Beginners should not use the curb reins at all, and should hold one snaffle rein in each hand, the snaffle reins being held in the position of the near snaffle rein in the left hand, and the off snaffle rein in the right hand; that is, passing outside of the little finger up through the hand and held between the thumb and forefinger. A beginner, particularly if she has ever driven, will naturally start to take a rein in each hand in the driving position, that is, separated by the thumb and forefinger and coming out under the little finger. This position is never taken in riding. The object of taking a rein in each hand is to accustom the fingers to the reins, and the rider to holding the right hand parallel with the left. Keeping the right hand in a corresponding position to that of the left not only looks smart and neat, but it helps to keep the right shoulder in place. Of course,
in the side-saddle, the tendency of all beginners is to carry the right shoulder forward and higher than the left. If the right forearm is held symmetrically with the left forearm, the right shoulder cannot be out of place.
Correct Position for Park Riding
Right hand holding reins lightly and riding stick
Reins in Both Hands
Position for beginner
Reins in same position in each hand
In riding astride beginners should also hold a rein in each hand, as holding the reins in the left hand only tends to pull the left shoulder forward and out of place. So when riding astride, the symmetrical position of the right hand and arm with the left brings the right shoulder forward and keeps the shoulders square.
I have mentioned above the reasons for sometimes reversing the positions of the curb and snaffle. Another case where this may properly be done is where a running martingale is used.
Next to balance, light hands are the most important attribute of a good rider. They really are a gift, like an ear for music, or a delicate sense of touch, or acute vision, and go with a certain nervous and sensitive temperament. Some riders have naturally light hands and scarcely need any instruction with regard to them. With them the feeling of the horse’s mouth is instinctive. Light hands, however, can, to a great extent, be cultivated, and there is no excuse for any experienced rider having heavy hands. Women are more apt to have light hands than men, and while men may rely on strength to control a horse, and can control many horses by sheer brute force, women very seldom have sufficient physical strength to do this. Women should seek “the strength of effect and not the effect of strength.”
It is hard to define the term “light hands.” If I might attempt a definition, I would say that the hands serve as a means of communication between the horse’s and the rider’s mind, so that the rider, through the touch of the horse’s mouth, communicated through the reins and hands, knows what is in the horse’s mind and so can make the horse’s mind