Why Does Your Horse Feel More Difficult on One Rein?

Everyone has a preferred side.

It doesn’t matter how experienced, talented or successful a rider you are. One side of your body will usually feel stronger, more coordinated or more secure than the other, and that asymmetry does not disappear when you get into the saddle.

For years, instructors told me that I didn’t have enough bend on the left rein and I couldn’t understand it. From where I was sitting, it felt as though I had loads of left bend. They were right, but it was not until much later in my riding career that I understood not only that it was happening, but why. I was concentrating so hard on what the horse was doing that I had underestimated the influence of my own body.

Your horse can feel far more than you realise

Imagine that the saddle has been removed and you are sitting on your horse bareback.

What can you feel beneath your seat? You may be able to feel the movement of the horse’s back and the line of the spine beneath you. Without the saddle, it can also be more difficult to brace or grip without immediately noticing what your body is doing.

Now think about how sensitive a horse is. Watch a horse standing in the field when a fly approaches. The horse may twitch its skin, swish its tail or stamp a foot in response to the smallest sensation, yet somewhere along the way, riders seem to have accepted that a horse will simply absorb everything we do on its back while somehow understanding which parts of our movement we intended. We apply the inside leg and expect the horse to understand the aid. But what if our leg is asking for bend while our pelvis, seat and bodyweight are saying something completely different? That is not disobedience. The horse may simply be receiving conflicting information.

What happens when one leg grips?

Most riders brace through one thigh or grip with one knee more than the other. When that stronger leg tightens, it doesn’t act independently. Tension through the thigh and hip can restrict the movement of the pelvis, lift or unload one side of the seat and transfer more weight towards the opposite seat bone. The pelvis may also rotate or become displaced rather than continuing to follow the horse’s movement evenly. The exact response varies between riders, but the important point is this… Your leg, pelvis and bodyweight are connected.

If one thigh tightens, the effect does not necessarily stop at the knee. It can change the way you sit and the forces passing through the saddle. Scientific research supports this wider principle. When rider asymmetry has been deliberately created during studies, researchers have measured changes in the movement of the horse’s thoracolumbar spine and pelvis. Studies have also found asymmetries in the force’s riders place through their stirrups. This means rider asymmetry is not simply about how straight someone looks. It can influence how the horse underneath them moves.

Are you asking for bend while facing the wrong way?

When we’re asking for bend with our rein or leg, we need to ourselves these questions:

• Which way is my pelvis facing?
• Can I feel both seat bones?
• Am I gripping with my inside knee?
• Has my inside hip lifted?
• Has my weight moved onto the outside seat bone?
• Are my shoulders following the direction in which I want to travel?

If your inside thigh grips and your pelvis rotates towards the outside, your leg and rein may be asking the horse to bend while your seat and bodyweight direct the horse somewhere else. The rider then feels that the horse is not listening and applies even more pressure, but the message is still unclear to the horse. 

Try this riding exercise

Ride down the long side of the arena in walk. As you approach the corner, notice your first instinct. Do you pull the inside rein, grip with the inside knee or turn your pelvis back towards the track?

Now try something different. Look where you want to go and allow your shoulders and pelvis to follow the direction of the turn. Keep your upper body upright and gently soften your inside thigh, allowing the inside knee to move fractionally away from the saddle. Don’t throw your weight to the inside. The aim is to remain connected through both seat bones while allowing your pelvis to follow the new direction. Notice whether you can maintain the bend with your seat and body position instead of holding the horse there with your hand or gripping leg. It is harder than it sounds.

Try it in both directions and ask yourself, “Is one way much harder than the other?” If it is, do not immediately assume that the horse is the problem. You may have found the direction in which your stronger thigh braces and takes your pelvis with it.

 

Your seat is part of the aid

A horse cannot understand our spoken explanation of what we intended.

It responds to pressure, release, balance, weight and movement. In other words, it responds to our body language. This applies on the ground and when ridden. Good training should help the horse follow clear, consistent physical communication. But consistency becomes difficult when the rider’s leg or rein asks one question while the pelvis and bodyweight ask another. The aim is to develop enough body awareness that the lower leg can move without unnecessarily gripping through the thigh, lifting the hip or displacing the pelvis.

 

Before blaming the difficult rein

Your horse may genuinely have its own physical or behavioural asymmetry. Pain, weakness, saddle fit, hoof balance and previous injury must always be considered when a horse persistently struggles in one direction. But the rider must remain part of that investigation. The next time your horse feels harder on one rein, pause before adding more leg or rein.

Check your inside knee. Check your pelvis. Check whether both seat bones are still connected. Then ask yourself “Is my whole body giving my horse the same instruction?”

Sometimes the horse we believe is resisting us may actually be responding very accurately to a message we did not realise we were giving.

 

Try it on your next ride

Ride the exercise in both directions and notice which rein feels easier. If you struggle to feel what your pelvis and stronger leg are doing, Equiseat Aid provides immediate physical feedback when the dominant leg begins to grip, which helps riders develop a more balanced, stable and consistent seat.

 

(The scientific wording is supported by research showing that induced rider asymmetry can alter equine spinal and pelvic movement, and by a 2023 biomechanical review of the ways rider balance and force are transferred to the horse: MacKechnie-Guire et al., 2020 and Clayton, MacKechnie-Guire and Hobbs, 2023.)