Tips and tricks for good contact

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Sprat

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I have a new mare with a lovely soft mouth, and I'm currently struggling with contact.

My old boy was very strong in the contact, and I ended up being strong back (not ideal I know)

However I don't want to make the same mistakes with Jelly. I have noticed my hands are constantly moving about, and I either have too much contact or not enough.

Is there anything I can do to help keep a nice elastic contact? I'm guessing I need to be stronger through my core which I'm working on but wondered if any of you much more experienced riders can help!
 
Have you tried thinking of the contact coming from your elbow, rather than your hand? It is your elbow which provides the e!acticity, after all
 
Pearlsasinger said:
Have you tried thinking of the contact coming from your elbow, rather than your hand? It is your elbow which provides the e!acticity, after all
Click to expand...

Was just about to write something similar.
Don't worry about your hands but concentrate on keeping your elbows by your sides. Elbows should be stable but still remain soft and capable of allowing.
I think this also helps your core be more effective.
I had exactly the same problem when I went from a strong horse to a horse who was reluctant to take a contact.
 
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Sort of like thinking of having the weight into the elbows as opposed to everything coming from the hands?
 
The contact actually comes from the back of the shoulder blades, down through the back of the arms, through a soft elbow and wrist. Imagine carrying the weight of your arms from your shoulders, keeping your shoulder blades vertical and not allowing them to fall forward and your shoulders to round. Then flex the muscles at the back of your arms, not your biceps. If you can control your upper body and limbs, then you will have more control of your lower arms, and will find that it is much harder to be strong with your hands.

Obviously, core strength helps, but if you can be flexible in all parts of your arms, and maintain the elasticity throughout each joint, it'll revolutionise your contact.

Imagine that the rein and your whole arm is made of a giant rubber band - wherever the horse's mouth goes, your arm follows......
 
I found a great way of checking the contact in an old driving book, still relevant today. Put two pieces of rope/string/reins onto the back of a high backed chair. With the seat facing towards you, take up the contact so that you tilt the chair onto its front legs. A great way to check your "feel".
 
Goodness read some of the replies and wouldn't have any idea how most of that feels in the saddle. I'm not an experienced rider but TBH i think contact changes all the time and it's about riding what you feel under you, eg when to use a little more leg, when to push your hands forward a touch and sometimes when you need to "hold" in quite a strong contact to get the horse to soften to you rather than the other way round. Get a good trainer who will help you as I don't think there's an easy answer. If there is and you know what it is, send me a private message and we'll sell it and make a lot of money!!
 
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