An aid to communication…

I always wanted to be able to talk to animals. I’m no Dr. Dolittle, but it turns out there are ways to talk to horses! In the horse world, you use something called “aids.” An aid is simply something we use to ask or tell a horse something. There are two groups of aids: natural aids and artificial aids. The natural aids are your voice, your seat, your hands and your legs. Artificial aids are spurs, whips or crops, bits and pretty much all the other physical objects used in riding. Here, I’ve gone over very quickly what these basic aids are.

NATURAL AIDS
1. Your voice can be used to tell a horse a lot of different things. You can praise a horse and reward him for being good, or you can reprimand him and punish him for being bad, just with the tone in your voice. You can also use specific word cues, such as “walk” or “halt” to give your horse a particular command. Many people also use sounds, such as the “clicking noise” used to encourage horses to go faster or the “kissy noise” used by some to ask a horse to canter.

2. Your seat is used to tell your horse how fast you want to go, at what gait and in which direction. Just by leaning forward or loosening your hips you can encourage a horse to go faster, where slowing your hips down will slow him down. You also let him know when to jump a jump with your seat, by closing your hip angle (bringing your thighs and belly closer) and rising out of the saddle.

3. Your hands obviously control the reins, which tell a horse to turn and to stop. Your hands can also help a horse carry his body better (called “collection” in fancy dressage words).

4. Your legs are first used to ask a horse to go faster or change gaits. They can also be used to guide your horse through proper turns, and in asking your horse to bend. Legs are very important in getting a horse round (that “collection” again!).

ARTIFICIAL AIDS
1. Spurs (pictured above) are little metal points you put on your feet to make sure your horse listens to your leg aid. Both English and Western riders can use spurs, although they tend to use different kinds of spurs.

2. Whips can be used in the saddle, like a dressage whip, or from the ground, like a lounge whip. A whip supports your leg aids, asks for more detailed commands, or replaces your leg (as in lounging or driving).

3. Bits are used in the horse’s mouth to steer and stop him. There are hundreds of different kinds of bits!

Knowing how to use all these aids is a key to riding successfully. Oftentimes, overuse of any of these will cause a horse to stop listening. Check out some of the other riding blog entries for more detailed discussions of your seat and other aids!