"Kick harrdddeeerrr!"
How often have you heard that before?
It might come from a well-meaning friend. It might be what you feel is necessary at the moment. It might even be the determined coach who sees the need for impulsion and translates it to being a lack of leg aids.
But you probably know from experience - kicking the horse along often does not get the response you really want. Your horse might:
- continue along in his meandering way, oblivious that you were "talking" to him
- pin his ears, swish his tail... and continue along in his meandering way
- hollow his back, become heavier in the bridle, and go faster, faster, faster
- pin his ears, look at you from the corner of his eye and STOP!
Of course, there are many other variations of responses clearly explaining to you - if only you listened - that kicking him in the sides simply will not achieve the purpose you had in mind.
And you wonder: what else can I do?
Let's go to the experts for some advice:
"What is essential is not to tighten the legs during the dressage training, but rather to use them without effort while allowing them to hang softly near the horse's sides." - Nuno Oliviera, Reflections on Equestrian Art, p. 117
"The greatest hindrance to driving the horse properly comes from riders stiffening their legs.... The horse cannot monitor tight legs as aids and will sour to the pressure, which he will interpret as a meaningless second girth." - Charles de Kunffy, Training Strategies for Dressage Riders, p.163
"Do not put your leg in one fixed point - let them loose to free the upper body. If you want a lazy horse and to exhaust yourself, squeeze with your legs. If you want a brilliant horse, active and relaxed, let go with your legs, forget your leg muscles while staying reactive, attentive and relaxed." Arthur Kottas-Heldenberg, Kottas On Dressage, p. 22
We can gather from these three brief quotes that strong, harsh leg aids are about as helpful as screaming louder to a person who doesn't understand your language. So what are leg aids for?
1) Impulsion
The legs in fact are the primary "natural" aids we have to encourage the horse to move forward with more energy. Ideally, using pressure in the rhythm of the horse's movement should be the way we communicate that the horse should reach further underneath the body and engage the hind legs.
2) Bend
The legs help to initiate a bend in the horse's body - the bend that should follow the arc of the circle or turn that the horse is moving through.
3) Roundness
The legs can even encourage the horse to lift his back by encouraging the hind end to reach under further so the topline can become lighter and rounder.
In horseback riding, the problem with the leg aid is that it's not just about the legs!
Unfortunately, the legs are not able to do all this alone. Life would be so easy if that were the case!
In each above scenario, all the other aids must accompany the leg aids in order to fully support the horse in the desired movement.
The seat must be another main actor - whether for impulsion, bend or roundness. The seat acts as an initiator as well as assistant in the horse's ability to "swing" his back - the final result of impulsion, bend and roundness. If the seat interferes at the wrong moment, or fails to enhance the horse's offering, all the leg in the world will be ineffective.
The hands are also as necessary and responsible as the other aids. What they do may alternately restrict or encourage the hind legs in their action.
So really, in the end, the leg aid is only part of the whole! Of course, this is all just the beginning of developing better coordination and timing in your aids. Without a good instructor, and consistent practice, the muscle memory that is essential will be out of reach and difficult to achieve on your own.
The next time you find yourself with flailing legs and resistant horse, stop and reconsider: are you using all your aids in unison?
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