Trouble holding reins - harbridge?

[Tnavas]

You're absolutely right. However, I find it difficult to keep the rest of my hands and wrists relaxed if my thumbs are pressing down on the reins. Believe me, I have tried, and many an instructor would have been delighted not to have to remind me to 'shorten your reins' at regular intervals.

I'm able bodied, and have decent sized hands with long fingers, but this is something that I have never reliably been able to crack.

You don't need to have a heavy press on the rein, if you make a fist - you will find that your thumb wants to sit flat on top - but many people unconsciously lift their thumb up.

 

[ponydi]

Failing loops or rein-bows, you could, with continental reins, put in two knots for your hands to sit between at the right length for trot or canter - back beyond first one for walk

 

[LessThanPerfect]

Sophie Wells on H and C the other night uses a loop on her reins. So they must be OK

Sophie Wells is a PARA rider though and her condition specifically affects her extremeties (I believe she has lost several fingers and has nerve damage in her hands) so she will have dispensation to use them. It isn't the same ruling if you are able bodied or if you are a PARA rider and cannot prove that your condition affects co-ordination.

 

[Fides]

Have you tried the cotton reins with rubber woven into the mix? They sell them as part of a bridle set at Decathlon - it's the only reins my small hand close around

http://www.decathlon.co.uk/edinburgh-bridle-reins-brown-id_8187903.html

They look a bit like this

 

[gunnergundog]

http://www.centaurbiomechanics.co.uk/centaur-shop/

Visualise Constant Contact Reins

Velcro reins designed to help prevent riders from letting their reins become too long. The reins and palm grip provide the mildest of resistance to provide feedback to the rider - when they feel their reins slipping to close their hands and securely hold the rein. Made from English leather, these reins come equipped with instructions and four palm grips.

Available in black and brown

Prices: £70 plus P and P (£10.00)

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[Goldenstar]

I am another who says you need to forget about your fingers and think about your thumb .
It's the thumb that stops the reins being pulling through your hand.