Because I was always taught to use it behind my feet to reinforce my aid, and that a tap on a shoulder was more likely to put a horse off his stride than send him on.

But I'm beginning to see more and more people using their whips on the horses shoulder. So I'm just wondering what everyone else on here does.

The crop is carried as an extra aid for the leg. Weather you're out hacking or inside schooling a crop can help IF it is used correctly. So many answers are using on the shoulder for many reasons which to my mind are wrong. If you have been taught correctly you should know that the crop is used just behind the calf and WITH the leg. Ask your horse to trot from walk or canter from trot. If he doesn't answer your leg take the reins in one hand and use the crop with the leg then hold the reins again. Don't ever use it as a punishment. You can also use your voice with the leg before the crop. Even if you are out hacking, assume that you are in the school, i.e. bend to the left or right so you can use the crop on the "inside" because it is the inside leg that asks for impulsion.

BHS AI Instructor

I use it on the shoulder to tell my horse off, or to wake him up. Also if I'm schooling him (he's still green) and he falls in, I use it on the inside shoulder, as well as my inside leg, to keep him back out. I use it behind my leg to back up my leg aid, there's no point "kicking" loads if they're not listening to that, you need to give them an extra reminder in the same place where you leg would be, but it's something different so he's kinda like "oh **** what was that!" I would never use it on his shoulder to make him go faster, just think, if your lunging your horse and he's not listening to your voice and won't move, where do you use the whip? Not on his shoulder!

My horse

Depends what I'm asking for- if I'm about to take off on a jump and I can feel my horse falter, as a last minute resort I'll whip his shoulder and growl to make sure he gets over. I also use it on his shoulder to tell him off- he often paws under saddle so I'll give him a quick flick up and he quickly packs that in. Ditto when he tries to eat on a hack. pets question and answers,www.5d2d.com

I generally keep a shoulder whip as a punishment and behind-the-leg whip to reinforce leg. A lot of horses that buck though just get trained to be whipped on their shoulders and never their bellies so as to avoid the drama. I guess I'd tailor my whipping techniques to the horse I was on, but since I pretty much refuse to ride other horses anymore that's not really an issue :)

It's all good anyway.

Depends on what I'm doing.

If I'm doing dressage work with my horse I will use the whip behind my leg to remind him of his hindquarters, and encourage him to use them and develop impulsion. I will also sometimes tap on the hindquarters as a directional aid, if he's falling in or out of the circle.

When I'm jumping or on a lazy horse that needs to be more forward moving, I will use a crop on their shoulder to back up my leg aids. When I use a whip on the shoulder, it's not a cue to make them go faster- it's more of a "Tap, tap, tap, hello! I'm telling you something with my legs, so listen!" The crop that I use is a normal jumping bat that has a flap on the end, so it's more about the noise than the bite of the whip.

For me, a tap on the shoulder is a reinforcement, to remind the horse you are there if they are beginning to ignore your leg aids. A gentle pressure on the horse's shoulder works for a steering aid on some horses. If I need to really push the horse forward, I tap behind my leg. And if they are doing something really naughty I give them a good whack. But only if I am absolutely sure it is their fault, not mine. School horses do that you know, they think they can get away with anything sometimes!