Proper Hand Position While Riding

By Dana Hokana 

In the last article we focused on riding mindfully. We learned that if we focus and pay attention to your hand cues we could develop a lighter more responsive horse. In this article I will teach you proper hand position and you will learn that you can greatly improve your horse’s performance by understanding how to use your hands correctly.

Many people have been riding for years, and have been getting the job done, but don’t fully understand how their hand position is affecting their horses performance. You might have subtle amounts of lean in your horse and you don’t know why and it may be that you have been inadvertently opening a door with your hands. I was giving a lesson yesterday to one of my apprentices and she was struggling with her two year old colt drifting toward the fence. It was very frustrating because he was showing a lot of lean drifting to the outside of the circle. She didn’t realize it but her hand position left an open door for him to lean. After she realized that her open hand position was allowing that lean, she made subtle changes with her hands and she fixed the problem. Knowledge is wonderful!

I will teach you several basic principles that will greatly improve your communication with your horse.

Basic Principal Number One

The direction of your pull directly affects specific body parts of your horse. By changing the direction of your pull, you can change what part of your horse’s body that you move.

A general rule to remember is that when your hands are in front of the withers and you add forward motion you move the front end of the horse.

When your hands are behind the withers you control the ribcage and hindquarters.

So, for example if you are asking your horse to do a turn on the haunches and he keeps backing into the turn extend your hand forward in front of the saddle horn. This better isolates the front end and makes your cue clearer to the horse.

If you are asking your horse to push his hind quarters around his front end and he just keeps stepping sideways try drawing your hand back and to the side, behind the wither and this will enable him to isolate and move just his hindquarters.

 

PROPER HAND POSITION GIVES YOUR HORSE A CLEARER MESSAGE

Basic Principal Number Two

You open a door for your horse with your hands and your legs. Your hands are used to give direction, and your hands are used with your legs to engage collection. Sometimes either by lack of knowledge or mindless riding you can close or open doors or directions with your hands. Anytime the direction of your pull ends up back by your body you are shutting down your horse’s motion, if your hands are open and forward you are opening a space for your horse to move into. Increase your level of awareness, ride mindfully and be very intentional about where you send your horse.

Basic Principal Number Three

Learn to use your hands correctly in the snaffle bit vs. the shank bridle. They are two very different bridles that you use on your horse. I will give you a basic understanding of the differences between the two.

Let’s start with the mechanics of a snaffle bit vs. the mechanics of a shank bridle. When you ride your horse in a snaffle you use direct pull reining. A snaffle has a broken mouthpiece with rings that your reins attach to. It is a simpler, more basic style of riding and involves fewer parts of the horse’s mouth, chin, and jaw. When you pull on the snaffle bit reins you have a direct line to the corners of the horse’s mouth. A snaffle is designed to be ridden two-handed.

When riding in a snaffle don’t lock your elbow or your wrist, keep some bend in your elbow and be flexible and soft with your hands. Since the snaffle is a direct rein pull, open or direct your inside rein to clearly show the direction you want to go. I don’t have an exact rule as to where I keep my hands. I keep them flexible, moving them according to which body part I want to move. A snaffle makes exercises such as following the nose and taking the horse’s head side to side to gain lateral flexion very simple and easy.

The difference between a snaffle and the bridle is the shank. The reins attach to the end of the shank multiplying the pounds of pressure that you may apply to your horse’s mouth. A shank bridle is more severe than a snaffle. A shank bridle allows you to apply pressure to the tongue, bars, roof of the mouth and the chin or jaw. The bridle is an indirect rein pull and turning or guiding your horse involves teaching him to respond to an indirect rein and move off the pressure of the rein.

The snaffle and bridle are so different from one another that getting the most from their use involves understanding how to apply your hands and where your directional pull should be. A bridle is designed to be ridden one handed.

I like to teach people to keep their elbow down and relaxed and use their forearm to guide or direct the horse. Unless you are backing or correcting your horse keep your rein hand at the saddle horn or in front of it.

I hope these tips broaden your knowledge and help you to become a better rider and to gain control of your horse. Next time we will learn how to teach your horse proper flexion in the head and neck.  To learn more you can attend one of Dana’s upcoming clinics September 5-7^th, and December 5-7^th, 2008.