Changing schooling whip over

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Toz

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Hi
Last week I rode a very slow horse who needs lots of encouragement with a stick- no smacks but lots of light reminders. I was using a short jumping stick, and because his canter lurches so much I was struggling to keep my balance while taking a hand off the reins to tap him, so ended up trying to leave my hand on the reins and tap him.

Of course this resulted in long bruises down both lower legs, the stick was too short to reach behind them so of course I caught myself with it every time I tried...
This week, to my joy, I was put on this same horse, but given a schooling whip to use, and had excessive difficulty not only actually using it, but changing it over too.
Does anyone have any tips for me to use when I'm using a schooling whip, and when changing it over when going on the other rein?
Ooh and while you're there, any exercises/tips on core strength and staying upright after the transition down to trot after canter?
Thanks all for getting this far!
 
It can be a bit fiddly at first. You could try thinking if it as a three part sequence.
1- Take both reins into the hand you have the whip in to start with.
2- Flip the wrist of the hand holding the whip so the whip stands almost vertically in front of you.
3- Take the other hand (the one you're passing the whip to) and take hold of the whip with your hand 'upside-down' (thumb pointing down).
Then flip this hand back to its correct position and retake hold of the rein with it.
Hope I've explained this clearly(!)

I remember practising with a set of reins fastened to a gate. (You could use the back of a chair too). You can really slow down the sequence doing this, counting "1, 2, 3" as you do it and it doesn't matter so much if you get muddled. If you do it again and again, it just becomes automatic.

Pilates is supposed to help with core strength. I think balance in downward transitions just comes with time. (Mine certainly aren't always prefect!!)

Good luck. Hope your next lesson goes well.
 
Bearing down through the downward transition (i.e., the feeling you get of pushing your pelvic floor down when you clear your throat/cough) will increase the stability of your core/upper body - keep your shoulders relaxed though and don't stop breathing! Another vote for pilates, although I've just started riding my road bike indoors on rollers (too scaredy to ride on the roads this winter, after the last one) and just staying on board is taking more core strength than I thought existed!!
 
There is quite a good description (with illustrations) of how to change a schooling whip over in the BHS Manuel of Equitation. The first method shown in the video linked is technically incorrect - more importantly, it is actually quite awkward if you have a fairly long schooling whip like I do as you end up having to draw your hand quite far away from the horse. It does take practice. Trick is getting your 'receiving' hand facing the right way as you grab the whip.
 
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