You know what it means to apply light contact with the bit, but have you ever wondered if your interpretation is the same as other riders’? And how strong is "strong contact," exactly? What kinds of effects do these different hand movements have on your horse–particularly his stride?

These questions are what a couple of England-based equitation science researchers set out to answer. With the use of a patented rein gauge tensionmeter called "ReinCheck," Hayley Edwards, BSc, and Hayley Randle, BSc, PhD, of Duchy College in Cornwall, U.K., compared rein tension from a group of leisure riders at the walk and the trot