Riding with a cordero

Cordero or neck rope

I often get the question: how do you steer with this thing?




The answer is easy, I'm not, I'm steering with my seat. The neckrope is just a tool for correcting the horse. The horse needs to learn to understand and the rider needs to learn to use the cordero, and this takes a lot of work.

THE SEAT
The seat can be used in a variety of conditions, therefore it has a variety of types: open seat, closed seat, right seat, left seat. We can ask the horse different things with turning our pelvis, pressing with our thighs and lower legs from both sides or just one side, lowering our seatbone or lifting it.

Open seat means the rider is sitting on both seatbones, the legs are hanging loosely by the horse's side, gently touching but not pressing. The lower back of the rider follows the horse's movement. Take care not to overdo this movement and push with your lower back, this is incorrectly called an aid in itself, but this desensitizes the horse to the seat.

Closed seat means the rider rises slightly without leaning forward, the rider's weight is on the insides of the thighs, and the thighs are closed, but not pressing on the horse. 

Left seat, right seat means sitting asymmetrically.
Left seat looks like this:
The rider's left leg lies on the girth, left heel is pushed down causing the left seatbone of the rider to lower into the horse's back without putting more weight on the left side. Therefore it is possible to have your weight on your right seatbone in left seat. The right leg is behind the girth, the rider's pelvis is therefore parallel to the horse's pelvis, and the rider's shoulders are parallel to the horse's shoulders.
The right seat is the complete opposite of this.

The cordero or a whip can be used to correct the horse, or to reinforce the aids.

The whip can be used without touching the horse, just by pointing, or gently touching or giving a little flick.

The cordero can reinforce or correct the guiding of the shoulders, the halts, the stops and the frame.

This is how we ride with a cordero and also without it. When riding in a riding arena, always use left or right seat, according to the direction or bend you're riding. Only sit symmetrically, that is shoulders, legs, pelvis turned the same way on both sides, during stops and riding straight lines.

When asking something, first ask with the seat, then leg, then whip, cordero, etc..

If you skip asking with only the seat, soon your horse will only respond to secondary aids (every aid other than the seat).

Jana