horse saddles and reins?

Question: In relation to my last question. What would be the difference in holding and using the reins. English/western

Answer: In Western riding you hold both of the reins in typically your left hand and you use pressure on the neck of the horse to get him to turn. These reins are often very loose depending on how much training the horse has had. In English riding you hold one rein per hand and keep direct even pressure on the horses mouth. You are not pulling on the mouth, just a gentle pressure to feel the contact. The tightness of the reins here will depend on wether you are doing dressage, jumping, racing, western pleasure, etc etc. Here you get the horse to turn by pulling back directly on the side of the mouth in the direction you want to turn (example: pull right rein to go right) Remember when I talk about how the reins are used that they are only meant to direct the horses head and neck and tell the head where to be. Both styles of riding depend heavily on leg pressure to get the horse to turn and do different manuvers.

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