- Replace the English saddle with a Western saddle.
- Choose longer and rounder stirrups.
- Replace a snaffle bit with an O-ring or D-shaped bit.
- Attach a breast collar when needed.
- Use shorter reins and a neck rope or mecate if desired.
Step 2: Alter Your Posting and Rising Style
- When posting, use your core and legs to push down, instead of your arms.
- Allow the horse to move the saddle forward and back with each step.
- Do not rise out of saddle while trotting.
- Sit your trot.
- Your knees will be more relaxed and slightly forward.
- Your feet will need to point more forward, as with Western stirrups.
Step 3: Change Your Rein and Body Positioning
- Keep the reins loose in your hand.
- Move your hand away from the horse’s neck and closer to the pommel.
- Hold your reins with one hand, leaving the other hand free, if desired.
- Relax and let your arms go loose; your arms will move with your horse's neck when it turns or moves.
- Keep your shoulders more square with your horse and not as square with the ground.
Step 4: Hold Your Horse Differently
- If reining with one hand, hold the reins near the horn.
- Keep both reins in your right hand if you are reining with two hands.
- If you hold your reins like an English rider, you may use a curb strap.
Step 5: Communicate Differently with Your Horse
- Use neck cues to guide your horse.
- Pull one rein to tell the horse to turn that direction.
- To slow down and stop, shift your weight back, use a neck rein, and lightly pull the reins.
Step 6: Prepare for a New Experience
- You will feel less upright in the saddle.
- Your hands will be relaxed and farther away from horse’s neck.
- Your balance will depend on your heels, calves and core.
- You will use neck reining instead of guiding your horse with your hands alone.
- Your stirrups will be longer.
- You may decide to sit the trot without posting if riding a gaited horse or if your trainer asks you to.
- Ask for help from a Western trainer until you feel comfortable with the new riding style.