Correct hand position

[Hustler]

Hi there, I am new to this so apologies if this is in the wrong place.

I have a youngster (4) who I am having lessons with to help us improve. In general he is doing very well. Responding to half halts, bending nicely, moving off the leg etc however I find him to be a very diffeent horse than to what he is when we are riding in an open field which I do regularly.

If i canter circles I feel like I have complete control. If I canter him in a straight line towards a jump I can keep him steady however if I canter straight with nothing ahead but open space, it becomes a race. I am working hard to correct this and recently discovered that lifting my hands a little is helping me gain more control.

I suspect that I probably ride with quite low hands in the first instance so this slight raise is in fact bringing me to the right level thus taking back my control.

I wanted to see if this is correct. Does having your hands too low mean that you are forfeiting an element of control. My friend says that she has seen him over bend in canter but I am leaning forward as he does it. I try my hardest not to lean forward so is it possible that my low hands are giving him to opportunity to evade the bit and is in turn pulling down and pulling me forward?

Just wanted peoples opinion. I do have an instructor and I will ask him but I only have lessons in a school which gives a very differnent approach to the rest of my experiences.

All comments appreciated please.

 

[lynz88]

horses tend to lift their heads in order to evade the bit. By lifting your hands, you are creating a straight line from bit to elbow (since this is how you should be riding).

I too ride with my hands low and my coach used to yell at me for riding with my hands so low. When I do lift my hands, it feels like they are miles in the air when they are actually in the correct position.

 

[Littlelegs]

Yes, I think hand position has a big effect. I'm very fussy about position in general, I think when schooling if you aren't right you can't expect the horse to go as well as it would if you were. I used to have a habit of riding with my inside hand about half an inch lower than the outside all through my teens. Riding an old bosses psg schoolmaster cured me of it very quickly. Even working trot in a 20m circle he would do terribly if your hands or any other aspect of your position was less than completely perfect. Between him & my boss, it really did make me realise just how much effect even the most subtle fault can have. Without actually seeing you its hard to say specifically what problem they cause, but I do believe they will be effecting him one way or another.
And with the problems in open spaces, avoid cantering across them. Ask for plenty of walk/trot transitions going across, then a few strides of canter near the end. Then you can increase the strides of canter both when open spaces become less exciting & his canter work in general improves. And when calmer cross open spaces with a series of walk/trot/canter transitions rather than one fast canter. But avoid always cantering in the same spots. Patches of wide verge with space for only a few strides of canter are handy too. And if you spend a lot of time schooling & see hacking as your down time, he may not be going forward & using his energy same as a school so you get a sudden spurt when you do canter. If that's a possibility the solution is to keep him working properly outside the school too.

 

[Kat]

Yes it does make a difference. My instructor was having just this discussion about my hands last night!

You need a straight unbroken line from bit to elbow, and a nice bend in your elbow.