Raising Hand in Canter

[wild_3scantbebroken]

Hi all! Long time lurker, first time poster.

I’ve been riding with a new trainer and they are having me ride with my inside hand raised during the canter. This isn’t because I tend to lower my hand or anything, trainer has all students ride canter this way. Lift inside hand, cue for canter and keep said hand raised while in canter. Trainer says a lot of big name upper level dressage riders have their hands raised in the canter too. Purpose is as a visual aid for the horse but also to raise horse’s inside shoulder.

Just curious everyone’s thoughts on this as it feels so foreign to me. I thought it would be breaking the connection with the bit, but it does seem to help the horses I’ve ridden pick up the canter.

Anyways, I would love some feedback as to whether or not anyone else uses this technique! Thanks in advance!

[pluvinel]

Never heard of this.

My question to you is does the horse “get it?”

[2tempe]

Most upper level riders that I have seen, either in person or pics, ride with both hands just above the pommel of the saddle and sometimes forward from there. Now that’s not to say that they are there 100% of the time, and may make an occasional small adjustment. I do know a trainer who teaches a number of beginner/novice type riders or and she does tell them to raise the inside hand for various reasons.

[Scribbler]

As part of a coherent system raising one or both of the hands rather than pulling back can be a useful technique for elements of bend and balance. Different horses have different needs. It’s not a visual cue, it’s a cue to control head or shoulder and your trainer should be able to explain how that particular hand position is influencing your particular horse because of his particular issues right now.

If the trainer can’t explain what it’s meant to do with your particular horse, I become suspicious of their entire understanding of the theory of what they are teaching

How people ride a finished horse in competition is not how people ride a horse who is still developing balance. My observation is that people competing on finished horses keep their hands pretty level for the duration of the test.

[tbchick84]

I tend to collapse my inside shoulder, so it’s a great exercise for me. It elongates my spine, so I can’t collapse, and since I’m sitting straighter, it helps me absorb the motion of the canter better too. It really seems to free up the horse’s back to the point where you can feel the inside hind becoming more engaged.

[Edre]

I have seen this come up fairly frequently, both as a result of rider habits and horse habits.

On the rider side of things - I think it is easy for riders to get over-reliant on the inside rein (“pull” the horse around rather than bend and push the outside of the horse around, thinking of riding the outside to get the turn/bend rather than the inside) and (general statement here, not for anyone here in particular) for many “AA” riders who don’t have the degree of correct equitation, part of the mechanism for overactive inside rein is often for the hand to be lower than it should be, or locked through the elbow. Bringing the hand up addresses both of those things and often seems to help a rider establish more independent, conscientious use of the inside rein.

On the horse side of things I find this to be particularly useful with horses that may get really heavy through their shoulders or heavy on the forehand in general, or the horses who may have a tendency to curl down onto the bit and come behind the vertical (regardless of where the frame is). The balance is easier to keep where it’s meant to be, and they seem to have a better grasp of where they are meant to be.
I don’t think “visual cue” has much to do with it though - if I had to guess, I think it probably changes the line slightly from bit to elbow and brings the balance up a little bit more, which makes it easier for them to step underneath from behind, lift through the back, and then reach out through the shoulders while working over their topline and not falling forward or getting heavy in front.

[VodkaRedbullx2]

It’s a tool. Sometimes you need it and eventually you don’t. If you’re riding dressage eventually you want that aid to be lifting on your inside hip.

[Angela_Freda]

@Scribbler

If the trainer can’t explain what it’s meant to do with your particular horse, I become suspicious of their entire understanding of the theory of what they are teaching

Or maybe the person asking didn’t fully understand or remember the explanation the instructor gave them to share it here?

[Aussie_2020]

A clinician I would ride with once a month had me raise up and move forward my inside hand just a smidge while asking for the canter. Not enough to actually see but enough for my horse to feel it and also for it to be in my head. That thinking of “give” was what got me past the pulling down and back that I hadn’t realized I was doing (and my trainer hadn’t noticed). It worked.

[wild_3scantbebroken]

Thank you all for your input…

Unfortunately, i dont have my own horse at the moment to experiment with, but all the lesson horses seem to “get it”. Just not sure if that’s simply how they were trained though.

Lifting the inside hand as a temporary training tool or to help me, say on one side where I have a wayward hand, or help the horse who tends to drop a certain shoulder makes sense. This is NOT what my trainer is having me do. Doesn’t matter which student, which horse or which canter lead, the inside hand is always raised higher than the outside. My trainer has even mentioned that he can get tempis on his upper level horses simply by switching which hand is raised, although I have not seen this myself. The explanation given to me was that raising the hand helps to raise the inside shoulder which needs to raise and come forward in the canter.

[GraceLikeRain]

Any tactic can be misused or misapplied to all riders. Do the horses seem relaxed and happy in their work? Do riders appear to be progressing and learning new skills? Is the trainer when riding demonstrating a quality of riding and producing a horse that you find aspirational?

Any hack can call themselves a trainer. Anyone can claim whatever they want about their own skills and have their riders going around with chronically uneven hands and never progressing.

My instinct is that you have deeper reservations. Have you tried lessoning elsewhere for added input?

[Scribbler]

I have no problems with the raised inside hand. But I do question any one size fits all solution. My own coach will also get me to raise the outside hand as we try to fix maresy’s idiosyncratic subtle tilt and twist.

[wild_3scantbebroken]

I think you hit the nail on the head…I do have deeper reservations about this technique. I haven’t been at the barn long enough to see progression of other riders, but I’m definitely starting to question if I should look elsewhere for instruction. Thanks!

[sascha]

@wild_3scantbebroken

to raise horse’s inside shoulder.

It doesn’t work that way. Sigh.

@wild_3scantbebroken

I’m definitely starting to question if I should look elsewhere for instruction

Phew. Go forth and find someone who understands more about the way riders and horses can effectively communicate with each other.