Tips needed on maintaining a contact

[Joyscarer]

I am trying to be a little more productive in my riding this year rather than being the equivilent of a 'Sunday driver'.

My biggest failing as a rider at the moment is my hands.

Joy does tend to move her head about a bit as she is very unbalanced but in order to continue her eduaction I need to provide her with a soft consistent contect. It's the consistent bit that I am having trouble with. :rolleyes:

It is pointless having lessons on her at the moment as she would colapse in a heap after 10 minutes of working in the school so that will have to come later when she is fitter :)

Does anyone have any tips so I can start as I mean to go on?

[fjordlady]

Hi,
Had seen this ad awhile back whilst trawling the net http://www.barnstormers.co.uk/acatalog/Training_Aids.html

LEATHER HARBRIDGE TRAINING AID - 'imitates perferct hands'
Not sure if this will help. Not used myself but I expect someone here may have experience.

Good luck

[laura jeanne]

I am working on exactly the same thing. I'm trying to keep my elbows back and hands pretty much together. But to have a steady contact, your core has to be strong and supporting you so your arms are free to follow the horse's movement. I have to really think about it as age and sitting around an office has sent my physical fitness downhill!!

[Grace O'Malley]

I think Laura Jeanne is right, at least that is also helping me. When you use your core, you are better balanced, and the horse can more easily balance itself. Don't even worry about the contact yet, if she wants to move her head around, let her -- as long as she keeps moving forward at the pace you want. Concentrate on guiding her with your balance and legs, and the hands will come as you release the tension in your shoulders and arms. As she becomes more balanced as a result, the contact will come. At least mine is getting *way* more tolerant of contact than she used to be, so I'm sticking by my story :p.

[Bay Mare]

If you're having problems with your hands (as opposed to having difficult keeping up with her head!) then it might be worth having a good overhaul of your seat as a lot of hand problems can come from the seat. If you're inadvertantly 'driving' or 'polishing the saddle' you will find that your hands move up and down for example.

What bit is she ridden in? It might be worth trying a straight bar/mullen, magic bit or even a pelham for a few months. We had great success with Saff in a mullen mouth pelham, her head was much stiller and she doesn't lean half as much as she tried to in a snaffle.

If there's a good instructor who comes to your yard it may be worth explaining to them and asking for a 15 minute lesson if they're there already ... you can only ask :)

[Nimbus65]

I used to really struggle with this too and as BayMare says, it really came down to my seat . . . and balance. I used to spend an entire lesson not getting it when my instructor would say "hands still" b/c I was so terrified of not jabbing the horse in the mouth as it moved its head. Keeping my hands still and allowing my seat to "follow" has made all the difference (but it took me ages). Keeping that consistent contact also required me to maintain independence . . . separating what my hands were doing from what my seat and legs were doing and allowing them all to work independently. And what helped with that was simply lots and lots of practice. Riding with my reins upside down too.

And the last element . . . balance. This is probably what folks above have meant by strength in your core. When my core was weaker, my balance suffered and I tended to either balance on my hands (pulling on the horse's mouth) or raise my hands as a reflex to my lack of balance . . . both of which interfered with that light, still contact I was striving for. Now that my core is stronger (and it could still be much, much stronger, but it's undoubtedly better), my balance is much, much better which frees my hands up to be effective, rather than just a means to stay on!

My problem now is that I don't "carry" my hands . . . they've gone from being too high to being much too close to the horse's withers which means I'm blocking energy instead of containing or directing it. At least they're level . . . for such a long time I dropped the inside and lifted the outside hand when I went round a corner . . . solved that problem (largely) but now I need to learn how to carry them properly.

As with so much of riding, it's about unlocking why you do a certain thing with a part of your body and then working on solving the problem or undoing the bad habit. When Ollie popped into an outline for me the other day, I knew my contact was light and consistent . . . now if only I could stop myself from practically resting my hands on his (and everyone else's) wretched withers!

You'll figure this out with practice . . . you've had some great pointers from the folks here.

N

[Joyscarer]

Thank you everyone for you time and help.

It's certainly true that I have a lot to work on and lets say my physique is akin to that of the Mitchelin Man :eek: :D

I actually got to ride out with someone else for once and asked them to comment on my problems.

It turns out that I am riding with my arms far too straight and my shoulders hunched forward which explains alot :o

Roll on the warmer weather when Joy and I will be fit enough to have our RI back again and the ground will allow lessons without having to to hire the school up the road. :)

[Pink's lady]

Practise! I can, when I'm concentrating, have a good contact and soft hands, but generally i'm too lazy:o Cos I most hack at present we bumble about holding onto the buckle and steer using my legs and neck reining.:o Every now and again i'll pick up the reins and start working them properly, then get distracted and forget - 10mins later I'm back to holding onto the buckle

In the meantime it might be worth considering getting some elastic inserts for your reins. Have a look on ebay - saw some going for under £10 a couple of days ago.

[Joyscarer]

Practise! I can, when I'm concentrating, have a good contact and soft hands, but generally i'm too lazy:o Cos I most hack at present we bumble about holding onto the buckle and steer using my legs and neck reining.:o

In the meantime it might be worth considering getting some elastic inserts for your reins. Have a look on ebay - saw some going for under £10 a couple of days ago.


Thanks Pink :D

I do a lot of riding about on the buckle using my legs as Joy is always far more relaxed on a longer rein. At least I know she is fine with back, teeth and tack now so I'm ready to start asking a bit more.

Does anyone else look at themselves in reflections and shadows or is that just me? Anyway I'm usually pleased with what I see in terms of legs and torso (even if I catch site of myself unawares) but I hadn't noticed the straightness in my arms or the rounded shoulders, all I could see and feel was uneven contact :rolleyes:

I hadn't thought about getting the rein inserts before as my contact had been so light as to be non-existent so they would have been pointless but I am getting serious about bringing Joy on this year.

Of coarse you did happy to mention ebay in your post so I suppose I'll HAVE to look on there and tell hubby that any subsequent spending spree is all YOUR fault :p

[Pink's lady]

Yep, I'm guilty of looking in car window reflections. Thats usually the point at which I pick up my reins and ask them for more:o

As for ebay - here (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/FSS-Leather-Flexi-Reins-Aid-4-Soft-Hand-Contact-Buckles_W0QQitemZ130195527783QQihZ003QQcategoryZ47274QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem)you go........... They won't do any harm;)

[Pink's lady]

This is my general attitude to hacking

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v715/Pinkslady/Pink/sittingonpinkwithcamera.jpg

At least here my hands are somewhere near the reins - I'm often found sitting on them when it's cold:o
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v715/Pinkslady/Pink/pink014.jpg

[Joyscarer]

Well I'm not quite THAT bad :D :D :D

Thanks for the link. I am watching it :)