The better you ride, the less you need to use your hands
Jun 11 2011
Watch it, Mr. Schmersal (and Anky, while we’re at it, you watch it too), and try to actually learn something…
THAT is a beautiful ride. THAT is what judges at all levels in all breeds should be rewarding. Look how HAPPY and RELAXED that horse is! Look how QUIET the rider is…and she is a tiny little thing on a big stallion but that horse respects her and likes her, and it shows. That is a lovely partnership, the kind I wish we saw more of in the horse world.
Now the question: Why is it so rare? I’m thinking about this, and it’s so hard to find trainers in any discipline who train people to ride off their seat and leg, without throwing waaaaaay too much hand into the mix. So how do you learn it if no one is teaching it? I think a lot of people who use their hands minimally learned to do so by riding horses so sensitive that it was a choice of being soft handed or, you know, certain death. 
And there is a small but fortunate percentage of you out there who really did have a great instructor, the kind that stuck you on the longe line with no reins and taught you that you didn’t actually need them the way you thought that you did.
If I could change one thing about how people ride, as a whole, it would be this one thing: Lay off the hands. Stop yanking, cranking, snatching and snapping your reins. Stop physically pulling your horse’s nose in — that is not collection. They can be strung-out as all hell, laying on their forehand, and still have their nose in if you have enough of a death grip on them. (Worse yet, they may learn to like the death grip and count on you to hold them up, which is exhausting at best and leads to stumbling and falling at worst)
Stop grabbing your horse’s face because you feel insecure or they are fast. It truly doesn’t help. If they are hot to begin with, a death grip will only teach them to leap like a kangaroo, which is definitely WAY scarier than the speed they were trying to go in the first place. If you scroll back to the last post I did about the Equine Affaire, I particularly noted a girl who had a hot potato horse to ride and one of the things she did really, really, really well was using her SEAT to slow him. He was a fussy horse who was already flipping his head, and a death grip rider would have gotten herself flipped over on, but this girl knew exactly how to ride her horse and I enjoyed watching it.
Now, as I have frequently observed, I do not ride like I used to, either, and I totally get that those of us who are not 17 anymore may lack confidence, balance or some combination thereof…but there are better work-arounds than putting some sort of medieval torture device bit on the horse and hanging on for dear life. For example, there is this amazing thing called trotting. A good solid 15 or 20 minute continuous posting trot will take the b.s. out of 90% of the horses in the world (it just doesn’t work on Arabs, LOL). And after that, you have the brains back and don’t feel like you’re sitting on a rocket, so therefore you’re much less tempted to grab the horse’s face for security.
You don’t have to be a Grand Prix dressage rider to learn to ride off your seat and legs, either. Got a round pen? Got a halter? Perfect. Snap some reins to your horse’s halter and go ride in the round pen. Unless your horse is a complete lunatic, it’s unlikely you are going to get run off with in the round pen (if you suspect your horse IS a complete lunatic, please borrow a more sensible horse for this exercise!). Go in there and, if you’re usually someone who has to ride on contact and feel that security, just try to walk and trot around with flopping reins. Get used to the feeling of not having or needing that constant connection with the horse’s mouth. You truly don’t need it. Work on your stops with minimal to no use of the reins. See if you can get your horse to make turns using your seat bones and legs only. It’s a fun exercise, and odds are you’ll be quite surprised at how much you can accomplish without a bridle. Interestingly, I’ve met a lot of “hot” horses who rode more quietly with no bit at all…they just relaxed right down when they realized nothing was in their mouth, and weren’t strong or hard to ride at all.
I personally think the bitless bridles are going to increase in popularity. Why? Simple. The truth is, they help avoid a lot of horse-rider conflicts because people with poor balance or snatchy, temperamental hands don’t piss off their horse so much in the bitless bridle. So the horse behaves better, and the rider is thrilled. Ultimately, that helps keep the horse in a home and you know that’s always my #1 concern. Let’s just get the bitless bridles approved for ALL disciplines in ALL classes already…surely this video proves that you don’t need a bit for anything, doesn’t it?
271 comments to “The better you ride, the less you need to use your hands”
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I will sometimes ride without reins on a lung line (with a helper lunging me) just to tone up on my balance and make sure I am not using my hands to much. I had one of the barn members lung me one day on my mare and I had the reins put up. (tied up around the neck) I had my arms/hands out to my side riding with out stirrups and the next thing I knew I had a small crowd around me. I could hear some of thier murmurs like She’s not using any reins, or shes riding with out holding onto anything and with out stirrups, and so forth. I have heard this while riding with out a bridle on my mare. I would often tell ppl the hands are for direction not balance. I would often ride without stirrups because they would just be in the way. If I was riding in my western saddle I would sometimes feel that the stirrups would hinder my legs movement esp when I am trying to trian a certain concept. So I would drop them and work without them. English stirrups when I would be riding english I didnt seem to have that problem as much since the leathers are much thinner. Either way I would try to watch how much my hands became involved in my riding. One of the younger barn memeber came out one day while I was working on collection with my mare. I asked the mare to stop but girl did not see me use my reins to stop the horse. She asked me how I got my mare to stop with out pulling on the reins. All I said to her was “by my seat” and I carried on cueing my mare to go forward with out much ado.
IT CAN BE DONE PPL WITH OUT YOUR HANDS!!!! I swear it. I wish I had some riding clients to teach such concepts. Its realy not rocket science. Realy it isnt.
Actually bitless bridles have been around since man began to ride horses. It wasnt untill later in the years that man began to demand more and more control in an immediate demand with out alot of training. In other words we wanted it now and not later. Figures. Its been fairly recently that the bitless bridles have been making a bigger comback with a larger using crowd and a more educated crowd about the horse and control of such. I am glad that this is making a larger impact now. Back in the 13 to 14 hundreds (and even beyond that) having a curb bit with a 22 inch shanks with spiked mouth peices was a fairly common thing esp war horses. When paintings were done of such horses with thier riders the question was; does the painter paint the froth around the horses mouth white or in its real time colour of red (due to blood). Thank goodness the era of spiked mouth peices have gone the wayside for the most part. (except in India were the spikes are still used) Ultamate control was the desire with out alot of “wasted” training time. The Very first headstall used on a horse back when man first tried to ride such beast was more than likely made of woven grass and had no “bit”. Eventually the “bit” was designed to gain more control of the horse and was made of leather and antlers or bones. The “first” bit looked very similar like todays full cheek snaffle. I will post a picture of it when I get home, I am at the library and cannot remember my pass word to photobucket were I have the pitures stored.
One of the things I loved most about watching that video was the amount of rest and relaxation she allowed the horse between exercises. I have been taught to, and am a big fan of, let the horse stretch his back/neck/topline frequently during training/warmups/warmdowns. Excatly what this rider showed – do a canter piro, then a circle of L&L at canter before collecting up again to train again. This way you reduce fatigue in the muscles, keeping them soft and supple, and build the strength teh horse needs for the movement. It keeps their mind happy and is a fabulous reward for trying hard.
Another thing my coach has taught me is, in relation to my 4yr old WB, I have another 15 years of developing the education of this horse, so the most important thing to instill on him for now is relaxation. Whether it takes 10min or the entire ride, I must have him swinging along happy, relaxed and on my aids in the walk before I even look at trotting/cantering. This has been very important in creating a work ethic, and he is a sensitive horse.
Basically, you get much more effort out of a horse if he is your friend and enjoying what he does, rather than your enemy and being forced into it all.
I’d love to support this woman’s riding, but it is not correct. This is especially visible in the piaffe. The horse is often BTV and does not have the poll as the highest point, it has a bit of a broken neck line. The supporting foreleg is slanted backwards rather than straight up and down, showing that much of the weight is on the front. The hind is not properly collected.
It is disappointing that someone would hold this up as an ideal image for a dressage rider, because it is not. She is simply using a bitless to achieve a similar piaffe to those of the modern dressage stars you wanted to condemn. I, for one, would hope that judges would not strongly reward this sort of piaffe just as I don’t like it when they strongly reward Anky’s piaffes.
Instead, I think we should look to correct riding, regardless of whatever gadget is on the horse’s face (so long as the gadget does not hurt the horse, obviously). This is not what I would use, and it is saddening that some think that this is what great riding looks like. This only proves that you can use a bitless to achieve incorrect, but commonly accepted by dressage judges, movements.
I’ll give her credit for not overdoing her leg to the point that the horse’s tail cranks with resentment every step. If her goal is to show you can do what the winners do, she succeeded. True classical form is even harder to find, I’ll take half or even 3/4 of a loaf, given the point
Amen.
I’m sorry, but if the quest for perfection results in a pissed off, sour and sore horse, and I sure do see a lot of them, then fuck perfection…in my never humble opinion…Ute’s horse is HAPPY and I’m impressed with his performance. No, I’m not a dressage expert…but maybe the ideal is what’s wrong if this isn’t the ideal?
Flexion at C3 instead of C1 is a very common error, and absence of perfect symmetry in the Piaffe and Passage is also a common error. You darn near have to go to the Spanish Riding School or something to see the ideal. (As Anky proves, you don’t even always get it at the Olympics any more…) So the horse didn’t put in an Olympic gold medal performance, like you say, he’s happy, his neck musculature is good, he’s not going to be breaking down due to pinched nerves, he won’t run into another horse in the warmup ring because of being so hyperflexed that he can’t see oncoming traffic.
Spending as much time as I do in QH, open and Arab show land, where everyone seems to think it’s their god-given right to be issued a set of draw reins so they can go around in circles for hours with their horses’ noses pulled into their chests, this video was a breath of fresh air.
That said, I credit the trainer, not the lack of a bit!
I am 100% with you. I like what I see with that horse. I just like to see a horse – regardless of discipline – who isn’t miserable!
I mostly agree, but two thoughts:
1) Don’t bash Arabs, they just get BORED with 15-20 minutes of posting trot. Instead, get their brains engaged with free exercise; I’ve had remarkable results with giving them 10 minutes of loose play before saddling up. Adding a bit of minor interaction by using a longe whip as a cue to change direction, etc., makes for some fun liberty work and the beginning of mental engagement even while they are running, farting, snorting and bucking! Do that just a few minutes until they start to look at you and pay some attention (I hate the term “hooking in,” and with Arabs, it’s more of a “what’s the next game you want me to play? than a submission, anyway) you will have their brains for the ride. At least, as long as you aren’t keeping them in a stall 24/7 and hyping them up on a ton of grain they don’t need (I have show coats on mine with ONE CUP of grain and some added supplements) We go crazy spending 8 hours in a 12 x 12 cubicle, OF COURSE they aren’t precisely calm when spending 23 hours a day in one! Think of them as the Border Collies of the horse world, and you’ll be fine.
2) Bitless bridles aren’t a cure for riders with no hands, the nose is as sensitive as the mouth; I’ve seen horse’s noses swell up from too much pressure from rope halters jumping cavessons and cross-unders. And don’t get me started on the evils of the “mechanical hackamore” for creating head-flippers, those things should be burned! Anything can be abused, plenty of people take skin off a horse’s nose with a rawhide sidepull or a bosal, and some even advocate it! The cure is teaching people how to RIDE, there is no substitute.
I was inspired by this thread to go bareback riding today, and as I feared, I’m relying entirely too much on my hands
It doesn’t help that my horse is just four and very green still, he doesn’t really understand moving off my leg and weight- he is sensitive, I just sometimes get the opposite of what I wanted. I really could use a trainer, unfortunately that isn’t possible right now. Sigh.
On topic; have anybody here any experience with the LG bridle? I bought a Cook style bitless, and have filed that one under “bad buys”. Neither I nor horse liked it, but I’d like a bitless alternative and have been thinking about getting a LG bridle. But they are expensive and kind of hard to get here, so I hoped to hear other peoples experience/ thoughts on it before going through the hassle of actually getting one.
I am not a great rider– my horse knows it–I know it–I was unable to afford a horse of my own until I was 45–and I ended up buying my lesson horse. I do not use a bit for this reason and we get a long great. I still try to learn to use my seat and legs only though, I have not given up on myself and my horse has not either. She is a great mare and I appreciate her patience!! I admire great riders so much and as you do, LOVE to see happy, relaxed horses.
With that attitude, I will bet your horse absolutely loves you. And how nice that you bought your lesson horse!
Everything you said is so true. My favorite horse to ride at my lesson barn is this hot little QH named Rudy. He adores me because I almost never cue him with the reins except to stop him from tilting his head to the left (which he does because of his weak left eye, but it still throws his balance all to hell). I’ve seen other girls ride him and watched him just put his head down and his ears back and CHARGE like a runaway train because they were just trying to stop him by yanking his face.
I find that horses, especially horses like Rudy, respond better to body language than to having their mouths ripped off. I can ride Rudy on a completely loose rein and just cue him with my legs and the motion of my body most of the time, and stop him just by leaning back a bit and ceasing to move with his gait. I think if people stopped thinking of the reins as the be-all, end-all horse control system, they and their horses would be much happier.
The more I know about horses the more I know I was taking lessons as a teenager from someone who truly knew what they were doing. Every lesson we spent a good 10-20 minuets on riding without touching the reigns at all!