I ride english.. its been about 4 years i guess. Legs are very important in riding. If you kind of shift your buns to the L or R of the saddle and your inside shoulder's back with outside shoulder forward that's definitely a good way to do it. Reins don't do all that much. Not as much as people seem to think anyway. Slowing down a horse in posting trot is mainly leaning back more when posting and lightly pulling on the reins. When I first started I thought that reins were the only thing to steer and stop. Oh boy.