Watch Your Weight
When I was younger, an excellent bridle horseman in Nevada told me that the key to moving a horse to the left is to put more weight on his right side, and vice versa. I grew up with this philosophy and, as I got older and tested it on thousands of horses, I discovered that his theory is sound and applies to other things we do with our horses.
Written by Martin Black issued in the last western horseman magazine

Now i was tought the other way around.
That a horse will step under your weight.
So you when you are turning to the left you put more weight on the left.
Now when i do this my horse moves to the left.
My question is I been riding for years this way
What is your experience regarding this.

get you one of those excercise balls and sit on it and try shifting your weight.

you will find that the ball "squirts" away from pressure, just like your horse does.

Now after the initial move away from pressure, you horse might move under you again, if you have taught him that, but it is honestly a lot easier on him and you if your seat "helps" the horse and makes it easy for him to respond to your cues........

I don't always agree with Mr. Black, but I do in this instance......

When I am teaching a young horse to take off in a certain lead, I will use weight to help teach it. If I want the horse to take off in a right lead, I will step more weight into the left stirrup and sit a bit off center to the left. It sure helps the horse free up the right shoulder and take off in a right lead.

[ January 10, 2008, 08:55 AM: Message edited by: NW ]