There may come a time when your horse is so strong that you must apply a pulley rein in order to stop the animal. This is a powerful, emergency rein aid that should be practiced before you have a real need for it, for if it is applied incorrectly, it will not only be ineffective, but can be dangerous.

First, make sure that your reins are quite short. Then place one hand in the dip in front of the horse’s withers, while SLOWLY pulling back with the other hand.  (Note: A quick jerk on the reins can flip the horse backwards.) The fixed rein position of the hand placed in the dip gives your other hand added force when you pull back. You should be sitting during the application of the pulley rein, so that your seat and back reinforce your hands. Also, the hand in the dip MUST REMAIN FIXED. If this hand slips and you’re only pulling back with the other hand, you could cause the horse to fall on its shoulder. (Look at some old cowboy movies and watch how the stuntmen cause their horses to fall by pulling hard on a single rein.)

The pulley rein should be so familiar to all levels of riders that it’s application is automatically correct when the need arises.

The rider applies a pulley rein by firmly placing one hand in the dip just in front of the withers, while pulling back smoothly with the other hand.

Riders who get ahead of the horse’s motion at take-off are often anxious riders who are using their upper bodies to motivate the horse, rather than properly using their legs. You should get into two-point position during your initial circle and stay there throughout the entire course. Concentrate on pressing the horse forward with your legs, rather than using your upper-body as a motivator. This way, you can stay still in your upper-body, making the performance look effortless, while using your legs to do all the work.

Be sure not to actively close your upper-body at take-off, but instead, let the horse’s jumping effort–that is, the arch of its back in the air, or “bascule”–close your hip angle for you. Also, if you’re riding a tense horse, don’t let the horse’s anxiety cause you to close your upper-body ahead of the motion, for this will actually make the horse more nervous and quick. Just stay in the same, still, two-point position around the course, letting the horse’s jumping effort close your hip angle ever so slightly in the air. That is all you need to do to stay with the motion of the horse.

The horse’s frame is the length of the animal’s body as controlled by the rider. When a rider shortens his horse’s body and length of step, he is collecting the horse into a “shorter frame”; when he elongates the body and length of step, he is lengthening the horse into a “longer frame.” A horse traveling on loose reins has “no frame.”

The rider has collected the horse into a short frame for the working trot sitting.

This horse is shown in a long frame during a Hunter Under Saddle class.

The horse has "no frame" as it trots, which is commonly called being "strung out."