VOLUME 22 • © HORSES For LIFE™ Magazine

Exercise: The Hands Start Here
One of the differences that we will sometimes see between different schools of thought on riding and training is how our hands should behave. Should our hands be completely still, completely motionless, never interfering with the horse? Riders believe that being a quiet rider equals being a still, non-moving rider.

Another school believes that their hands have to follow the motion of the horse with a hand going back and forth to match the pattern of the horse's head that goes up and down.
Both schools will tell you, though, that the more collected the horse is the more quiet the hands become. Unfortunately, that last statement means that for some riders they believe that to achieve collection they must keep their hands more still and not allow them to move as much when exactly the opposite is true. Yes, our hands will appear to be more still, but that is not something that completely comes from the rider. As the horse evolves, as his training progresses, then yes, as a change in the carriage of the level of balance of the horse approaches the third level of balance, the head nod becomes less noticeable.

There is something that all riders can do no matter what level of riding they are at, that can prove how quiet their hands will be both visually to others who are watching and to the horse that they are riding.

First of all, we need to realize, it appears that when we completely follow the movement of the horse, that movement will diminish, and will seem less noticeable to others and most importantly that this can come both from the rider and from the horse.

There is one element, one contribution, that can create a very real difference.

The same contribution from the rider to minimize this movement is a concept that can be used from the very beginning of the training of the horse. It also proves to be extremely effective in remedial training. It is the one thing that if we could get all riders to change, it could possibly make the greatest difference to the behaviour, to the movement, and it will most help the horse in the process of learning how to collect. And it all comes from the rider.