Avoid the Holy Trinity…At Least on Your Horse
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[NOTE: I originally wrote this after a riding lesson by the late Ed Krauss in 2012. After years of riding and operating a guest ranch, I can attest the logic is as valid today as it was then.]
The Holy Trinity and Horses
During another grueling western riding lesson, I was looking for some reprieve. I asked my instructor what was the most common mistakes that he sees riders making while learning western riding. He said “well, it’s just like you (there went my reprieve), you have learned that the Holy Trinity is a good thing. The Trinity is good when you meet your Maker, but not when you ride your horse.
He could tell by the look on my face that I didn’t have a clue as to what he was talking about. So, to save time, he went right into an explanation. “The western saddle is meant to be sat in. Your balance is maintained by your seat and body position, sittin’ square in the saddle. Ya shouldn’t lean right or left in the turns and don’t balance by holding on with your legs, right or left. Another thing riders do who don’t know how to sit the saddle, is to use the reins to get balance. Unfortunately, that balance from holding on with the reins comes from the horse’s mouth. That’s the holy trinity; balancing using the right leg, left leg, and reigns” (horse’s mouth). The mistakes are so common that it is almost a religion.
“It’s real easy to spot, just watch the horse. The horse never lies”.
“If the horse is hard to keep to the rail or if the horse drifts to one side or the other when crossing the ground, it is usually because the rider has one leg or the other on the horse. You know, horses naturally move away from pressure. That is what the horse is trying to do.
For example: some people riding in a clockwise circle have a tendency to lean into the turn. This adds pressure to the right cheek of the seat and puts pressure on the right stirrup fender. That pressure moves the horse to the left making the circle larger. Most people can ride balanced at a walk. But using the Holy Trinity for balance (to stay in the saddle) really becomes apparent at a trot or a lope”.
“When western riding, curb bits (regardless of the style of the mouthpiece) are meant to be ridden with loose reigns. The reigns are used to stop and turn the horse’s nose. It shouldn’t be taking a lot of force, just bump and release until you get the desired action. Steering (and most of the stopping) is mostly done with leg pressure and seat. People who neck reign by moving the reigns too far to the right or left, (using the reigns for balance while leaning) actually tip the horses nose from the vertical to the opposite direction of the turn. That makes it tough for the horse to turn or keep his eye on the cow.
Tight reigns, or noisy hands, make it really hard for the horse to know what you want. The horse will try to escape the pressure and will either stick his nose out or tuck his head to his chest. After a while the horse will get what we call a hard mouth, and it will take a lot of work to soften it up again…if it can be softened.
The worse example of the holy trinity is when a person that wants to whoa (stop) is pulling back on the horse’s mouth while balancing (squeezing) with the legs…which is telling the horse to go. Kinda like putt’n on the brakes while stepping on the gas when driving your car. The horse doesn’t know what you want”.
“So, trot er up and let’s see if you learned something”.
If you see the Holy Trinity, hopefully it wasn’t because you were using it on your horse…that’s Cowboy Logic.