# Correct Hand Position



## Foxesdontwearbowties (Jul 9, 2012)

I looked up a lot of pictures but read different things.. so I thought I would ask here.
My 4-H club leader recently instructed me to hold my hands differently than I learned/read about and am used to. I don't know if she is right or not, as she isn't the greatest teacher anyway. Help appreciated..

My usual hand position: (my hands usually end up a little more tilted towards each other when I'm riding, but very little)














What she tells me to do:














So, which is correct?


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## DancingArabian (Jul 15, 2011)

I'm assuming you're riding English? Thumbs up with riding - your first position is correct. Puppy paws/piano hands are not.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Foxesdontwearbowties (Jul 9, 2012)

Thank you! I do ride English, sorry I forgot to include that.
It was throwing me off because it felt very un-natural to have my hands like she told me.


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## Muppetgirl (Sep 16, 2012)

Try pulling your elbows back while having your hands in each of those positions....you'll note just how little movement you have when you are riding with puppy paws - your elbow will be much more constricted


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## JustDressageIt (Oct 4, 2007)

Thumbs up, wrists straight.


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## Foxesdontwearbowties (Jul 9, 2012)

Muppetgirl: She told me that was the advantage to it :b I didn't quite understand.
I've never had lessons before so being instructed is new to me. I've always just read/watched videos and figured things out on my own. So far I think I've taught myself much better than she ever could, not to be rude, she just isn't a great teacher.


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## equitate (Dec 14, 2012)

THere is reasoning about a correct position (thumbs up/hand slightly angled like withers). First it keeps the elbow closed to the trunk, and secondly the bones of the forearm are more neutral. The only negative thing in the first pics it that your wrists are broken upward which is stiffening. When you 'use' the hand it is more like putting a key in a lock, slight turning outward of the thumb will allow the horse to feel a suggestion of an aid w/o pulling back. (And the thumb up position is true whether english or western.) Further the upper arm should hang vertically, straight line from elbow to horse's mouth.

A flat hand is very tensed, and worse yet it would likely be used with a low manner/ and flat (hence action of bit on the bars of the mouth).


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## faye (Oct 13, 2010)

time for a new instructor i think!!
Thumbs up always. You will find some riders who tilt thier hands in slightly but not to piano hands extent.


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## VelvetsAB (Aug 11, 2010)

_Faye-- Since it is the instructor for a 4-H group, she may not be able to get another instructor._

_You are correct with the thumbs up, with a slight angle to match the withers._


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## Foxesdontwearbowties (Jul 9, 2012)

I can't get a new instructor. These lessons are free, and even if I don't learn much its a lot of experience riding with other horses. There is a pretty good English rider who I'm becoming friends with that rides there so she helps me out now.


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## verona1016 (Jul 3, 2011)

Thumbs up always ("like you're holding an ice cream cone" as I've heard my instructor tell younger students)

Like equitate mentioned, your wrists are bent out a little; adjust that so your wrists and hands are aligned in a straight, neutral position and you're good to go.


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## faye (Oct 13, 2010)

sorry but if an instructor cant even get the VERY BASICS right then I wouldnt even be taking free lessons with them. What other damage could they be doing to your riding.


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## VelvetsAB (Aug 11, 2010)

_4-H is a youth development program in Canada and the US. Because of that, a lot of the coaches and instructors in a lot of the activities that they participate in are volunteers. _

_It could be very possible that to show in any 4-H show, the OP needs to participate in these lessons. _

_Plus, we all know that everyone has their own version of what is right and wrong, and it is also very possible that the instructor was taught the puppy paws hand position, so to her, that is correct._


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## faye (Oct 13, 2010)

volunteer or not, puppy paws never acceptable and if she has been taught it is then god only knows what other strange ideas she has been taught that the OP may not be experianced enough to pick up on.

A bad instructor can ruin a rider very very quickly and it can take many many years of expensive lessons with top trainers to put it right again, believe me i've been there!


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## Foxesdontwearbowties (Jul 9, 2012)

Like Velvets said, I do have to participate in the lessons. Whether I listen to her or not doesn't really make a difference on that so I can go and do as I wish just to be there. There are two more instructors that, while purely western (the lady is mostly western as well) are good teachers and help me with things the correct way. They aren't always there though.
I've been riding on my own, teaching myself, for almost a year and have no way to pay for actual lessons so I'm taking what I can get. Thank you for your concern though, Faye,( if I had a choice I would get a better instructor)


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## horselessmom (Apr 20, 2012)

OP, has she demonstraoted the incorrect position, or it was verbal instruction? Could it be that she meant something else (like keeping your wrist more neutral, as others have said), but she didn't express herself well enough for you to understand her?


If you are absolutely certain that she wants you to have "piano hands", why don't you find some links illustrating the correct hand position vs. the incorrect one, and email your instructor, telling her you were confused. Maybe she'll get the point. 

Good luck with this!


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## Foxesdontwearbowties (Jul 9, 2012)

I am sure that's what she meant, as she moved my hands into that position herself. 
I will probably email her about it sometime, I'm one of two english riders there so she's not messing anybody else up (The other girl wasn't there that day)


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## freia (Nov 3, 2011)

Puppy-paws. Ugh. Pet peave.
Sit there with your hands in the correct position (thumbs up, slight angle to match withers - your first pictures). Pretend you're doing very fine rein-communication with your horse. Close and open your hand. See the very fine cues? Now with closed hands, notice how just small movements of your hand in various directions will send very fine, but clear, cues to your horse. Now try the same with the incorrect hand position (the position your instructor says you should have). Your fine-cues just disappeared. You've just lost a whole lot of communication. Really all you can do now is pull.


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