Help please with my right hand

[flightylou]

Hello

Wondering if anyone can help me?

My right hand is so annoying, when I am schooling on the flat I grab with my right hand on the right rein. My horse is difficult to ride anyhow and I am just making things worse by blocking his inside shoulder.

He is easier to ride in an arena as he knows he cant get away but schooling in the open he often tries to run away with me followed by a temper tantrum when I try and keep him contained on a circle.
I know my right hand isnt helping matters and I try so hard to control it and keep a light even contact but he takes advantage of me and plonks about.
Do any of you have any tips with what I can do about my problems??? I am conscious I am doing it but I need help to stop it! Thank you if any one has any suggestions!

 

[Judie]

I would say stop worrying so much about your hand in isolation and focus more on working the horse from behind into your hand. Try doing different exercises to take his mind of 'plonking' around, such a shoulder-fore, leg yeilding across the diagonal and down the long side (imagine one if you're in a field), turn on the fore-hand, but make 100% sure you are not turning with your inside rein, this takes a lot of focus if your hand works on autopilot! With these exercises you will see whether your horse is actually off your leg, only then can he work from behind into you hand and you will see/feel that your hand stays a lot stiller as it won't be reacting to whatever your horse isn't doing, if that makes sense?

 

[Peanot]

Hi, my old instructor had me putting my offending hand inside the martingale neck strap to keep it still, just holding on to it.