rider's aids

The thighs should fall as vertically as possible. The calves are in contact without gripping.
A rider must also make sure his joints are working correctly. Like a skier on a hill with many humps, he cushions the movements allowing his hip, knee and ankle joints to give. The same applies at the rising trot. Stay well over your feet to ensure you don’t hang on to the reins.
Leg pressure must, under no circumstance, be continuous. The grand theory of the older instructors who believed that to be a good rider it was compulsory to have strong legs: «legs, always use your legs» seems to me an obstacle in establishing effective communication with the horse.
I believe that the best leg action is the one obtaining the maximum effect, using the minimum pressure.

Contact with the mouth must also be established through supple fingers and with the arm joints free of all useless tension. The horse is sensitive to the slightest rigidity, the smallest tension… his confidence in the rider’s hands is extremely fragile. It must be safeguarded at all costs, and above all… be aware of the natural reflex that leads one to hang on to the reins and move the hands back towards oneself.
The rider must, on the contrary, move his hands forward without changing his seat and this must occur whatever movements the horse’s neck may make while jumping, extending the canter… or each time the horse needs to relax after working in a “fixed” position.
To keep constant contact, imagine that you are riding with elastic reins allowing variations in tension to be eliminated. In reality, your arms will act as ‘shock-absorbers’ by moving forward.
You can also imagine that the bit is linked to the ends of your reins with nothing else keeping it in place… no cheek pieces, only the light and soft contact you establish with the horse’s mouth. If you lose contact, the bit will fall out of the horse’s mouth… and communication with the horse is interrupted.