Was it the Centered Riding lady who suggested imagining that the rider had a baby bird in each hand?
Too tight a grip and the birds would be strangled. Too flat hands and the birds would get their heads bashed together. Lol.
I believe she also used the ice cream imagery to convey how the rider’s legs should melt down around the horse’s sides.
I had an instructor that would make me whole two whips straight up, and she’d yell if I let them touch or cross them since I was a “puppy dog hander” when I went to her. It definitely broke the habit.
A whip/jump bat held horizontally under both thumbs works too! It keeps your hands level, the same width apart, and your thumbs on top. Just be sure you aren’t on a pony that’s going to shoot off when it sees the whip out of the corner of its eye 
I had a white knuckled grip kid I taught that liked to tell me No I’m not. I put two small raw eggs in her hands and she said ‘ohhhhhhh.’
Lol.
Admitted 10 o’clock and 2 o’clock hands rider… I ride like a drive. I am who I am.
I had never really paid attention to this but I checked it last night while I was riding and I do usually keep my thumbs on top, with the caveat that if I have a whip in one hand it’ll end up turned in a bit just to allow me to carry said whip. This tracks with the fact that I don’t really recall my trainer ever yelling at me about my hand position on that front. She does, however, yell at me about the fact that I don’t close my fingers enough, which has been a bad habit of mine for going on two decades so I’m not sure it’s ever getting fixed, lol.
When my son took his very first lesson at three the instructor told him “Pretend like you’re holding two ice cream cones.” It definitely worked and made it relatable for a three year old. I stole it and have reminded him of ice cream cone hands many times.
Sure, just like modern show hunters look anything like real field hunters back in the day? You should read what people in the UK think about the NA “Hunter”.
Thumbs up, slightly toward each other with elbows in is what I was always taught. AQHA HUS is currently having a piano hands trend - my trainer was actually recently telling me about it. But it’s not correct.
This is a group that (I’m pretty sure still) only recommends ASTM/SEI-approved helmets (doesn’t require them), so I don’t look to them for what is correct. 
Eh…would not take it as intentional disrespect, its just different. The horse is being asked for different things and judged on different things, including conformation since it is a breed show. They are schooled differently according to what will be rewarded in the ring. QH Rider wants to showcase those things and the Open Hunt Seat rider wants to enhance those things. Hence you get Winglish or Waaanglish if you speak Southern. Think it is a good description.
I’m late to the party, but I think your question deserves another perspective. Like many have commented, hunter jumper riders were taught “thumbs up.” I would surmise this comes from the concept of shoulders being 90 degrees to the torso. However, this is incorrect as it’s 30-40 degrees from the frontal plane. Since our forearms have the ability to supinate 85 degrees (for those that have full range of motion) this means the thumbs can be technically pointing straight vertical. However if you are over 40 years of age, this begins to change. Our spines begin to develop more kyphosis (women greater than men) and we can see more changes in the shoulder joint.
The idea of “thumbs up” is relative to the individual body. I could name 10 hunter and show jumping riders whose thumbs point closer to the horizontal than vertical. Yet, they remain dynamic through the shoulder joint which in my humble opinion is the most important factor. They’re able to transmit forces from the horse’s mouth through the shoulder joint without being stiff.
In any show ring, “correct” is whatever is winning. And in all of the disciplines, including your “proper hunters,” fads and styles come and go.
Trust me, if you are showing hunters or equitation today, you are most certainly doing at least one thing that would be deemed “not correct” by riders of previous eras and at least one thing that will be roundly mocked by riders of some future generation.
“Correct” must also be effective as the horse moves and performs set tasks and most judges look for that instead of a statue…
In riding, ‘correct’ tends to work better, in the longer term, than fashions and fads. “Riding is simple, it just isn’t easy.”
Well, sure it does. But this common sense is often not so common in the show ring or in too many lesson programs.
I’m old. I learned to ride back in the Dark Ages. There are things I see today in the hunter ring that are, to my sensibilities, incorrect and ineffective. But that’s what is being taught and what is often winning in the show ring. 
It makes me SMDH when people run down QH HUS classes when you look at all the hunchbacks over fences winning at the hunter shows. 
I actually couldn’t care less what a rider looks like in a class where the horse is judged. I prefer functional form for the rider, it’s actually more pleasing to the eye, but if the horse is balanced and moving properly, I don’t care what the rider’s doing.
I DO care when horses aren’t moving functionally well, which is what a lot of HUS and WP horses are doing. And yes, every other discipline there are either individuals who move incorrectly and are appropriately docked for it, or the discipline as a whole moves incorrectly and it’s the “best of the worst” who wins.
The rider is irrelevant unless their position is the direct cause of that dysfunctional movement. Polls below withers, necks broken at C3, not tracking at least into the front footprint, no moment of suspension at the trot or canter, not functionally correct movement.
When a rider is putting their hands around their knees in an effort to guide the horse’s head so the poll is below the withers, that’s a problem. IMHO, a lot of non-functional riding in that area has been created in order to facilitate some movement that is far removed from functional
That doesn’t mean that riders can’t have terrible form AND a functionally correct horse. There are a lot of Jumper riders for example who are just so WEIRD in their over-fences position, yet the horse’s still do their job correctly. And face it, a Jumper rider’s goal is to get the horse around in the time allowed, without time or obstacle faults, not have textbook perfect jumping form.
But they can get away with it because their foundation is almost always in correct, functional equitation, and they’ve learned to control their bodies so their incorrect position doesn’t interfere (much). Some of the winningest Hunter riders at the top levels have terrible form, yet manage to produce round after round of perfect takeoffs, knees to eyeballs with a round back jump, time and time again. The horses are going around so well despite the rider flinging himself on their neck in a (sketchy) effort to convince the judge that the horse is so round and powerful.
A lot of riders can get away with less than great position because of hours and hours in the saddle. And, some of those realize that by fixing a few things here and there to be more functionally correct (ie hand and arm positioning), they can get the same or BETTER movement out of the horse, with less work on their part.
Form = function. Always has, always will. There’s a reason for it.
The post is about thumb (really hand) position and what is correct. And when it comes to the rider, correct should ALWAYS be about what is functionally correct. The OP said thumbs angled in a bit is more comfortable, and there’s a reason for it - it creates the least amount of effort and therefore tension between elbow and fingers.
Hmm, partly true. There are show jumpers with strange, even outrageous, positions and with happy horses but I’ve also noticed, over the years, that the upper level riders do tend to use and maintain more “correct” functional form. The aim is to stay out of the way of the horse and being quiet and balanced helps achieve this. Laura Kraut comes randomly to the top of my mind. Hunters have different drivers as the aim isn’t to jump but to jump in a particular style.
By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. You may also receive promotional emails from The Chronicle of the Horse. You can opt out at any time.
For Customers
Company
Terms of Use
