Sunday, December 12, 2010

Hand Posture & Influence

Recently, equine researcher and equestrian Christine Sander(of a.i.s. study horsemanship), shared with me the following conclusion from her current research on the use of the hand in riding:
"While a horse is long and low the rider's hands are flat. Pinkies
and reins point away from the neck. When the horse elevates the rider's
hands turn and become upright. The impact of his ring fingers and
that of the reins are now directed towards the horse's neck....There is
a natural correlation between the horse's elevation(or the lack
thereof) and the orientation of the rider's hand."
When I first read this, I was awestruck. How could I have missed this? Remaining open to the possibilities of the down-turned flat hand was important though and proved to present new understanding in how to directly influence the lumbar region of the horse!
As with all things there is an opposite(good or bad, it exists). SOMETIMES we close ourselves off to 'beneficial' opposites and in the case of the down-turned flat hand I had done just that as I had been instructed that it was a bad thing in riding. Even though I do this with the two-reined double bridle without thinking, it was frowned upon with a snaffle. I am assuming it is because in this hand posture, the bones of the forearm cross and energy flow is cut short. In Tai Chi I learned exercises that show how the arm of an upright(thumb up) hand is stronger through this flow and how that of the down-turned hand is weaker. A closer look at Christine's conclusion was warranted and indeed brought forth a confirmation of the following conclusions on a variety of horses: In the low postured horse(stretching forward, out and down), the upright(thumb up) hand 'drains' my own energy and affects the horse by dropping his forehand more, whereas the down-turned hand does not 'drain' me and helps the horse stretch better because it seems the horse's chest and shoulders do not to advance out but more the head and neck do! The horse seems to retain his balance much better this way!
It is important to note that the wrist does not bend but turns(from a swivel at the elbow) much like turning a key in a lock. There should be no pulling on the reins either---simply a turn of the hand-wrist unit and a gentle opening of the fingers.
After much thought, this made sense. The horse could move out(yang) with more spring because I was not overpowering him with more energy from behind than he could manage. Instead, that energy gets 'recycled' better through the body, creating more buoyancy in the stretching horse(vertical energy without vertical horse!)
The down-turned hand opens the rider's upper back and closes slightly and 'contains' his chest! Mirror for the horse!!? The upright hand closes the rider's back slightly and opens and lifts his chest. This latter effect in the rider is what we would like to see in the upright collected(yin) horse!
Having a model now for low(yang)reaching and high(yin)collected postures in the horse, I began to look at how this information might help the horse in mid-posture(the place where so much of the training exercises take place). The results were amazing! In the mid-postured horse the rider can adjust his hand postures individually as needed and the effect is that the horse can approach collection(yin) much more 'safely' by retaining more of the benefits of the looseness of the low-postured(yang)work! (Once again, emphasis on NO pulling and merely a turn(like a key in a lock) of the hand-wrist unit. It is also important that the mind of the rider be in control of intent.) A turned-down (flat) hand on the right(e.g.) will have the effect of greater lumbar vibration and looseness(on the right) which can enable a blocked hind-quarter on that side to free up and send the energy of the leg forward and under more readily. This is an important discovery for helping a horse to create more even strides. A left(e.g.) upright hand with right down-turned hand can help control an over-reaching left hind leg and enable the right hind to step up and under easier.
Try this in lateral work on the inside(or even outside) and learn other benefits of smoother striding and greater reach. Try it on circles and turns and see how the yin and yang postures of each hand can help regulate energy flow better and hopefully prevent a lot of the blockages that disturb balance. Perhaps you do this already without knowing but now awareness of it can open you to a new tool in your understanding and development of feel.

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