Estride rider training aid for hands

[Ample Prosecco]

https://www.estride.store/steady

My hands need to improve: I am stronger in the rght hand and I am inconsistent in both, I let the left go slack regularly and I bend my hands inwards. I thought this looked good as it is meant to correct all that. But I have never heard of it so di;t know how well it actually works.

Anyone got any direct experience of it?

 

[milliepops]

hmm interesting. I watched the videos etc and having a left hand that tends towards a piano hand I could see the benefit of that, but tbh the thing that is improving that is recruiting my lats properly through equipilates/visualisation rather than remembering the hand itself, if I use the whole shoulder/arm properly then the hand corrects itself.

There doesn't seem to be much online about this except from estride themselves. I would worry that in trying to keep the hands still you will end up tensing in the arm/shoulder and that has the opposite effect to what is needed to maintain an elastic contact.

Be interested to see if anyone has used it tho.

 

[Goldenstar]

I think that looks very interesting however it is one thing to know when you have moved your hand incorrectly it’s another to understand how to correct it .

 

[TPO]

Most issues with hands, like you've described, are often secondary to something else.

A lot of the time it is asymmetry in the body. This tends to present as a collapsing of one side and falling out through the other.

Other secondary "symptoms" are uneven stirrup leathers, gripping up and losing stirrups and the rider feeling like they are reaching for a stirrup on one side.

Trying to get it straight in my head but if someone is right hand dominant it tends to be the left side that collapses and falls out to the right (mucking out is a big cause of it). The left stirrup then tends to be shorter (either actually shorter or rider shifts saddle when riding). As the rider falls out to the right they tend to hold on to that rein for balance, rather than an elastic contact, and the left rein get dropped in the midst of everything else going on.

Before dropping £120 on kit that tells me I'm wrong but not how to fix it I'd want to take a proper hard look at myself. Video from as many angles as possible, but specifically from behind when travelling in a straight line, to look for asymmetry and unbalanced riding. Then the same assessment of the horse using the boney points as level markers. Then the same again for rider and looked to see if shoulders, pelvis and knees are level. Another good marker is from base of neck out to the end of the shoulder, one side is often shorter because of muscle contraction. The trapezius muscle can be telling too.

Then I'd look at rider physio/pilates and core strength (only strengthening a straightened body) because once that is balanced and stable in the saddle with an independent seat and level, relaxed legs then the hands tends to sort themselves out.

I dont know the cost and obvcivid put paid to a lot of it but TTest/Andy Thomas would be the go to for rider wonkiness by all accounts

 

[Ample Prosecco]

I am sure I am very wonky and I already do a lot of work on symmetry. Face to face ridden stuff is on hold obviously but it is all in the plan! Including TTest. And I already do equipilates and the Dressage Rider Training programme.

When an instructor says 'hands' at me every 25 seconds I can put them where they are meant to be. But as I focus on other things, they creep out of position again. So I think an instant vibration in the offending hand could be incredibly useful.

 

[Walrus]

My hands are horrific, they seem to move about so much, I'm not sure how after 20 years of riding but I despair! I've been reading quite a bit and 'activate your seat' on Instagram does a few good posts on exercises for hand position and she also points out hand position tends to come from issues in the seat etc. I would need these to literally electric shock me to make me respond to them...I'm very good at ignoring my fit bit when it vibrates to tell me to move and I think if I was concentrating on riding I wouldn't even notice a reminder! ?‍?‍

I've just spent £5 on ebay on some elastic resistance bands as I've seen people riding with them round their wrists to increase awareness of what their hands are doing and to provide a prompt. I thought it was worth a shot. ?‍?‍

 

[milliepops]

My hands are horrific, they seem to move about so much, I'm not sure how after 20 years of riding but I despair! I've been reading quite a bit and 'activate your seat' on Instagram does a few good posts on exercises for hand position and she also points out hand position tends to come from issues in the seat etc. I would need these to literally electric shock me to make me respond to them...I'm very good at ignoring my fit bit when it vibrates to tell me to move and I think if I was concentrating on riding I wouldn't even notice a reminder! ?‍?‍

I've just spent £5 on ebay on some elastic resistance bands as I've seen people riding with them round their wrists to increase awareness of what their hands are doing and to provide a prompt. I thought it was worth a shot. ?‍?‍

A band round my wrists does amazing things to my seat, works both ways ?

 

[Roxylola]

I'd try a band around your wrists first

 

[Walrus]

A band round my wrists does amazing things to my seat, works both ways ?

Gosh I hope that's the case! My current riding style is best described as sack of spuds so I have high hope for these bands!

 

[Ample Prosecco]

I'd try a band around your wrists first

I used bands and other stuff monthly with a biocmechanics instructor who I have arranged to teach at our yard. (Jo - did you come to a lesson once, I can't remember). They are very helpful. But the hands thing is just driving me mad! I have started doing far more with my left hand in every day life to try and improve. And also focusing on keeping which ever hand is not in action still. I've got a plug on a chain in the bathroom. When I clean my teeth with my right and I hold the chain like reins with my left hand and keep even tension and keep it stlil. The left hand bounces up and down as I brush with the right. The right hand is more still when I brush with the left. That's nothing to do with balance/ seat/ posture but a neural pathways thing. But if I focus on the chain I can consciously steady it while brushing. So I think the vibration will be helpful. Bio-feedback is very useful in other contexts - reducing heart rate, for example. Or improving your running gait.

I'm going to get one and I'll report back. I can't find a single review of it anywhere but I can see the logic and I think it will help. But we shall see...

 

[TPO]

Have a read of the Equine Biomechanics Scotland website. I'm sure theres information on there about hands being related to hips and then maybe something to discuss with your own biomechanics instructor?

I know it's easy to write something flippant on here and then have it taken at face value but.... if your instructor really is verbally reminding you of hand position I'd want them to be doing *something* to get to the crux of the matter and fix it.

Issues with hand position and rein contact is a secondary problem. The cause has to be rectified.

As an aside I'm probably not understanding the gadget but surely rein pressure has to be accounted for somehow not just position of hands. Contact should be elastic and adaptable not held in a "correct" position. I'd want to work with a coach to develop feel. Hands can be in the "correct" position but not be doing anything.

I had a trainer who said whatever you feel/hold in your hand there should 10x more coming from your leg. When I started using more leg the horse became truly through and forward, what I thought I already had but clearly didnt, and there was less in my hand. I am wonky and had the falling out/collapsing thing too and it was then that I could just sit more and didnt hold one side more or drop the other rein as much. It wasnt an overnight fix but my wonky rein contact wasnt where the problem could be fixed.

Are you still going to Ingestre and doing lunge/no reins/no stirrup lessons?

 

[Bernster]

I wonder if something like the r-stor strap would work, to keep one hand still? Also one hand on a neck strap or attaching a balance strap to the pommel has helped steady my hands. But these ‘fix’ your hand so maybe not what you’re after. But they have helped me and I can still move my fingers and apply rein pressure/squeezing.

I have waggly reins, throw away the outside contact and twist my hands too. Interesting post from tpo about asymmetry, thanks.

 

[Ample Prosecco]

Ingestre restarts 30th March weekly.
Session with Andy T in April.
Biomechanics restarts monthly from May.
My regylar instructor at home has trained with Andy T and is very good at fixing root causes.

I've done Dressage Rider Training consistently throughout lockdown which is meant to be evening up and stabilising the body.

But for whatever reason I am still still really struggling. So I need to accept I'm a lost cause or keep trying!

I'm keeping all the more likely avenues for improvement open too but there is a specific problem with using both hands separately not just in riding but in life. I am whatever the total opposite to ambidextrous is!!

 

[PinkvSantaboots]

What really helped me was lessons on a mechanical horse but I think it does depend on the instructor, I am looking to do some rider biomechanics as the horses sports massage lady runs them and I have heard they are excellent.

 

[Roxylola]

I haven't been to yours for jo but I've had lessons from her.
Andy Thomas strongly emphasises that upper body issues start with the pelvis and that with the pelvis correct the rest will fall in line. He also doesn't think we need to bother too much with trying to correct every day crookedness (off horse) as we live in a crooked world. As long as we correct for it before riding - ie activation exercises.
As a rider (especially with work, 4 ponies to muck out etc), I get this and think its a pretty good philosophy - realistically I don't have time for pilates 4 times a week etc, I can find 10 minutes before I ride to do my activation stuff. I'm also quite aware of what my body is doing and where I'm compensating.
As a coach who is not a physiotherapist it's somewhat more complicated. I can see that my client is crooked in their pelvis but they dont sit like that because they want to be crooked, they think they are straight. Without being able to physically correct them unless I can educate them to feel their crookedness they are never going to bring their shoulders and hips round and stop collapsing their inside hip.
They can however see that their hands are crooked and I can help them be aware of that and from there we can straighten their shoulders and that will travel down to their pelvis. Without Andy's wizardry I have to work top down and my clients will be fighting their body to correct themselves but they can do it. What Andy does is basically correct the body so you no longer get in your own way.

Tldr - Your body is functionally crooked. Ideally you want a way to correct that and your hands won't be an issue anymore. However if you can correct your hands you may find you become better aware of your crookedness and can compensate better for it

 

[milliepops]

I think andy's thing about not trying to be totally symmetrical all the time but to get yourself switched on correctly in the saddle was a bit of a lightbulb moment for me. My left hand and leg are never going to be the same strength or under the same control as my right hand and leg. But I can make them work the same in the saddle now. It feels achievable in a way that objective total symmetry doesn't.

(I am doing equipilates multiple times a week too ? but that's giving me control more than straightness, still relevant because it's easier to stay switched on right if you're more stable)