Shortening the reins does not mean pulling. You take them with the goal of wanting the neck lengthening along the top. This is a connection between you and the horse.
This connection is extremely important in transitions up. It is also said that the horse has to have the confidence to go forward. This means he must not hit the bit when you ask for forward. This also means that you do not throw your reins away. It is a skill. To have a short softening rein that the horse can go forward into. The rider does not learn this overnight. This is between the horse and the rider and no-one else. When the horse has the confidence in their rider’s hands they WILL go forward
As said above you always ride, do, think and write, seat, then legs, then reins. ALWAYS.
WHAT @eightpondfarm said above is called proving the rein. This will only work when the horse is in the outside rein. This is a reward to the horse. It does not have to be between you and the World, it may not be seen, it is between you and the horse.
Everything is between you and the horse. They are a truthful mirror. What you see is what you are doing and believe me that mirror will show every blackhead and pimple. The horse is still a mirror reflecting when the instructor gets on and the horse goes forward = no blackheads or pimples.
An anecdote for the weight in the reins. Sorry this will probably be wrong you can stop reading now!
You do not know how much your riding has changed until you go back and ride the horses you rode before. Not everyone has that opportunity but boy does it open your eyes. In my case Bravo, Pepper and Tristan. Pepper my first horse and we went through Pony Club together, Tristan a Norwegian Fjord, who ALWAYS jogged the whole way home on a trail ride, Bravo, a percheron/Arab trained to medium at the place I was working at the time.
My heart horse, Hot Pepper, trained by beginner me and went from coming last in everything until the year we won everything we entered, we won a One Day Event on our Dressage Score by 66 points. I just had to think what I want and he did it.
I became an instructor and I got a job interstate. Pepper did not go with me or the horses where I was working. Including the horse I trained, I thought with my seat, for the instructor’s certificate. Aztec.
I had never ridden a trained horse before. I could not ride. I was told my hands were dead, my legs were dead and I was not using my seat. I could NOT do a trot canter transition. Walk canter fine. Trot canter nope. I was living by myself in a caravan and I would cry at night. I would try and think of what I had achieved with Pep and Az to try again the next day.
Bravo was a percheron/Arab retrained to medium who was so heavy and slow and cumbersome to ride. He couldn’t get out of his own way
I brought a warmblood mare back into work. She had been in with the brood mares. She was covered in lumps. I lunged her for 3 days and fell in love. I offered to buy her.
After deliberation my instructor did sell her to me, she was going to sell her to her accountant. She lost her accountant over it. She said I would not have been able to ride her when I first came. Golden Vienna. She had received over 50% in a medium dressage test. She had been trained up to half steps.
I progressed from lunging to getting on her. We would be in trot and she would walk. We would be in canter and she would trot. I was told I was not using my seat.
I have never ridden in spurs, I have short Achilles tendons and can’t put my heels down like normal people. I did not pick up a whip. I did not kick. I physically leant forward and stroked her neck and said, "Thank you Vinnie for telling me I am not using my seat. I will try again.
Every.Single,Day, with the same result … until. Day 31. On Day 31 I did not feel any different. On Day 31 I did not feel that I was doing anything remotely differently. On Day 31 she stayed in trot. On Day 31 she stayed in canter. On Day 31 my life changed. It was pure magic. Don’t take 31 days like I did, start pilates now. And don’t forget that I was taking out 5 hour trail rides in a dressage saddle plus giving and taking lessons daily before this job. At this job I was riding 8 dressage horses a day.
On Day 31 I could do trot canter transitions. Suzie Q runs around with her jumper half off, waving her hands in the air and squealing. Imagine being soooo happy about doing something so mundane.
Sue can you hop on Bravo? He had a grass seed in his mouth yesterday and we don’t want him going up and over backwards on a customer do we?
On Bravo in a snaffle, and not his normal double bridle, because of the seed and OMG. HE was light and soft and forward and started doing a canter pirouette. I was so disappointed to get off. I gave him to the student. When she came out I asked how did he go. He is so heavy and cumbersome and couldn’t get out of his own way.
I went home and hopped on Pepper. I was on a loose rein, approaching the second corner. I picked up the reins. He shot backwards past A. I had no idea what happened and so I did it again. The same thing happened. So Pepper told me that I am now picking up the reins differently to how I did before. Gee did I pick them up gingerly after that. So the picking up the reins from Ammy Sue to professional Sue was nowhere near the same, however if you had asked me I would have said there was no difference.
And the last anecdote if you have made it this far was on Tristan, the Norwegian Fjord. When I say he jogged home I meant it. He jogged home every step, I had had a session where I had tried to make him walk by taking him away and turning for home and I had to stop as someone, probably me, was going to get hurt.
So I take him out on a trail ride and when he went to jog. I did not pull on the reins. I did have hold of them. I dropped my seat.
He threw a full on, no holds barred tantrum. Like a little kid who throws himself down on his tummy and hits his fists on the ground. Then he went right 2 steps and we hit a tree. Back to the same spot and the tantrum. Then we went left 2 steps and we hit a tree, so we returned to the same spot and the tantrum. Then we went back 2 steps and we hit a tree. He returned to the same spot and he stood. I dropped the reins on his neck, asked for walk with my seat and said, "Okay Tris you can walk home now. " AND HE DID.
I went back years later and asked the trail ride guide who was riding him if he ever jogs on the way home. She looked at me as if I was nuts.
So at @KurPlexed I will say that before you shorten the rein, you have to have your seat working first, and then your legs, only then can you shorten the reins.
and there are many ways to be an effective rider. In the fourth level tests I shorten my reins one stop between the trot and canter work.