Dressage Solutions: Create a Better Back-to-Front Connection

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Dressage Solutions: Create a Better Back-to-Front Connection

Use this "broomstick" analogy from Grand Prix dressage rider Jackie Kinney to develop a better connection from your horse's hind end to your reins and maintain the desired outline.

To create a better connection from the horse’s hind legs to the rider’s hands …  

Imagine the energy coming from the push of the horse’s hind legs, through your arms and into the reins so that they feel like broomsticks. The energy connects the horse, and the “broomsticks” enable you to direct the horse’s neck up or down into the desired outline and prevent the horse from dropping behind the bit or getting short in the neck.

— Jackie Kinney

About Jackie Kinney

Jackie Kinney is a Grand Prix rider who has been training horses and riders for 50 years and has found imagery and visualization to be important tools. She is a Graduate A Pony Clubber and USDF Bronze, Silver and Gold medalist. Kinney is the owner and operator of Horses in Harmony Farm based in Preston, Maryland, and Vero Beach, Florida.

This article first appeared in the 2025 winter print issue of Practical Horseman.