REIN CONTACT: A Simpler Understanding

Everyone knows the amusing Thelwell cartoons where the pony won't go so the rider rigs up a carrot to dangle out in front of the pony's mouth! It's quite funny but the truth in it is pretty interesting. Ever tried luring a loose horse back to the barn with a single carrot? Run out of carrot and you are in trouble! The trick is to break off small pieces and keep him interested in moving toward the rest of the carrot. The horse is an inquisitive pal and one that can be distracted. Relationship to contact? I would say that lays in the perspective of 'contact' we can recognize through 'non-contact'. When we are luring the horse with a carrot, if we lure him too long he loses faith that he'll ever get a piece. But if we give him a piece, lure him and then repeat the process, he joins to the moving carrot! That's contact!
I have always been curious about what is called 'stiffened reins' or the use of poles to help the horse go forward. These reins have a metal core so when you advance them you 'push' the head forward. I believe they were used on horses that were not keen on moving forward. So by advancing the head and neck, the body is pulled along with it and the horse moves on. Interesting concept!
Now transfer that idea to how we can use energy to move the horse forward. When we send mixed and churned and magnified energy from the hips through the elbows by way of 'sparks' we need to push or project this energy down the reins powerfully. I tell my students to push the reins like a shopping cart or wheelbarrow. The effect is that the energy moves down the reins and to the mouth and moves the mouth forward! The body then follows. For every push from the horse's hindquarters, the energy is then pushed down the reins. When students start making contact through PUSH on the rein instead of PULL or TAKE, the entire physique of the horse transforms into a vibrant form with lift and reach in the neck. It is a beautiful natural form of collection that renders the horse easy and in control of himself.
I have a law of opposites that I like to talk about. Less is more. Think small, become large. Use less leg, get more attention from the horse. There are MANY opposites that apply which you will hear me talk about a lot. By pushing away the mouth you wish to make contact with the horse moves toward the contact to meet it!