Richard Spooner: Introducing a Young Horse to the Indirect Rein

Richard Spooner has released another educational video on his Facebook Page, and we’re all aflutter. His last video shared his methodology and introductory exercises for shortening and lengthening to a combination, and his newest video backs it up in the training process even further.

Proper steering sets the foundation for a talented and athletic young horse’s career, and here Richard illustrates not only his methodology for instruction, but also explains why he teaches it this way in this order.

The indirect rein is usually a horse’s first interaction with lateral movement, and the next stage in thinking about how to move their shoulders and hindquarters in response to a rider’s aids.

In the course of the six minute video, we’re able to observe how the four-year-old mare ‘Rockette’ responds to this new aid, and watch Richard’s body, cues, and hear his commentary as the mare learns.

The video generously includes the mare’s wide range of reactions rather than editing out the fussing, such that you can really see her learn from beginning to end.

We’re thrilled Richard has continued to share his skills on such a global level, and we’re looking forward to more videos soon (we hope!)

Go Jumping.