Incredibly frustrating, deflating 'jump' lesson. Spent 30 minutes cantering squares and being told weight was too far left. Honestly it seems totally random whether I'm told I sit left or sit right. Clearly I never sit straight!
And trying to have him in the outside rein which is ok on right rein where my left hand is allowed to do something but feels impossible on the left as I just can't stop that hand trying to get in on the act. Didnt feel I improved really. There was just a missing link between the instruction 'hold the outside rein, give the inside rein forward' and my body being able to make that happen. It feels like being told 'pat your head and rub your tummy'. I can just about do it standing still with full attention on it but add in another motor skill as I have to when cantering squares and I just can't do it. It takes too much brain bandwidth! So feeling totally stuck now.
Then some trot poles on an oval turning with weight/seat/leg aids. Never left the ground at all which is fine if I thought I'd learnt anything but it feels like all i learned was that I cant perform the basics and I can't see a way forward to fix these utterly basic issues either.
I've contacted Nia who knows I'm looking to book onto an Andy Thomas clinic asap but has not got back to me. But hopefully soon.
I know I'm banging on but I still think Andy would make a big difference to your sitting one way or the other, and possibly also to the hand thing. not because he can fix the hand itself but it wouldn't be a surprise if an asymmetry or tightness somewhere is making it really difficult for your left hand to be independent. a bit like how my left leg isn't weak, it's my right hand side tightness that means it can't be effective because my own body is blocking the use of it and i do weird things to try and counteract that.
Exercises to force yourself to do something different are helpful for making you aware of something but don't always give you the tool to deal with it, particularly if it's rooted in a pattern of moving or using your body that you possibly don't even know about.
I reckon the left hand thing is partly habit of drawing the hand back and partly rooted in a general difficulty around having an independent seat and you probably need to tackle both ends of that to crack it. in the meantime training a different way of using the hand is a good idea, mine tends to go down so I consciously put it up now and then to free it up again.
I know it's all hugely frustrating particularly when it must feel like you're going backwards sometimes but this is the stuff that is fundamental to all disciplines and all of us have to work really hard at them
(i would say the bungee round the wrists can be really useful to get you to engage your core, i do that sometimes and it magically seems to make me actually ride like a rider instead of a person who can sit on a horse, plus stops wayward hands because you have to use them as a pair. it does work but has to be in a safe environment. ycbm my bungee allows hands to be a normal width apart, the idea is that you maintain a tension in the bungee which stops you moving one hand back or forth, up or down etc and the act of holding your hands slightly apart and still seems to do something amazing to your seat)