October 2026
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Wexford Training Newsletter
Finding Balance from the Inside Out
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Dear Friends,
This month I am continuing on from talking about bits to talking about reins. Riding reins, or driving reins, are the most important part of a bridle. With or without a bit, how we use the reins is really the biggest deal. Ray Hunt, exceptional cowboy and horse whisperer, once said, “I could start a young horse in a barbed wire bit if I had enough feel.” Ray’s point was, it’s not about the bit. It’s about our hands, how we use the reins attached to that bit, that makes all the difference. As riders or drivers, our balance, our feel and our timing is what makes or breaks communication with horses through the reins.
And, spoiler alert, I did not complete another segment for the Accidental Therapy book that I usually include at the bottom of the newsletter. Please stand by….
Kirsten
kirsten.wexford@gmail.com
P.S.
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“Nothing is absolute. Everything changes, everything moves,
everything revolves…”
- Frida Khalo
Rein Contact and Rein Aids
Riding reins are two way transmitters of information, whether we are riding or driving horses. It does not matter if the reins are attached to a bit, snaffle or curb, or no bit at all but just a noseband of some sort. The way we use the reins is far more important than the type of bit we use or if the horse wears a bit at all. Reins are used to connect a horse with a rider or driver and are intended for two-way communication.
A contact means a connection, a touch, a place where one body interacts with another but does not influence the other body. People have seat, leg and rein contacts to use for gathering information about horses. We listen to horses through our contacts. A rein contact receives information about how a horse is coordinating the head and neck mechanically and provides a lot of information about the horse’s body weight distribution during motion.
An aid means assistance. All riding aids guide or assist horses by increasing pressure, resistant forces generated by a person’s seat, legs or reins. Resistant forces are applied in order to counteract unbalanced forces, steer directions or adjust speeds, guide horses. We talk to horses through our aids, but the conversation is pretty limited. All we can say to horses through aids is, “No, don’t do that, don’t go that way or don’t stay at this speed.” Aids can’t tell a horse exactly what to do, they can only tell a horse what not to do. Not generating resistant forces, releasing an aid, is how we say “Yes, do that” to horses.
When we use a contact, an absence of any resistant forces, we say “Yes” and we listen for the horse’s next choice. When we use an aid, use resistant forces, we say “No” until the horse makes a different choice. This Yes-No conversation is the conversation we have with horses. It is simple, but effective if we are clear.
For riders, seat and leg contacts are not optional. We straddle a horse and maintain constant contact in those areas. Rein contact is optional. We can ride on a loose rein, with no connection between our arms and horse’s head at all. As soon as we pick up the reins, use one or both reins for steering or speed adjustments, we are giving rein aids.
A rein contact means we are touching, connecting our arms to a horse’s head. There must be consistent tension in the reins in order to make contact, but the tension is not creating resistance, it is just a neutral touch. A rein contact does not influence the use or position of the horse’s neck and head, nor does it resist direction or speed adjustments. Any increase of rein tension, on one or both reins, instantly transitions a rein contact into a rein aid. Any decreases of rein tension, slack in the reins, disconnects a rein contact.
Reins are an important part of helping horses balance coordination internally. A rein contact provides information through changes in rein tension coming from horses. Reins are force transmitters, so rein tension changing reflects horses changing coordination internally, generating a change in the forces of motion. As horses increase or decrease rein tension, on both reins or only one rein, it is because body weight distribution, muscle tone and use of the skeleton is changing. Maintaining a rein contact helps us feel small changes in horse coordination rapidly.
A horse’s shape is primarily horizontal, meaning the body has a long horizontal plane with shorter vertical and lateral planes. We put a saddle, for riding or driving, right on top of the fulcrum of the horizontal plane, the axis of balance front to back and left to right. The reins attach to the far end of the horizontal plane. When the fulcrum of a teeter-totter moves just a little, the outer edges of the planks move a lot. When horses change coordination, we feel the effect of that change through the reins at the outer edge of the body.
When horses body weight shifts too far forward, we feel an increase of rein tension on both reins as a result. When horses shift weight unequally left to right, we feel an increase of rein tension on one rein and a decrease of tension on the other at the same time. When horses laterally bend or twist the spine, we also feel tension on one rein increase while the other decreases, even if the horse looks straight. When horses drop the back they shorten the neck, decreasing tension on both reins, even if they appear to be collected.
Rein aids help resist these imbalances or dysfunctional coordination, but only influence the use of the neck and head, not the torso or hindquarters. Rein aids create resistance to body weight shifting too far forward, but the same aids cannot cause a horse to shift weight back where it belongs. That is a much more complicated process. Alternating rein aids left and right can resist body weight shifting too far left or right, resist bending or twisting of the spine, but cannot actually alter coordination. Only the horse can do that internally, and discovering a balanced coordination requires some trial and error.
Short reins are not heavy reins when horses can balance their own coordination. Heavy reins, long or short, always indicate a loss of balance, dysfunctional coordination, which also makes steering and speed adjustments difficult.
When horses balance coordination internally, we feel the result as stable, steady light rein contact. The better horses get at balancing coordination, the less resistant force is required for rein aids that assist a rebalance, steering or speed adjustments.
I thought I would share an oldie but a goodie from my YouTube channel. I made this video awhile ago, but I think it might be helpful right now for people. I have been focusing on my own center quite a lot recently in the midst of what feels like a storm of changes. This video is for riders and non-riders alike, just for you as a person to help you find and stabilize your center. When we take a little time to connect with our center it helps us calm down and clear our minds. I hope you find this exercise useful!
To join a scheduled clinic, please contact the coordinator directly. To book a clinic, please contact me directly at kirsten.wexford@gmail.com
