English-- what part of the leg should be used for aids?

Question

Yes, I know it's your lower leg, but nobody's ever gone into specifics. Which part of your lower leg should be applying the most pressure to your horse? The upper, lower leg, beneath the knee, or closer to the heel? And closer to the back, or the front, of your leg?

Answer 1

you use ur hips to swing through his movement and to push  him onward but its mainly your heels

Answer 2

It depends on what exactly you're trying to do. If you're horse is moving straight on his own (which will rarely happen), or you're just adjusting speed, then your entire calf should have equal contact. If you're bending or steering, it should ideally be the same, but if, say, you're horse is falling out through one shoulder, then the pressure should be more towards the knee, and if his butt is too close the rail so that he's not parallel to the track, then pressure should be closer to the ankle. As for the back or the front of the leg, you should probably aim for the front because most everyone has a tendancy to point their toes way out and grip with the very back of the leg. A good thing to remember with that is something my instructor told me about the trot when I first started riding, especially without  stirrups: Think about posting off you're shin. If you're not used to it it will seem impossible for more than a few steps, but you will adjust and it will make you're life (or atleast you're riding) so much easier.

Answer 3

all of your leg is used for the aids in english riding

seat,( buttocks - pushing with your seat bones as a horse walks can lengthen his stride

Seat/ upper thigh.. if you stiffen then and squeeze you can slow  most horses or even stop a horse that is responsive

Thigh, knee, calf  - pressure with all of these will bend a horse or cause him to move side ways depending on what combination you use.

calf- lower leg/heel -  move a horse forward or move him away from your leg sideways

as for the whole front of back thing.. its the part that lays naturally against him.

Riding is something that is done with the whole body, not just on specific body part at a time, thats what makes the skill of a competent rider look effortless.  Her whole body is talking, controling, moving her horse without alot of outwardly visable cues

Answer 4

in english ridding you use ur thighs to keep you up and also to post ur inner thigh is what u mainly use and when u wanna make the horse go faster u dig ur heal into them and kick them but u have to keep your legs in the position as if u were going to kick it but not so it knows

hope this helps

Answer 5

You use your calf, knee, ankle, *thigh*, and heel. It depends on what you are doing, but if you are riding straight with out problems, all parts should have equal pressure. Your tigh is used to regulate your horse's speed (slow down, close thigh) and to help keep you up in the two point and on your horse. I use a lot of thigh because my horse tends to speed up if you don't.

Answer 6

well, that is depending on the style of riding.

in english yes it's lower leg, more cafe muscle (yeah mine burned after a good work out with my trainer)

in cutback/saddle seat you DO NOT use your lower leg (yes i learned the hard way that first lesson, the second my lower leg touched the side of the horse it took off and i bout fell on my butt. . . was funny but scary, lol)

but i'm going to assume that you mean general riding, english/western. lower leg, back from back of your knee to your achelles tendon. also  your upper legs will be sore for the first few.. oh weeks/months of riding. . . i watched this show on the human body once, and it said depending on what you usually do with your body will change how it is. . . if you ride your seat bones will become slightly thicker over time because that's what area you are working. . . i wish i knew the name of the show but it was years ago. . . it showed pictures of the body parts that are affected/effected by riding and where the human body will build up.

Answer 7

Your knee should push him forward through your calf muscle

Answer 8

use your ankle sorta and the inside tht touches the horse.

Answer 9

For leg yields and bending I use pressure from my upper calf, for a change upwards in gaits I use my lower calf. If the horse doesn't feel the cue then I'll start using more pressure and then start using my ankles and feet.

Answer 10

To stop you sqeeze with you calf ..

Then for left and right turns you push with your heel..

Dont kick .. push ..

It hurts to keep sqeezing with you calf for a while but edventually it stops!

Hard to explain really hope it helps ..[=

Answer 11

your whole calf really and your heels when you are kicking cant really get more spacific than that! Just want to clarify that you. So mostly you use your calf BUT almost everywhere from your waist down is used in rding!

Answer 12

Knees into calves to push forward, calves into heel to move left or right, upper calves to ask fro a stop, taking your heels off completely, and giving the proper hand aids, as with any other thing you might ask from your horse. Specifics of leg aids can depend on the horse and how he has been trained, though usually, the universal ones mentioned will do the key :)