Learning how to put the brakes on him was a real experience. Teaching him how to accept my legs spanned a great many lessons and today I look back on all I learned, grateful for the patience of one amazing horse whose beauty on the outside was outdone only by the beauty on the inside. When they come off of a track the closest thing to a leg they have ever felt is perhaps an overly large exercise rider or perhaps a tall rider back on the farm. Some horses that come from the fancier barns do learn leg aides before race training, but this is not the norm. Teaching an OTT TB how to accept the leg is a process that grows as the horse learns.
Racehorses only understand three directional aids, go, turn and stop.
We covered how to teach your OTT to accept the bit in our first installment. Your job as a rider is to teach your horse to accept your leg and seat as an aide in helping him learn he has other directional ability. Racehorses will often come right off your leg if you ask for a yield. This is not a schooled reaction, it is a flight reaction. Your OTT is trying to get away from the pressure so he is actually evading your leg.