Keeping hands still - ideas please or I might need to chop them off!

[Ludi-doodi]

I have terrible flappy hand syndrome, can't keep them still, especially in trot. Sometimes it looks like they're being operated puppet-style on strings by someone other than me! In sitting trot it is truly awful, not that rising trot is vastly better

I've tried the closed armpits (put them in a lovely position, but doesn't stop them wandering up and down) relaxed wrists/hands, weight in the elbows, closed fingers, slightly open fingers and various combinations but still they do their own thing.

I might be over thinking it but it's now really getting on my nerves. If anyone has any other suggestions, please do tell me otherwise I think the only option is to chop 'em off! Would certainly making jumping interesting

 

[*hic*]

Put breastplate on get two elastic hair bands and attach each to breastplate to leave a loop, hook little fingers into loops. Take fingers out before jumping!

Should help settle hands in trot though

 

[Lolo]

Are they moving independently? You could try the holding a whip across both hands trick that is used in the PC quite a lot for people with wandering hands... It seems to help, if nothing else but to raise awareness of what their hands are doing?

 

[KatB]

Turn your thumbs to the outside so you look like you're looking at your nails! Should help stabilise your arms...hurts though!

 

[Jenni_]

Stand up facing wall, hold hands in rein position against wall and 'sit and rise' keep your hands against the wall and don't move them, this taught me how the rest of my body should feel / work to keep me hands still, observe the angle of your elbow an how it opens / shuts as you move. It's all about getting your shoulders independent from your body, and free on tension. It's the tension in your shoulder that makes your hands bounce!

This is easier to teach in person but trust me it worked for me!

 

[Ludi-doodi]

Put breastplate on get two elastic hair bands and attach each to breastplate to leave a loop, hook little fingers into loops. Take fingers out before jumping!

Should help settle hands in trot though

Will try that - have breast plate and hairbands, oh, actually I probably have a leather balance strap somewhere that I could put on the saddle, but would that make my hands too far back?

Are they moving independently? You could try the holding a whip across both hands trick that is used in the PC quite a lot for people with wandering hands... It seems to help, if nothing else but to raise awareness of what their hands are doing?

Jump instructor says they move up and down with my rising, I just keep noticing them bobbing around in front of me now

Turn your thumbs to the outside so you look like you're looking at your nails! Should help stabilise your arms...hurts though!

Really! Opposite to keeping thumbs on top then? How do I get back from that to proper hand position once the wobbling has stopped? Will give it a try though

Stand up facing wall, hold hands in rein position against wall and 'sit and rise' keep your hands against the wall and don't move them, this taught me how the rest of my body should feel / work to keep me hands still, observe the angle of your elbow an how it opens / shuts as you move. It's all about getting your shoulders independent from your body, and free on tension. It's the tension in your shoulder that makes your hands bounce!

This is easier to teach in person but trust me it worked for me!

mmh tension in the shoulder that kinda makes sense - if the heavy elbows/close armpit thingy isn't working then the tension must be somewhere! Rightyho, lots of practice at home too then!

Thanks everyone. I'll try all these (but not all at once !) and see what works best. Hopefully see some improvement before my next lesson!

 

[philamena]

Cus you mention sitting trot, it sounds like your hands are moving as the end point of absorbing movement, rather than that you're unconsciously fiddling. In which case, the solution to your hands problem actually lies elsewhere in your body - ie you need to have absorbed the movement before it flows all the way through and wobbles out the ends of your arms! I'd get an instructor / trainer to look at where you're blocking / absorbing the movement as sorting out that part of your body / position will be the key to your hands. In me, it's my shoulders and elbows. It used to be that I didn't absorb enough through my trunk or core, so my legs would waggle in the wrong places as well as my hands... I've managed to resolve that with a good trainer, but my shoulders and elbows are a "work in progress"!!!

 

[carthorse]

Whip under both thumbs so it is horizontal then open little finger to touch neck/withers try to keep finger touching as you trot.

 

[Tr0uble]

Are you trying to keep your hands still to you? Or still to the horse? I've seen so many people get so frustrated because they keep getting told to keep their hands stiller, and the stiller they try and keep them the more they move!!!

Best thing I find is to think of it differently, that you actually WANT your hands to move - to move comparitively to yourself, so as you rise, you are actually moving your hands slightly down, and as you sit, slightly up.

Light hands, heavy elbows I was always told!

 

[LowenKi]

I've seen so many people get so frustrated because they keep getting told to keep their hands stiller, and the stiller they try and keep them the more they move!!!

This is a good question - my Mum has the same problem with her hands and I think it's because she's a bit tense through her shoulders and elbows and past instructors have picked up on this but instead of working on her relaxing and moving supply through her seat and back (which IMO would have helped with the shoulders etc) they've told her to keep her 'hands still' which has just added to the tension.

Try it while you're sat at your desk now - put your hands out in front of you, make a fist and go tense through your arm - I bet you can feel your bum and back tensing up as well! I think maybe the key is more relaxation and a deeper seat for you to let go of tension in your body. It's what we're working on with Mum anyway!

 

[TarrSteps]

Are you trying to keep your hands still to you? Or still to the horse? I've seen so many people get so frustrated because they keep getting told to keep their hands stiller, and the stiller they try and keep them the more they move!!!

Best thing I find is to think of it differently, that you actually WANT your hands to move - to move comparitively to yourself, so as you rise, you are actually moving your hands slightly down, and as you sit, slightly up.

Light hands, heavy elbows I was always told!

This pretty much.

Your joints have to open and close to accommodate the movement of your own body and the horse's head and neck. It also depends on how developed the horse is - a truly still (relatively speaking) carriage is the result of a soft topline and self-carriage. With a younger/greener/weaker horse it's the contact you want to maintain not a fixed hand. The hand appears still in relation to the horse but isn't strictly speaking still relative to the rest of your body and/or the ground.