(” F D S A J K L ; “)

Where do your hands go? Unless you’re an optimistic teenage boy, the answer should be “Together!” Why do I bring this up? Because humans are intrinsically “handsy.” Other than ex-equitation riders who pose in mind-numbed rigidity, most riders do way too much with them. I’m always on riders who get mechanically niggling at their horse’s mouths. A rein effect should be a complement to a pushing aid, and it must communicate, ceasing or at least changing in response to the horse’s reaction to it. Brainlessly busy hands are bad!

More generally, be aware that judges don’t want to see you riding with wide hands. Maybe with an unsteerable baby, but not in the show ring. You can open a rein away from the neck if you need to, but then PUT IT BACK!

In junior high I took a touch typing class. In it we learned about the Home Keys — F D S A J K L ; Your eight digits hovered over these keys. Whenever a finger moved to strike another key, we learned to strike it, then immediately return to the “home” position.

Do the same thing with your rein effects. If you need to open a rein or lift a hand, get the result, and then put your hand right back where it belongs. In principle you should carry your hands about as far apart as the width of the bit. I once heard someone say (Oh, wait, that was me), “Don’t look like you’re pushing a wheel barrow. Imagine you’re strangling the barn cat!”