TIE-DOWNS

[RoperAB]

What is "high hands"?
Is 90 degrees from your body high? Example hands at a right angle?
Im just wondering if everybody on hear is visioning the same thing?

[Brad S]

Roper, your 90 degree position is a pretty good mendosa line


I have a brother in law that is a vet and a refined horseman (rare combination arround here). I'd say accomplished horseman because his horses end up very nicely finnished, but he claims to "always be in school." He sez the way to train a horse is "have more time than the horse." lotsa truth to that.

[Heel Fly]

I wonder to if everyone is on the same page? This is what I mean by 'lift your hand up'. It refers to "Bridle Horses" when your horse is trained to flex at the poll you can engage the horse with your legs and seat and then lift slightly up with the reins and he will flex at the poll and bridle up. Now your hands should never leave an imagineary box that sets just in front of your horn, no lower then your pomel. I used to ride a lot worse then I do now and I fell into the hands down at my knees thing. Then when I transitioned my horse to a bit he had no idea what was going on. If you stay within the 'box' then when you do go to the next level your hand position doesn't change and your horse doesn't have to try and figure out what you are doing. It works for me anyway and if you look around the true horseman around ride with as little movement out of the box as possible.

[RoperAB]

Even on a finished bridle horse what type of gear<Ramel or split reins> will effect the height of your hand.

[Copper1272]

[Faster horses]

Going to back to Pat Parelli a bit; I watched him at a clinic in Butte, Mt. He had sticks that he gave to half the riders. He paired everyone up, one stick to each pair. What he showed them was if you pick up the right rein with your right hand and take it to your left shoulder (and vice-versa) your horse can move his rear end around so quick that your partner cannot tap him with the stick. If you use your right hand on the right rein and pull back to your hip, or the cantle of the sadddle, you horse cannot get his rear out of the way quick enough to avoid the tap from the partner.

Pretty interesting.

[Heel Fly]

If I'm understanding you RAB it doesn't matter. There are a couple of reasons, other then personal pref. , that trainers use the romal reins. One is that you can cheat a little more with them, another is that it is custom for bridle horses to be ridden with them. But either way your hands should neither be way up in the air or down by your knees. Try sometime to really pay attention to what happens to your body when you move your hands way down. Most of the time your shoulders will drop and roll forward, your eyes focus on your horses head instead of where you're going and your hips roll foreward causing you to lose all contact with your seat therefore causing you to just be riding with your hands. Now do the same for up to high you end up leaning back and kicking your feet forward. The older I get the more I realize how much of what is wrong with my horse is caused by the way I ride.

[RoperAB]

[Heel Fly]

Sorry!! I get it know and ya when I start colts it's that way, my hands are lower for their ease of learning. You are so right about the way people interrpurt things, everyone will get something different out of the same thing. Oh well we are all just human

[Faster horses]

Me too. I didn't mean to use your hands high when starting colts, or even when riding an older horse. I meant there is a place for it in the breaking process.

Yes, hard to explain everything on here unless you are writing a book.

I did enjoy the thread, though.

And Heel Fly, you do know what you are talking about because the Oakie said so!

And I'll bet Roper AB does as well.