Minute Exercises to Add Variety To Your Riding Routine
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12 Riding Quick Tips – #11: Do A “Beginner Bend”

mild bend horse riding
Mild bend. Photo Credit: J. Boesveld

Sometimes I think bend is one of those "strive but never arrive" efforts of horse riding. It truly is one of those "conceptual" aspects, aside from just being a skill. You know the one - just when you think you know it all, you discover that there's so much more to it. Then you start all over as if you're still a beginner...

There is a good exercise you can always revert to which will help you establish, keep, and ultimately feel a true "through the body bend." Not the one that just pulls the horse's head and neck into the turn or circle, but one that helps him bend through the rib cage and step deeper underneath the body with his inside hind leg. The one that improves balance, releases tension and increases lateral suppleness.

You can use this exercise with a young or uneducated horse, a novice rider, or even a seasoned horse/rider going through stiffness at a higher level of movement. It's just basic and biomechanically easy to produce. It's called a leg yield on a circle, but I think of it as a "drift out" because I find that gives me a clear mental image to keep in mind.

    • Ride a circle - but place it in an area where you can have room to the outside.
    • Squeeze with your inside leg at the girth. Make sure you're sitting on your inside seat bone - but let the horse "escape" a little to the outside.
  • Your outside leg is behind the girth to keep the hip from swinging out.
  • Your inside rein is slightly open and your outside rein is on the neck - as in, a "neck rein."
  • Your body is turned slightly into the turn as well - from the seat all the way up. This helps to keep you balanced on top of the horse's movement.
  • Then encourage your horse to step out on the circle. Let him drift out a little, all the while getting him to step away from your inside leg and rein, and step into your outside leg and rein. 

If you do it well, you'll find that your outside rein "naturally" lands on the horse's neck. That is, you don't have to place it there with a pulling or active rein. Suddenly, there's a neck rein - because the horse actually stepped out and bent through the body. 

That outside rein can now control the direction of your movement (as in, the horse steps away from it into the turn), the amount of drift (as in, don't let the horse just drift on out till he hits the rail) and the balance (as in, half-halt if needed to slow the legs down and keep them underneath the horse). 

I've written about this and other exercises in more detail in the posts below. If bend is something you're working on, there's lots of ideas there. 

Finally! The Ultimate Rider-Centered Program!

Ready for something completely different? If you liked what you read here, you might be interested in the new Horse Listening Practice Sessions. 


This is NOT a program where you watch other people's riding lessons. Start working with your horse from Day 1.

Click here to read more and to join one of the most complete programs on the Internet!




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Horse Listening – Book 2: Forward and Round to Training Success

If you enjoyed the above article, you'll find many related chapters about training horses and and the rider in Horse Listening - Book 2. Your favorite Horse Listening training articles are compiled in this beautifully bound paperback (or digital) book.

"Regardless of discipline, what would be the most significant effect a rider would want to have on her horse?
We all want our horses to improve in their athletic
development, skill acquisition and connectedness. Much of our rider development and training efforts go into working toward our show or personal goals....
But the best riders aspire to do one essential thing each and every day, regardless of goals and lesson plans: they work hard to improve their horse’s way of going.
Because proper balance and weight carriage is essential to a horse’s longevity. Each and every minute of each and every ride has the potential to contribute to your horse’s health and well-being.
Or not."
Just as with all the Horse Listening Collection Books, this book is focused on helping the rider improve for the sake of the horse. But this book goes deeper into the best training articles from the blog - horse-centered theory, strategies and ideas you can try with your own horse.
The book begins with the horse's hind end (!), considers the horse's back, moves on to rider development, and fills it all in with the fundamentals of horse riding so your horse can be:
☑️ happier in his body
☑️happier in his "work"
☑️better balanced all-around

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How to “Fill Up” Your Outside Rein for a True Neck Rein

"Use your outside rein!"

"You need a better neck rein so you can balance the horse better."

"Half-halt/check with the outside rein."

In any of these three scenarios, your instructor is letting you know that your outside rein is either not being used correctly, or it isn't active enough to be helping your horse. However, a neck rein isn't an outside rein that is simply pulled backward.

We often rely so much on our inside reins that we tend to forget the purpose and use of the outside rein. We can apply the outside rein as a direct rein, or a neck rein. Although both work to achieve better balance and communication with the horse, there are significant differences to each. Today, we will talk about why and how to create an effective neck rein.

We use the neck rein in all disciplines. Regardless of the style of riding, the neck rein can and should be used for basic communication. Using a snaffle bit, the outside rein is generally shorter and used with contact. Using a curb bit, the rein is longer and ideally used with less contact. However, in general, the neck rein is used in the same manner in all disciplines and for the same purposes.

What Is A Neck Rein?

This specific type of rein aid is identified by the way that it "wraps around" the outside of the horse's neck. In general, it sits gently along the horse's neck and is always available to act within the right moment in the horse's stride.

Why Use A Neck Rein?

The neck rein acts as a powerful communicator. Used with contact, it can help the horse maintain balance by half-halting the energy as it comes to the forehand. Too much energy left unchecked will cause the horse to fall forward onto the front legs. The neck rein can prevent the fall before it happens and help the horse maintain more weight on the hind legs. In this manner, when used at the end of a sequence of aids, the outside neck rein is a main actor in creating and maintaining collection.

Once you become more adept in using your body aids, the neck rein also can become the initiator of a turn. Rather than pulling on the inside rein, the horse learns to move away from the neck rein. So if you want to turn left, you apply the right neck rein and use your seat/leg/torso aids to indicate the direction. The horse feels the "wrapped around the neck" rein pressure and steps away from it. This way, you can limit the use of the inside rein to just maintaining flexion (so that you can see the corner of the horse's inside eye). The by-product of less inside rein is that you will not restrict the inside hind leg from reaching as far as it should to balance around the turn.

"Filling Up" the Neck Rein

I use the term filling up because the neck rein isn't about just pulling backward. In fact, the ideal situation is to hold the rein at the desired length you need for the moment, and then to "push" the horse into the rein. The horse steps toward the rein, feels the pressure and then responds.

- Use your inside aids to bend the horse.

Starting with your weight on your inside seat bone, then leg, then upper body, push the horse to the outside of the circle. As your horse gets better, and your timing gets better, your push will become lighter. But at the beginning, you may need a fair amount of pressure to be clear in what you want.




- Inside rein is for flexion.

The only thing your inside rein should do is to maintain the flexion in the horse's head - that is, to keep the horse looking to the inside of the turn. Otherwise, it should be softly fluttering in and out of contact as needed. What it shouldn't be doing is maintaining a rigid pressure on the horse's mouth.

- Maintain a steady outside rein

If you can keep your outside rein at a consistently "good" length (depending on your discipline), you will begin to feel the horse as he steps to the outside, thereby filling up the outside rein.

At this point, you will have the neck rein positioned and the horse stepping into it. Now, it is up to you to use it to your advantage. As mentioned above you can use it to rebalance the horse, or use it to initiate a turn. As your horse begins the turn, you can keep the neck rein in light contact, being fairly inactive, unless you need to as again.

Once you discover the power of the neck rein, you'll wonder how you ever rode without it. Using an effective neck rein is one more step in the direction of becoming more subtle and harmonious with your horse.  Not only that, but it will also allow him to move with a straighter body and spine.

How and why do you use a neck rein? Comment below.

Finally! The Ultimate Rider-Centered Program!

Ready for something completely different? If you liked what you read here, you might be interested in the Horse Listening Practice Sessions. 

This is NOT a program where you watch other people's riding lessons. Start working with your horse from Day 1.

Click here to read more and to join one of the most complete programs on the Internet!

Horse Listening

I don't believe in putting my work behind a paywall. But there are expenses in every venture. If you really liked this article, consider tipping us! Your tip will help me keep producing more riding TIPS (pun!) with free access to everyone. With thanks for reading!

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Buy the book for many more riding tips! Horse Listening – The Book: Stepping Forward to Effective Riding

Buy the books for many more riding tips! Horse Listening Book Collection.
⭐ Personally signed books available! Just send me a message. ⭐
Would you like to be the rider that all horses dream of?
By following simple, useful exercises, you will be able to develop a better understanding about many topics including:
- the rider’s aids
- the use of the seat
- the half-halt
- accurate turns and circles
- transitions
- horse ownership and horse care
- goal setting for the rider
- rein lameness
… and much more!
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