Mistakes in working with occasion

ERRORS IN WORKING WITH A RID

1. The ability to correctly influence the horse with a rein is one of the most difficult skills, it comes last, if of course it comes at all. Not all people have a “soft” hand, there is an opinion that this is some kind of innate trait that either exists or it does not. By diligently practicing and working on yourself, you can achieve a sufficient level of rein control, even if a person does not naturally have the most sensitive hand. There are many examples among eminent riders who do not have a sensitive hand, but at the same time they have learned to act with restraint and calmness, transferring control to the maximum to the leg and body. However, not everything is attributed to a “soft” or “hard” hand by nature, there are also mistakes that need to be recognized and diligently corrected in order to reach a qualitatively new level of riding. Here are a few main ones:

2. – Incorrect position of the hands above the withers in height. There is a basic level where the rider’s hands should be 90% of the time: at fist height above the withers. While working, you can lower your arms (for example, practicing the “long & low” position) or raise them (the French method of working with horses that lift their heads), but still, the rider keeps his hands in the basic position for the main part of the ride. Most often, you can observe a situation where riders constantly lower their hands to the level of the withers or even lower. Some of them explain this by the fact that they are trying to collect the horse in this way. George Morris often talks about the disadvantages of this method and shows in his master classes. It is much clearer to look at his explanation once than to read a multi-page opus about this in printed form. In addition, do not forget that a pubescent arm is an extended elbow, which means, in 90% of cases, the wrong angle between the iron and the hand. Raising the hand too high is a less common mistake. More often it occurs in completely novice riders, when a person has not yet learned to keep balance and balances with the help of a rein. Raised arms make the landing unstable and can easily cause a nasty backward fall;

3. – The rider goes over the reins. The habit of going over the reins prevents the horse from leaning against the bit, so the ride becomes jerky and the horse is often thrown off the reins. Cast on the rein to the desired length at once, so that you don’t have to constantly make it shorter or longer. In jumping training, it is especially important to teach you to immediately take the reins short enough, because pulling the reins very much knocks down the horse, preventing it from approaching the jump evenly and energetically. A good trainer should show the rider how to properly pick up the reins in 2 strokes. Easy and smooth. The rider can also go over the reins for the reason that he does not hold him tightly enough and he constantly slips out, becoming longer;

4. – The rider does not hold the reins well. The reason for this in most cases is unclenched fingers. This is not only a bad habit, but also a dangerous one. A huge number of riders break their fingers while jumping or on a playing horse. For beginners or in the absence of a competent trainer, the rider may have the wrong stereotype that a relaxed hand is unclenched fingers. The truth is that a relaxed hand is a relaxed hand, elbow and shoulder, with fingers clenched into a fist. The habit of unclenching fingers can only be overcome by constant self-control. Even if you are walking, keep your fingers tucked up, not only for a good ride, but for your own safety;

5. – Incorrect tilt of the brush. This is taught from the very first day of training, but it is not uncommon to see people whose hand position in the saddle is more like the hands of a pianist than a rider. The horizontal position of the hands blocks the correct work of the hand, depriving the rider of the opportunity to easily act on the reins. Always remember the old adage of trainers: “Imagine that you have two glasses in your hands and you cannot pour them”; The rider puts his hand over his neck. This is a completely unacceptable habit, not only in dressage, where you will be deducted a lot of points for this, but also in any other form. By moving your hand over the neck, you make a very painful lock in the horse’s mouth, which gives no information, only pain. In addition, by doing this you disturb your own balance, making your landing unsafe and inefficient;

6. – Dead hand. The horse’s head and neck move differently at different gaits. Only at the trot they are more or less static, at the walk and canter, on the contrary, they are very mobile. The rider must follow the movement of the horse’s head and neck in all gaits. This does not mean giving up and giving up. It means, on the contrary, to maintain constantly the same contact, because if, for example, at a gallop, you fix your hand in one place, then instead of stable contact, the horse will either bump into the reins, or lose it. Remember, keeping your hand calm does not mean fixing it tightly in one place;

7. – The hand is tense in the hand. This problem is observed in so many riders and the reason for this is most often the wrong training. When the coach teaches to hold the rein, he often just says the learned phrase: “Close your hand into a fist,” but does not look at how the student executes this command. In 99% of cases, a person diligently clenches his hand into a fist like a boxer in the ring, while strongly straining his hand. The task of the rider is to keep the hand relaxed and soft, and the fingers firmly holding the reins. Relax the hand and press the rein to the palm with only your fingers. Feeling this difference, you will immediately make a huge leap in learning to ride.

In this article, we have analyzed only the most common mistakes when working with reins. Do not forget that you can learn how to work with a rein gently and calmly only by learning an independent landing. Landing will give you 95% control, you will be able to do most (if not all) of the elements without hands, jump, turn and stop the horse. Even if you don’t have the softest hand by nature, you can learn how to work with the reins correctly, the main thing is to work on yourself.

• equinemanagement.ru 9 March 2016 city

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