What does soft hands mean to you?

[Zeidant2]

So recently my trainer has been working to soften my hands at the canter. My confusion falls in–how do you keep contact and allow the horse freedom to move head while cantering for instance at the same time?

My trainer says I often lock my arms especially in half seat. But then when I “give” with the strides my contact breaks and it results in a “loop” or “bend” in my reins breaking that straight line from bit. To wrist. To elbow.

So I’m told to keep that nice bend in my elbow. But softening my hands. So how do I “give” and allow my arms to
Move with motion of the horse without straightening out my elbows is my biggest battle?!! I’m an overthinker clearly.

So do I give with my upper body so my arms don’t straighten out or lock with every stride? I try to look for videos but can’t find any that really visualizes it

[SendenHorse]

[QUOTE=Zeidant2;8949380]
My confusion falls in–how do you keep contact and allow the horse freedom to move head while cantering for instance at the same time?[/QUOTE]

That is the million dollar question…

The walk and canter bascule and follow, the trot doesn’t open and close to that degree but still needs to account for posting.

Unstable hands often come as a result of a rider either not having a good base or understanding how to ride off the seat, or trusting the seat to be effective.

Anchoring the pelvis and elbows helps create a proper contact.

Its a learning process, I’ve been doing dressage for many many years and I still don’t feel I fully understand this…

My best advice is try to ride a really solid training- second level dressage horse and see what that feels like and how to start to recreate that feeling. its honestly THE best investment if you ask me. Feeling is worth a thousand forum posts!

[Manni01]

It’s not how you hold your arms… it’s how you hold the reins. You have to treat the reins like you would press a sponge. Open and close …

[SuzieQNutter]

Soft hands does not mean open fingers.

Soft hands does not mean no contact.

By following in walk and canter this means that the reins do not loop at the mouth and go tight. Loop at the mouth and go tight.

The inside rein does loop when you give to prove that you have the horse in the outside rein. The outside rein is never given and is kept firm but your hand must go forward when his head goes forward and back when his head comes back so at the rein does not go loopy tight, loopy tight, loopy tight.

This comes down to feel. Are you wearing gloves?

Give someone (you trust) 2 needles and close your eyes.

Have them place either one needle or 2 needles on the inside of your lower arm about 2 inches up from your wrist. When they say now as they place you have to say whether they are touching you with one needle or two.

You should marvel at how far apart they have to be for you to tell that 2 needles are being placed.

Now do the same thing, close your eyes and have them put 1 or 2 needles on the tip of your pointer finger. You should marvel at how close together the needles are when you tell there are 2 needles touching you.

This is because the nerve receptors in your fingers are much closer than the nerve receptors in your inner lower arm.

So if you hold a rein in your hand the finger tips are feeling the reins. If you wear gloves this deadens the nerve receptors feelings and now you can feel the horses mouth through the reins.

Incidentally the sides of a horse have their nerve receptors really close together. Which is why you can just touch with an aid in different places and they know the difference and are able to feel a fly walking on their sides. That is the hardest aid you need.

[Zeidant2]

I feel like my elbows at the trot are good. My trainer told me she likes how I open and close my elbow at the post but canter is different–I feel like I defonitrly “give” all the freedom horse needs to step into the stride. But then I’m “locking” my elbows and putting too much slack in the reins Witt every stride. So do I have to maintain the end of me elblow while compensating with my upper body?

[SuzieQNutter]

For you hand to follow the head forward, you elbow has to move. The outside and inside rein are not necessarily doing the same thing so both elbows hands do not move together, they move separately. The outside follows, the inside follows and gives.

The body think of leading with your belly button. You don’t want the upper body moving forward more than you can help.

[mroades]

I was taught this by being given a bit and reins with no headstall in a round pen. I had to learn to follow with contact or the but would fall out of the mouth…and you couldnt just pull harder because then the horse wouldnt go forward.

[SuzieQNutter]

mroads I was taught the same way. Except out in a open field on the ponyclub grounds!!!

[keepthelegend]

The best thing to get the feeling of contact and softness is the driving rein. Hold your reins in your fist with the thumb on top. It forces your elbow not to lock and your arms to follow. Another thing to remember about “soft hands” is that it’s really your arms that matter. Keep your fingers closed and think about following the horse’s motion rather than just having soft hands that lead to floppy reins and not enough contact.

[jr]

I was always taught that soft hands came from an elbow following the horse’s mouth. Elbow must be mobile,most, and responsive to the motion of the horse.

[luvdogz72]

[QUOTE=mroades;8949577]
I was taught this by being given a bit and reins with no headstall in a round pen. I had to learn to follow with contact or the but would fall out of the mouth…and you couldnt just pull harder because then the horse wouldnt go forward.[/QUOTE]

love this idea!

[mychestnutvalentine]

My trainer is always telling me “do not let your hands be the pivot point. Let the elbows follow her head.” That helped me a lot. Having a subtle contact that follows and softens but still is consistent.

[Scribbler]

The OP is asking two questions here. The title is “what do soft hands mean to you?” This is a huge question that is philosophical and theoretical as well as technical, and involves thinking about how you can ride on clear contact, for instance in collected moves, yet remain kind, giving, responsive and not “hard.” Soft does not equal light contact. It’s about how well the hands move with the horse, and how well they give or release after an aid. Release does not have to mean a noticeably slack rein.

But the actual post asks a different question, a purely technical one: how do I follow the horse’s mouth at the canter with consistent contact?

The OP says that coach wants OP to ride with softer hands at the canter. The OP can now follow the canter forward/down, but can’t retain contact on the upward/back phase of the canter. OP’s hands/arms don’t come back; the rein loops.

First, I’d want to know how long OP has been trying to do this. If this is a question after the first or second lesson on this, then it might just take a few more tries to change muscle memory. If however this problem has been persisting for a month despite repeated instruction, then here are some other things to think about.

Does the OP have excellent following contact at the walk, and perfectly stable hands at the posting trot? Do the OP’s hands bob up and down when posting, or can the hands hover motionless and independent of the body?

What is the OP’s seat like at the canter? Can OP sit the canter? If you watch FEI jumpers on TV, obviously they can maintain the exact same contact if they are cantering two point, or if they are sitting deep in the saddle between jumps. Their hands are independent of their seat. But many intermediate ammie hunter/jumper riders don’t learn to sit the canter correctly, which means that they aren’t really two-pointing correctly either. Instead, they ride standing in the stirrups, braced, flopping around with their bum slamming into the saddle. And this can cause them to tilt forward. You can’t have independent hands if you don’t have a secure seat. And you can’t follow the upward/back motion of the canter if you are tipping forward.

The OP has learned to “give” with the forward/down motion, which is good. But the fact OP mentions this suggests that up to now, the OP wasn’t allowing any forward/down, so was perhaps really leaning on the reins for support, or choking in the horse out of fear of going too fast. Both of these problems are about more than just hands.

And example of a problem being really just about hands, would be if you had some rough and ready kid with great balance and nerves of steel, who had grown up riding rank horses, and resorted to reefing on the mouth because that was all the horses had been taught. You might be able to put this kid on a better trained horse and play with how quiet an aid the horse would respond to.

But I think in most cases, problems that show up as hands are often about larger questions of overall balance and seat.

OP might try some longeline lessons, to see what it’s like to ride with no reins. Try to sit the canter, try no stirrups. Then try arm exercises, “superman” arms, hands above head, etc., to see if you can separate your hands from your seat and body. You might also try exaggerated pumping of arms in rein position, with no reins.

[Madison]

Think of it as keeping your elbows elastic, almost like a rubber band. If you feel your arms stiffen when you are hacking, try shaking them out (one small shake should do, not flapping them like chicken wings, lol) to loosen them and reset and remind yourself to keep them fluid. Also, make sure some of the inflexibility in your arms isn’t coming from stiffness in your body – I have an old back injury, and the days that my back stiffens up tend to be the days that my arms are more likely to lock up and get stiff.

[merrygoround]

Your elbows are hinged, they can bend and unbend as when you are rowing a hypothetical boat.

The same principle works in riding. In sitting trot the give is there, it helps to think of putting your hands forward, in rising trot the hands are fairly steady as your body rises between bracketing arms, in walk depending on the activity of the walk, your elbows are fairly active, in a way similar to that carried over to canter.

In transitions it’s a matter of developing the feel of how much to take and how much to give. That takes practice.

[Zeidant2]

I hve worked to canter with the
No hands withmy trainer–hands on hips around the arena. To my surprise I’m balanced well. I really enjoy doing that exercise.

I find my elbows “locking” mostly in half seat and the loops presenting when I’m sitting.

When I post my elbows open and close and my contact remains pretty solid. I’m seldom told to adjust my reins posting but always told to soften hands, shorten reins, or lengthen st the canter.

[Zeidant2]

That helps to put things a little more in perspective. That makes me imagine my arms following the horse rather than stiff upper arms.

Thanks!

[Zeidant2]

Thanks for your responses! I’ll try to remember all these points.

I really like the thought of trying to keep bit in without a full bridle on. I think I’ll try to imagine that! Will keep you posted on my progress:)

[Ponyclubrocks]

Two exercises to aid in teaching one to relax the elbow and maintain contact at the canter.

1. Ride with “driving reins” as though you were driving a buggy, it just seems much easier to have a giving elbow from that position. Canter that way for awhile then flip them back and maintain the feel.

2. Have your trainer undo your cheek pieces while you are mounted then head out on a circle and pick up the canter, the only thing holding the bit in your horses mouth is your contact! Believe me this will cure loopy reins in a hurry.

Both of these exercises helped me immensely.

[rennyben]

[QUOTE=Zeidant2;8949380]

So I’m told to keep that nice bend in my elbow. But softening my hands. So how do I “give” and allow my arms to
Move with motion of the horse without straightening out my elbows is my biggest battle?!! I’m an overthinker clearly.

So do I give with my upper body so my arms don’t straighten out or lock with every stride? I try to look for videos but can’t find any that really visualizes it[/QUOTE]

I didn’t understand this either. Then it dawned on me that I have another joint! My shoulders! Elbows can stay bent if my shoulder moves. Try right now to reach something in front of you and keep your elbow bent - you move your arm with your shoulder!! Shoulders and elbows open and close to follow the motion of the horse’s head at the canter. I think you could learn this motion by having someone hold one end of a belt/rope/rein and you the other. Then try to follow their movement.

As an interesting aside, once you are following with your elbow and shoulder you can unfollow with them too to resist instead of just pulling on the reins with your hands. Meaning tightening my armpit/shoulder blades is a very subtle way to get a half halt (with supporting leg etc) - especially in 2 point. It’s fun!

So to answer your question, soft hands haven’t much to do with the actual hands at all but is the entire arm from shoulder blade down.