Turns out I’ve been riding turns on the haunches wrong, all my life. You don’t halt, like you do for a turn on the forehand. You walk into it, open the inside rein, apply the leg aids, and Bella rocks back onto her hocks and does almost a half-pirouette. And then, when you are trying to ride a square corner at the trot, you try the same thing, and it works even better than a pure half-halt for getting her soft and collected. And then you try it at the canter, straight after and then straight before a pole on the ground, and athletic sweet pretty willing Bella is suddenly uphill and light as a feather in hand and turning on a dime, and you’re grinning so hard it hurts.

Posted in horses are pretty | Comments Off on like magic

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