It’s small.
It’s innocuous.
It’s with me every time I mount.
It actually has a job all it’s own.
It surpasses the 20 meter torture circle. (At least for now.)
Can you guess what it is?
It’s…the velcro strap on the saddle pad!
The latest instrument of torture from my instructor’s tool box.
Yeah, I know. A strap!
You see it all started with my petulant right hand. Recall the story? It wanted to control everything and I had to declare war. Well, during my last lesson I was ambushed. My right hand started to drift upward and over the withers. Hmm, now that I think of it…kinda like I was steering the car to the left.
Wrong! Totally wrong.
We do not steer horses like cars.
Although, even the masters refer to the horses hind as an engine…
Ack! What am I thinking. Stop!
So, due to my lack of control, my instructor pulled out the big guns. Yeah, that’s right, the little velcro strap on my saddle pad. And just so you know, it packs a lot of…torture. You see I had to hold it in my right hand along with my reins and ride! Oh my God! She invented side reins for the rider. This new torture device would help me get a better sense of the correct amount of contact as well as the correct position. Torture, I say!
Keep a hold of the strap just like the reins and down low.
Now walk.
I…can’t…move…my…right…hand…no…move…ment… (gritting teeth)
how…can…I…ride…when…I…can’t…move…? (silent scream)
Now trot!
What?…how?…can’t…move…arm…corner…can’t…move… (biting lip)
Much better! Straighter too.
Huh?…better?…can’t…move…arm…can’t…do…this…
Now I want you to canter. You can release the strap but keep your hand in that position.
Ha!…not…happening…impossible…can’t…move… (cue canter)
OH MY GOD! Oh my God! Lift off! Immediate balanced, rounded canter!
Did you see that! Better yet did you feel that?
Woo hoo! Bring on the torture!
16 comments
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September 2, 2010 at 2:18 am
enlightenedhorsemanship
hahahahahA! Side reins for the rider! Turnabout it fair play!
September 2, 2010 at 2:19 am
enlightenedhorsemanship
ooops–totally diminishes the impact of your comment when you have to fix typos: turnabout IS fair play.
September 2, 2010 at 12:10 pm
dressage rider
It is pretty funny, huh? Don’t worry your comment would not be diminished. I was going to go in and edit your typos knowing that it would drive you bonkers.
September 2, 2010 at 7:06 pm
enlightenedhorsemanship
as an editor/writer, that would NOT drive me bonkers. it would provide relief that someone else was as, um, attentive as I try to be and had rescued me.
September 3, 2010 at 2:01 pm
dressage rider
Then you won’t mind that I corrected the spelling of “reins” in your earlier comment. LOL! Sorry, too many years in the publishing world.
September 3, 2010 at 7:23 pm
enlightenedhorsemanship
what on earth did I type?
September 3, 2010 at 7:34 pm
dressage rider
Nothing bad. “Side rains for the rider!” so I changed it to “reins”.
September 3, 2010 at 11:28 pm
enlightenedhorsemanship
oh good grief. I hatehatehate when people misspell that word. It is NOT reigns, rains, riens! It’s reins, people!
And then I did it myself.
I have a new (old) desk, and no more keyboard tray. I swear the difference in a few inches for short lil old me makes a huge difference. It’s like learning to type all over again.
And I wasn’t that good to begin with.
September 2, 2010 at 2:35 pm
Shannon
Very funny! My trainer tied flourescent orange baling twine to the D-rings on the pommel of my saddle and made me ride around holding on to that. Very embarrassing. They actually make a strap you can put on the saddle to keep your hands steady. I believe its called a “Good Hands”. It’s black, so it isn’t quite as conspicuous as holding on to the saddle pad straps or orange baling twine.
September 2, 2010 at 5:01 pm
dressage rider
Hi Shannon, Sounds like you used a grab strap. I’ve used them in the past too but it was usually to help me sit deeper in the canter or a sitting trot. It didn’t help my hands at all. The saddle pad straps are wonderful! Except that I can’t move but I guess that’s the whole idea, huh? Quiet, steady contact. Thank God they don’t come in orange…or do they?
September 2, 2010 at 6:46 pm
melinda
OMG I have a wandering right hand too! which we figured out is a results of a wandering right leg….which is the result of a twisted pelvis and uneven leg lenghth…BUT tht is no excuse. I declared war on my hand about 8 weeks ago and it’s FINALLY getting better, with the help of the grab strap.
September 3, 2010 at 2:04 pm
dressage rider
If you’re aware of it the battle is half over. Now you’ll consciously try to keep it where it belongs. Try the saddle pad strap too just to compare. I have a problem of twisting to the inside (collapsing left) which is probably contributing to this. Oh, and I’m right handed so it’s a dominance thing.
September 4, 2010 at 5:05 pm
Erin Martin
LOL! I invented a torture contraption of my own to show students how to ride both sides of the horse and not get hung up on one rein or the other. Wrist bands made of felt with one side of the velco on the outside and a strap made of the other side of the velcro to wrap around the wrists (not very strong velcro and only attached for about 2 inches so they easily come undone) so that the rider can see how often one hand is forward and one back, or one hand is up and one down etc. The threat of having to dismount and pick up the strap when it comes undone is great incentive!
It is very helpful in teaches how to have an even, continuous, nuetral elastic contact. Also, I love what you said about horses not steering like a car. When you think about it, it is more like bicycle handlebars. What the inside rein asks for the outside rein allows without ever giving up that even connection on both reins. Kudos to your instructor for caring enough to invent instruments of torture for the “benefit 
” of her students.
September 4, 2010 at 5:31 pm
dressage rider
I’d love a photo of your torture device. Maybe, I can do a follow up post showing your method, my instructor’s and the grab strap mentioned previously. In this month’s issue of Practical Horseman, Jim Wofford’s column is devoted to good hands and he suggests using a bungee cord. Fascinating.
I like your analogy of steering a bicycle but we have to remember not to lean into turns as we would with a bike. I find it hard to believe that I’ve ridden for so long and no one’s taken out the time to really hammer these things home with me. I want to be a better rider so I need to be aware of what I’m doing wrong and hopefully how to fix it.
September 14, 2010 at 3:57 am
theliteraryhorse
Ooooo. I want a photo also. I often feel I’ve missed some very important basics. (finding I’m riding off only the inside rein and yelling “no no, go LEFT” to the horse tends to make me feel insecure about the quality of my basics.)
I got this tip from Suzanne at Tango Dressage blog: put clips on a bucking strap before you hook it to your saddle, and the extra inches allow you to ride with your hands in good position, and act as baseline to check your seat and hands.
September 14, 2010 at 1:12 pm
dressage rider
I like the tip and thanks for the reminder. I need to catch up with Suzanne’s blog.