“Contact is a private conversation between the horse & the rider.”

People are always telling others what “contact” they should have with their horse. But the appropriate contact is a conversation that is constantly changing between the rider and the horse. I believe it to be a private matter that only the horse and rider can decide.

In equestrian art, one uses the expression: the horse makes contact, or he does not.

With the expression: the horse makes contact one wants to convey that he constantly feels the bits gently with his lower jaw, or the on his nose, so that he senses their every movement, and yields to it without avoiding it or bracing against it.

Through the rein contact the horse will consequently remain in unison with his rider and give him the advantage of remaining maneuverable and flexible at all times.
The rein contact is so intimately connected to the guidance that one can say that a rider who wants to guide his horse well must have taught him above all light rein contact.”