"Soft Hands" How do you develop them Please ?.

[Leaveittothediva]

Hi, My instructor is always yelling at me soft hands, soft hands, except I don't know what I should be doing to get them. Can any one sort me out with some tips, I have looked in books but don't seem to find any advice there. THANKS.

 

[Django Pony]

Hi, My instructor is always yelling at me soft hands, soft hands, except I don't know what I should be doing to get them. Can any one sort me out with some tips, I have looked in books but don't seem to find any advice there. THANKS.

My instructor told me that my elbows belong to me, my hands belong to the horse. It helps me visualise them as an extension of his mouth with an "elastic" rather than "soft" contact. Hope that helps!

 

[Tnavas]

Develop a really secure balanced seat. keep your body erect but not stiff so that yoou move with your horse.

Keep the contact with arms that are relaxed and able to move with the horse wherever h e moves his head.

Ride with your body and legs as well as with your hands.

 

[blitznbobs]

Basically you should imagine that your elbows are elastic and allow a spongy giving feel on the rein. If you have to pull on a rein for whatever reason the second the horse responds you relax the rein, thus rewarding the horse and encouraging the behaviour more.. Btw it does not mean no contact which is what a lot of people interpret it as...

 

[milo'n'molly]

yeah its relaxing your elbows, confusing eh? you still need a firm grip wiyth your hand

 

[Mearas]

You really can't have soft hands until you have a really good seat. I would have some good lunge lessons with a really knowledgable instructor.
I am not quite sure why your instructor is shouting at you to soften your hands, no amount of shouting will ever achieve this, I imagine it will just make you tense, which will make the problem with your hands worse.

 

[amandap]

I am not quite sure why your instructor is shouting at you to soften your hands, no amount of shouting will ever achieve this, I imagine it will just make you tense, which will make the problem with your hands worse.

I was just thinking that, also a clear explanation of how to achieve what she's asking might help. I also believe a stable, secure, relaxed seat is key.

 

[be positive]

Hi, My instructor is always yelling at me soft hands, soft hands, except I don't know what I should be doing to get them. Can any one sort me out with some tips, I have looked in books but don't seem to find any advice there. THANKS.

Your instructor should explain what they want you to do not just yell
Try getting them to be more helpful or get a different instructor .
Tips given above are helpful but you are paying for lessons.

 

[Tiffany]

Hi, if you don't understand what your instructor means you need to ask her to explain in a way that you do understand otherwise you won't improve.

Things that might help are lunge lessons so you can just concentrate on your position and using your seat and legs. There's also an attachment you can buy for you reins called a flexi rein or similar. It's part elastic so gives you the feeling of give an take more clearly. As everyone has said you need relaxed, elastic arms without letting reins slip though your fingers.

Good luck

 

[Wagtail]

Soft hands start at the shoulder. You have to have a strong, independant seat. Then relax your shoulders, allow your elbows to hang by your waist with a straight line through your hands to the bit. Hold the reins firmly, the softness comes all the way from your shoulders and not your hands. Your hands are just the connection to the reinsand this should be consistent. Allow your arm (elbows bent) to move freely from your shoulder with the movement of the horses head. Reward the horse immediately by softening when he softens. Your aim should be to create a consistent soft contact with the horse's mouth at all times and you move your hands/arms with the horse to keep the contact consistent, so the rein never droops or becomes too heavy in the hand.

 

[Fuzznugget]

Lessons on the lunge would help with this imo, as it would work on your seat/position without having to worry about your hands. Wagtail's description is great too!

 

[el_Snowflakes]

ditto what the others have said....also I find taking my hand off the reins one at a time and giving them a wee shake gets rid of some tension

 

[EmmaJaneWilliams]

Try Pilates - it has really helped me

 

[Tiffany]

Soft hands start at the shoulder. You have to have a strong, independant seat. Then relax your shoulders, allow your elbows to hang by your waist with a straight line through your hands to the bit. Hold the reins firmly, the softness comes all the way from your shoulders and not your hands. Your hands are just the connection to the reinsand this should be consistent. Allow your arm (elbows bent) to move freely from your shoulder with the movement of the horses head. Reward the horse immediately by softening when he softens. Your aim should be to create a consistent soft contact with the horse's mouth at all times and you move your hands/arms with the horse to keep the contact consistent, so the rein never droops or becomes too heavy in the hand.

Really good explanation

 

[tazzle]

It does help however to develop feel ( soft hands) if you have, or can ride sometimes, a horse that is already soft and responsive .... if itsone that is leaning , being used to being held in a firm contact etc then its hard for a rider to know what soft hands should feel like.

If you have a horse that say backs up to a lift of the rein, turns to the twitch of a finger if rein aids are being used etc . ... that kinda helps



so I guess that it depends on the horses that are being ridden ... and if it's one own horses its maybe also retraining the horse.

 

[Leaveittothediva]

Thanks for all the replies, and will try and put these into practice, where I have the most difficulty with my hands is when doing the transitions to canter and in jumping, and I find it hard to ask her at the time what she means about softening the hands cause I get a bit flustered.

 

[intouch]

http://youtu.be/YHdI2yXJ8LQ

 

[canteron]

You also want to hold your hands and it's more of a push than a pull feel!

Try it now and you will see that by having a push feel it also helps you strengthened your core muscles!

Magic.

 

[sabCZa]

It does help however to develop feel ( soft hands) if you have, or can ride sometimes, a horse that is already soft and responsive .... if itsone that is leaning , being used to being held in a firm contact etc then its hard for a rider to know what soft hands should feel like.

If you have a horse that say backs up to a lift of the rein, turns to the twitch of a finger if rein aids are being used etc . ... that kinda helps



so I guess that it depends on the horses that are being ridden ... and if it's one own horses its maybe also retraining the horse.

This. And the saddle's got to be right for you to feel secure in your seat and loosen up to free your hands. From my experience (a different country, not sure of the UK), riding schools and instructors do not pay much attention as long as your feet are below the flaps. I got yelled at for months - got accused of not being fit, being too scared so that I "have to" hold on to the reins etc. - but none of the saddles fit me. And as I was considered such a no-hope case I got given the worst horses and the problem perpetuated until I bought my own saddle and suddenly I was praised to heavens. And I still get the same rubbishy horses - but now "to improve" them I don't mind, really...

 

[Wagtail]

This. And the saddle's got to be right for you to feel secure in your seat and loosen up to free your hands. From my experience (a different country, not sure of the UK), riding schools and instructors do not pay much attention as long as your feet are below the flaps. I got yelled at for months - got accused of not being fit, being too scared so that I "have to" hold on to the reins etc. - but none of the saddles fit me. And as I was considered such a no-hope case I got given the worst horses and the problem perpetuated until I bought my own saddle and suddenly I was praised to heavens. And I still get the same rubbishy horses - but now "to improve" them I don't mind, really...

Do you use your own saddle on all the different horses you ride? Sorry, I'm confused now. Yes, the saddle should be right for you, but more importantly, it should be right for the horse. It sounds as though the riding establishment don't care what saddle they put on their horses, which of course will not help at all. Sorry if I have got the wrong end of the stick.

 

[MrsMozart]

Soft hands start at the shoulder. You have to have a strong, independant seat. Then relax your shoulders, allow your elbows to hang by your waist with a straight line through your hands to the bit. Hold the reins firmly, the softness comes all the way from your shoulders and not your hands. Your hands are just the connection to the reinsand this should be consistent. Allow your arm (elbows bent) to move freely from your shoulder with the movement of the horses head. Reward the horse immediately by softening when he softens. Your aim should be to create a consistent soft contact with the horse's mouth at all times and you move your hands/arms with the horse to keep the contact consistent, so the rein never droops or becomes too heavy in the hand.

Well described
Also, watch a video of a good dressage rider, see what they do. When I was having a Yikes! moment I watched Edward Gal on Totilas

 

[PolarSkye]

I've just had a breakthrough with this and it helps me to think of my hands being "giving" (which feels like an action) rather than soft (which, to me, feels rather passive).

Everyone else is right that your contact needs to start with your legs first (to create the energy and necessary straightness and/or bend), then your body (so that you're riding from your seat - engaging/disengaging your seatbones, soft/relaxed lower back, core engaged) and finally your hands which is essentially what connects "you" to the horse's mouth. The weight of the contact should be in your elbows rather than your hands (took me ages to translate this seemingly simple concept into action!) and your hands should not only be soft or giving but still and following - no sawing or fiddling the horse down onto the bit. If you do vibrate the rein to encourage the horse to soften, as soon as the horse does begin to soften and engage, reward him/her by softening your hands, put your leg ON, push your hands slightly forward to stop the horse fixing and coming back at you but rather allow it to lengthen its neck, push its nose out to vertical and actually lift and use its back . . . and breathe!

When we first bought Kali, he had been ridden in draw reins with a martingale and held up by the rider - horribly unbalanced, wooden and leant on the rider. It took us ages to get him to a) carry himself; and b) trust the contact . . . any time he got anywhere near carrying himself and accepting a contact he would panic and back off. Once we (well, my trainer mostly) had got him to actually carry himself, I had to learn a whole new way of riding him so that he couldn't use me to lean on . . . and because I was desperate not to undo all the good work Jen had done, I worked really hard at it. There were days when I wanted to chop my right hand off - that's the one I have a tendency to fix/brace. I rode with my reins upside down, with no reins, with a whip held across my two hands . . . anything to stop me being able to fix.

I think this is by far one of the most difficult things to learn - well this and "inside leg to outside rein" which is also part of getting the horse to soften and bend and demands the rider employ different/independent aids (sooooooooo difficult).

Hope that helps.

P

 

[sabCZa]

Do you use your own saddle on all the different horses you ride? Sorry, I'm confused now. Yes, the saddle should be right for you, but more importantly, it should be right for the horse. It sounds as though the riding establishment don't care what saddle they put on their horses, which of course will not help at all. Sorry if I have got the wrong end of the stick.

You're reading this right, wagtail. The horses are of the same warmblood type (the riding school is also a breeding centre for the kinsky horse). Having spent some time on here and knowing how much attention people pay to saddle fitting, I too thought I wasn't hearing right when they told me "yes, sure, go ahead and buy a saddle so that you don't have to ride in these wrecks. buy one with a medium tree and whatever else you're comfortable with." The RS owners and respected horse people also have one saddle each (the lady owner does dressage and her husband jumps, so they have one dressage saddle and one jump saddle in the family) for all their horses and the private horses they are paid to ride - I'm not saying it is right, as they really work the horses. So I went and bought a second-hand good quality German dressage saddle and a new mid-end jump saddle, a couple of high end saddle pads, thick and thin (thinline) and such to have a few combinations for different horses, and horses seem happy and so am I. I watched a lot of videos about saddle fitting, saddling up, using different pads, etc., I watch out for uneven sweating and rubs and I feel like I have done enough in the circumstances. Of course, I have no control over what goes on with them on those days I don't ride, they are RS horses but they never go more than twice a day and they seem to go for me near the upper limit of their ability. So, the bottom line is that I'm still a bit in two minds about the whole saddle thing but I'm a happier rider than before and the horses do not look like they suffer.