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This article was originally written in Danish by Mille Christophersen.
Do you want to prevent your hands from acting inappropriately while riding? We've put together a series covering the most common mistakes riders make with their hands. The goal is to help your hands work with the horse, rather than against it. The other articles cover avoiding pulling back on the reins, keeping your hands at the right angle, and preventing the reins from slipping through your fingers.
READ ALSO part 1: The rider's hands: Get the right angle on your wrist
A steady hand with elastic contact is the best way to encourage the horse to work softly in your hand, seeking forward and down towards the bit. Unfortunately, getting your hands to function independently of the rest of your body can be quite challenging. It can take years of training, and even top riders are continually working on improving their contact with the horse, whether they are dressage or show jumping riders.
Do your hands bounce up and down? It’s quite common to struggle with unsteady hands while riding. Often, this is due to the rider’s elbows "flapping" too much. You can test whether the issue lies with your hands or elbows by riding forward in a sitting trot. Are your hands still unsteady? What about in walk or canter? If you find that your hands bounce the most in the trot, it’s highly likely that your elbows are the culprits, rather than your hands. Fortunately, there is help at hand.
To get a sense of how much your elbows need to open and close, you can thread an old noseband through the small rings at the front of your saddle, creating a loop to hold onto in all gaits. Focus on this: your goal should be to let your elbows absorb the horse’s movements as much as possible. It might be easiest to try this while someone else lunges your horse, so you can close your eyes and not worry about where the horse is going.
In the canter, your elbows should move forward and back, allowing your body to follow the horse’s natural movements. In the trot, sitting on the horse feels more bouncy, and it can be particularly helpful to focus on keeping your elbows heavy. Keep them heavy and close to your sides. However, they should not only feel heavy but also soft and flexible, especially at the elbow joint. This will make it much easier to follow the horse’s movements with your hands.
Of course, our advice is only meant to help you get the right feel when riding. It’s entirely up to you and your horse to figure out what works. That being said, the more you practice your hand position, the better it will become, and your riding will often feel easier as a result. If you have multiple hand position issues, more advice and guidance will be coming soon. This is just one out of four articles, all focused on using your hands correctly. We recommend, however, that you focus on one thing at a time so you don’t overwhelm yourself with too many focus points at once. If your hands tend to be unsteady and bounce a lot, you can start by applying the tips we’ve provided here.
This was the final article in the series of four. We hope you’ve found the advice useful in addressing any hand position issues you might be facing in your daily riding. If nothing else, you’ve certainly gained more awareness of how to position your hands correctly so your signals can influence the horse as effectively as possible.
READ ALSO: Research shows: Frequent rider changes can lead to frustrated horses
