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AUGUST 2006 • VOLUME 12 • © Copyright HORSES For LIFE™ Publications
Sponging the Reins - No we are not talking about giving your reins a bath or using the reins as a sponge when we give our horses a bath! We are referring to the practice of taking your reins in hand and first taking with one hand and then the other, stride after stride.
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o why does this seem to work but doesn't really!
Since this exercise is based on the reality of the work of the diagonal pairs in the trot, some will have achieved some success with this exercise. I can well imagine though that the effect would be somewhat limited and somewhat varied from rider to rider and horse to horse.
When we have been following the diagonal all we have to do is stop following the diagonal with our rein aid and the rein aid will be effective. But if the horses have not learned they are allowed to move freely into the diagonal and into their shoulder, because normally the freedom has not been there, the horse naturally would be carry themselves slightly short on that diagonal. And in these cases just not following the rein, not following the motion would not be enough, ie just wiggling the fingers, because the horse is not going there anyways. So then what happens?
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