Quieting hands/relaxing arms

[LMayhewtx]

I have been riding for about 5 months now. I walk, trot, and have recently begun cantering. After much work, I have gotten my legs in a pretty good position. Now my attention is going to my hands, to get them really still, while still keeping my arms relaxed. I have noticed that I sometimes balance on my hands, and I know I need to correct this right away. I have found so far that focusing on keeping my weight in my heels instantly fixes this problem, if we are just going around the ring. But when I try to do something like a leg yield while trotting, then I seem to turn to my hands for balance. Any suggestions on how I can correct this and just in general quiet my hands without locking my arms in place? Does it just take lots of concentration? I really don't want to hurt my lesson horse, or damage her mouth! I am a little reluctant to just drop my reins altogether on her, since she is a little mischevious and often tries to test me by trying to leave the ring. Not the hugest deal, but also a bad habit I don't want to encourage.
Many thanks in advance for your help.

[SupaTania]

lunge lessons with no reigns. u won't have hands to rely on for balance, and don't have to worry about her running towards the gate.

good for u cantering after 5 months!!

[Skyhuntress]

lunge lessons with no reigns. u won't have hands to rely on for balance, and don't have to worry about her running towards the gate.

good for u cantering after 5 months!!


I really second that. It helps enormously, because you don't HAVe the reins to begin with. Instead, keep your hands in the position that you would for riding and try posting the trot (most novice riders will have their hands move up and down as they post) concentrate on really keeping them still and independant from whatever else is happening

[Tangle]

Lunge lessons are good if they're an option - but I know not everyone can get them as easily as they'd like.

Have you tried holding the reins normaly, but with your fingers just resting very lightly on the cantle? It can make you aware of how much your hands are moving and help you to keep them still relative to the horse (not perfect if the horse is moving his head a lot through being unbalanced in walk or canter, but it's a start).

To start with, yes - it does take a lot of concentration, but over time it will become more automatic. You could also set yourself markers as a "hands" reminder. So in leg yield it might be everytime you go past a post. Going large, everytime you go past a marker - over time you should find you need to correct yourself less frequently.

Good luck - sounds like you're making really good progress :)

[LMayhewtx]

Thanks for all your suggestions. I don't know if my instructor does lunge lessons - I haven't seen her doing them - but I will look into that. I also like the idea of having set markers where I am checking in with myself to make sure I am not using my hands too much. I mostly ride in small group lessons now, so that is something I can work on even when it is not the focus of that particular lesson. I'll let you all know how it goes!

[clairemc]

Have you tried using a neck strap? or bridge your reins, or another one I have done is hold a whip horizontally across your reins:) Good Luck and well done on progressing so far in such a short time.