As I got back into riding years ago I knew that my horses had started objecting to my hands years before as my undiagnosed Multiple Sclerosis got worse.  Once diagnosed I finally understood why, it was because my hands had gotten too bad to keep contact like I used to.  I decided then that the only way I would ever be able to ride with contact again was to listen to the horses, and to find areas where we both could agree that riding with contact could be pleasant for both of us.  Luckily I ride Forward Seat, in which it is a sacred tenet that the rider's hands belong to the horse's mouth, so I was at a good starting point.  Then, a few years before I was diagnosed, I stated applying Udo Burger's philosophy that the rider's hand should never block the push of the hind leg, but when I started riding again the horses took me far, far beyond anything I had learned earlier.  As the horses taught me what they wanted from my hands I started learning what they considered rude, and as I stopped being rude the horses started teaching me what they considered polite.  I tell you now that what the horses think about my contact often does not jibe with what riding teachers think I should do with my hands!  Most of what follows has been taught to me by nine horses over the past 5-6 years, though the other horses I've ridden during this time also seem to approve.

I DO NOT RIDE DRESSAGE. I do not ride in collection.  All this is done with me riding Forward Seat, in the ring, mostly at the walk and trot.

First, the horses only will consent to take contact if my fingers are RELAXED, and the amount of relaxation they demand means that I often have a rein drop out of one of my hands.  Surprisingly, in the ring, the horses do not take advantage of me when I drop a rein, they just go on walking or trotting at the same speed and in the same direction until I get myself back together, though they do lessen their impulse.  When I gather the reins back up and use my legs the horses reach out and take up contact again, with no problems as long as my fingers are RELAXED.  Even relaxed fingers are often not quite enough for the horses, relaxed fingers are just the minimum acceptable basis of our contact.  When the horses pick up contact they also want my hand to be moving forward.  THEN they are happy establishing contact. 

Often when we are walking the horses tell me that I am not moving my hands forward enough.  This ties in to my lack of a good proprioceptive sense in that my hands are often not sure where they are exactly.  Finally I started to open my fingers as my hand advances, gently closing them some when the horse's head goes back, and the horses became content with my contact.  Lately the horses have been telling me to do it slightly differently at the walk and trot, now the horses want me to give  a millimeter or two more on the side of the pushing hind leg (the side that my butt goes up if I am sitting in the saddle.)  At the canter I relax my fingers on both hands when they move forward, with the hand on the side of the leading leg being just a little more relaxed. When I do this the horses move freely, advancing with longer strides, and at the same time the tongue softens because I am moving my fingers in response to the changing shape of the horse's tongue, on the side of the pushing hind leg the tongue also reaches forward.  The horses definitely consider me giving their tongues this extra freedom as supreme politeness.  Their tongues and jaw stay relaxed and responsive to my aids even when my contact is not perfect.

Then after my conact started improving the horses started refining my aids for slowing down and stopping.  My old method did not content the horses any more.  First I stopped giving an aid on the side of the pushing hind foot and this got near universal approval of every horse I've been on.  This means I give the aid on the side that my butt is going down at the walk and sitting trot, and at a posting trot I use my inside hand as I rise and my outside hand as I sit.  I HAVE TO DO THIS GENTLY with relaxed fingers or it becomes sawing the bit, a truly rude and brutal practice for use only in emergencies.  True, to halt or slow down at the walk and trot, I have to give two seperate hand aids, but the horses usually respond promptly with soft tongues and lower jaws.  If the horse does not respond the first time I reapply my hand aids a little stronger, still two seperate aids--one for each side in time to the hind legs, and usually by the third time the horse has responded correctly.  Then the horses started refining it even further, they also wanted me to be sure not to start the hand aid until their heads start going up and to stop the hand aid and start giving with my fingers just before their heads reach the highest point.  At the trot the head is more stable, but if my fingers are relaxed enough I can feel the little movements of the head and thus time my aids correctly.  At the canter I only use my hands as the head is going up, relaxing my fingers before the head reaches the top of its movement and making sure my hands move forward with relaxed fingers as the horse's head goes forward.

As my timing improved the horses started working on me releasing my slowing down aids to their satisfaction.  When I started I was just returning my hand to normal contact.  This was not enough for the horses.  Then I started opening my relaxed fingers as I move my hands forward ending up at the point that I keep contact at the strength of the weight of the rein when the horse's head is most forward.  This has been met with universal approval.  And, all of a sudden, after over 30 years of riding, the horses started giving me flexions of the jaw.  Now this does not happen everytime I slow down or halt, I have to do everything properly, but when it does I have this silly smile on my face because it feels so good as the horse gently "chews" on the bit coming down to a halt.  Then I realized that the horses wanted me to go even further, when halting the horses wanted me to end the aids a step or two before they halted so when stopped we are keeping contact only through the weight of the rein (still with relaxed fingers.)  When I started trying this I basically dropped contact after giving the stopping aids and the horses still halted, still chewed, and still stayed calm and content.  When the horses stop I have either very light contact or loose reins.  Now I am finally good enough that I can often keep contact through the halt and while the horse stands without any protest.  There is no way I can DEMAND a flexion of the jaw, if I tried the horses' mouths would become very hard and there would be no flexion.  The flexions of the mouth are a gift that the horses give me for doing the slowing down/stopping aids to THEIR satisfaction.

While the horses were teaching me about polite contact, hand aids, and release they also got to work on my hand aids for turning.  When I restarted riding I was still mostly using a light inside direct rein of opposition or an inside opening rein to signal a turn.  Hey, that was how I turned a horse for over 30 years!  But again, the horses did not think that my method was polite enough.  They would slow down in the turn and basically run out of steam and then when I used my legs to get them back to speed the response was sort of grudging.  One wonderful day I got the idea that if I kept constant contact with my inside rein while advancing my outside rein the horses may like that better.  I got immediate approval, the horse did not slow down at all and they reached further with their outside legs both fore and hind.  They also kept contact with my hands better throughout the turn.  The horses definitely thought that this method was MUCH more polite than my old method.  Lately I have been using Jean Luc's method of turning both my outside shoulder and outside hip forward and the horses seem to think that this new method is even more polite, I am getting turns with completely loose reins without using my legs.  I am having to experiment so I can time this to the horse's stride and do it subtly enough so I get the exact turn I want, but all in all the horses are very pleased with this new development.

There are times when my gentle aids are not enough.  Sometimes I end up with an iron jaw at the end of my reins when the horses say "I don't want to do this!"  I have found the key here is to release my hands BEFORE the horses start obeying my harsher hand.  I do not jerk the reins, the sequence is an iron jaw and my hands in heavy contact, total release of my hand aid, and if the horse does not do what I ask I reapply my hand aid GRADUALLY so that it is at its strongest at the proper moment in the horse's stride, then release again immediately.  No jerks, just a slow closing of my fist, then an immediate release.  I usually get cooperation after a few strides though the horses are muttering under their breath on how rude my hands are, then we go back to regular soft contact and my usual aids.  

When a horse speeds up ALL of the horse's spine stiffens and the horses, of their own free will, take a stronger hold on the bit.  If they are going fast and are excited horses do not seem to even feel subtle, light hand aids.  Then I keep a stronger contact and make my hand aids a bit more emphatic both when giving the hand aid and when releasing the hand aid.  I still give all hand aids in timing with the horses' hind legs, the only difference is that the aid is somewhat stronger and my release is a little bit more. 

If the horse starts to bolt it often hits the end of the reins HARD, I immediately move my hand FORWARD and apply my slowing down/stopping hand aid at the proper moment of the horse's stride.  So far I have regained control by the third stride of the running away, though the horses are muttering under their breath about my hands being too harsh.  Then I ride the horse with even lighter contact, if they bumped their mouth against the bit their mouth is bruised and needs a LIGHT HAND if cooperation is going to be re-established to everyone's satisfaction.

I do not ride with hard contact in the ring and I do not let my horses' heads go behind the vertical, therefore I have no idea if this could work under those conditions.  I do know that if I kept a constant contact of 5 pounds or more on the reins in the ring my horses would quickly tell me that I was being unbearably rude and all voluntary free forward movement would stop, with the horses moving out only under extreme compulsion (whips or spurs.)   Why would I ever expect horses to move forward to such an unforgiving hand?  Five pounds of contact is only acceptable to the horses when they VOLUNTARILY establish it at a full gallop.  Even then I would have to time my more emphatic hand aids to the movements of the horses' hind legs with a good, giving release, and I would not expect the promptness of obedience that I get at slower gaits in the ring.  As far as the horse being behind the vertical my problem is that the horse is no longer carrying the bit on its tongue, and to keep contact the direction of my hand actions would have to be more to the rear.  So if a horse I ride goes behind the vertical I immediately loosen my reins and use my legs until the horse reaches out and starts carrying the bit on its tongue again, then I tentatively re-establish contact by using my legs and making very, very, very sure that my contact is lighter.  The horses I ride only go behind the bit when they think that my hands are just too harsh and rude, so the cure is to make damn sure that my hands are light and polite.  Then the problem disappears and the horses willingly re-establish contact.

I take lessons, and I read a LOT of books on riding, but no human teacher and no book I've read has described how I use my hands now.  I am not a perfect rider and every week the three horses I ride make sure to tell me that I am not perfect.  Even so, by listening to their protestations and coming up with new solutions, the horses have come to accept contact with my hands as long as my fingers are relaxed and I use my hands politely.  In return the horses do not take advantage of me when I drop a rein, loose my balance or collapse with exhaustion on their necks.  When my MS makes my hands too bad for contact the horses politely refuse to move into contact, then I switch to a Mullen mouth snaffle or go bitless, at which point contact and cooperation come back until those brutal hot and humid summer days when I ride on loose reins because the horses tell me to.  I am very weak, and there is no way I could force a horse to obey me.  Luckily for me the horses accept my hands and aids when I am gentle, relaxed, considerate and polite.

And on those few good days when my body works the horse and I even dance.

Have a great ride!

Jackie Cochran