# Riding with or without gloves?



## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

On another thread the discussion was around what makes soft hands. And I got to mentioning that I prefer riding with gloves, and that I have better feel, and yet I cannot tell you exactly why riding with gloves is better. It's just the way I learned how to ride. My instructor always told me gloves work better, and when I rode without them, it felt strange. 

So why is that? Dressage riders, do you ride with gloves? And why? And non-dressage riders do you ride with gloves, and why?


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## horselovinguy (Oct 1, 2013)

Non-dressage rider here...

I prefer to ride with gloves.
I find when riding with gloves my hands are not as tightly closed fisted and that makes my arm muscles more pliant, following and in addition makes my hands more forgiving on/to the reins.
My horse seems to know the difference of when gloves are on or off.
I also prefer leather gloves or leather palmed and fingers...
Goatskin I had once, they were workhorses till I killed them doing barn chores...stupid, stupid, stupid!!!

Idk how else to put it...there is a difference.
I do ride without gloves, but prefer to ride with them...


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## COWCHICK77 (Jun 21, 2010)

Also non-Dressage rider.

I don't like riding with gloves and I have tried. I rode for a reining horse she always wore the SSG riding gloves. I tried them for a few weeks and I couldn't get used to them. 
In the winter when it is cold I only put gloves on to warm my hands then I take them off and stuff them in my pockets. I think I can feel my reins better without gloves. I feel so clumsy with them on.


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## DancingArabian (Jul 15, 2011)

Pseudo-Dressage rider here.

I ride with gloves, all the time. I don't like the friction/feeling of the reins against my skin. Riding without gloves definitely doesn't feel right.


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## NavigatorsMom (Jan 9, 2012)

I always ride with gloves. I feel like I have a better grip on the reins (they won't slip through my fingers as easily) and it prevents my hands from getting blisters/callouses. 

Not to mention it keeps my hands cleaner, which isn't a big deal, but I like it.


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## aerie (Jul 19, 2010)

I prefer to ride without gloves. For whatever reason I feel awkward in gloves and it is way harder for me to work with the reins. I almost feel as if I have a harder grip on the reins with gloves on because I cannot feel them as well. That being said, I have never owned a well fitting soft pair of gloves that I like for just chores either, I have had major callouses since I was 11 lol. Until I find a pair I really like I guess I cannot give more than a biased opinion for being gloveless


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## EponaLynn (Jul 16, 2013)

I ride with them, always!


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## bsms (Dec 31, 2010)

Without. If it is cold enough to justify gloves, I wait a few days for warmer weather...


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## Paintedponies1992 (Nov 17, 2013)

I don't like riding with gloves, I like to feel the reins in my hands and with gloves on I can't feel anything. Even in cold weather I won't wear gloves.


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## Incitatus32 (Jan 5, 2013)

I hate riding with gloves. Personally I enjoy the feel of my reins and if I get too heavy handed the reins ripping up my hands let me know my mistake! Even when it's cold out I won't wear them to ride. I don't like the reins slipping through my hands so easily, I like to have 100% control and instantly feel my mistakes. Plus I like my hands to have callouses, makes it that much harder for them to get torn up.  

I ride dressage and western lol.


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## Houston (Apr 15, 2012)

I'm a non-Dressage rider (though hopefully I'll be a low-level Dressage rider one of these days ) 

I ride with gloves often, but not always. Mostly in the Arena. Why? Well mostly because I hate the feeling of dry hands and my hands dry out easily- ha!

I will probably wear them less and less now that spring/summer heat is upon us here in Texas.

But regardless of in the arena or trail, I usually have them with me. If I'm not using them I stick them in the back of my pants as a "just in case" type deal.


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## waresbear (Jun 18, 2011)

When I ride English I wear gloves, Western, I do not. I read in a book, many years ago, written by an instructor who taught Prince Charles when he was a youth, the following quote (I never forgot it) "gloves make for a better purchase on the reins."


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## Cacowgirl (Feb 19, 2011)

I always ride w/gloves-when I started as a teen-ager & did some fall-offs, I really ripped up my hands, so since I always drove my car w/gloves, it was an easy extension to ride w/gloves-English, Western, Aussie, trail, etc.-Also at 60+ I do not have any brown spots on the back of my hands. I put my gloves on before I go outside, & they go back on the table after I'm back in the house. They will come off if I put medicine on a horse. My hands do not ride or drive naked! Yes, I've gone through a lot of gloves in over 50+ years! I used to wear a size 6, but now an 8 or larger-got some pretty muscular hands, despite the arthritis.


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## Kayty (Sep 8, 2009)

Dressage rider.

I always ride with gloves, but am very fussy about which gloves. Roekel are my favourite, very soft and quite thin so don't interrupt your feel, but hard wearing enough to stop blisters from webbing or sweaty leather reins. Particularly appreciate them when riding young horses who like to play on the end of the contact!!
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## SEAmom (Jan 8, 2011)

I can do both without issue. I do ride with them when it's cold out for warmth and when it's really warm out for sweat absorption and grip. In the in-between temps, I may wear them simply to keep my hand cleaner, but I can go either way. Depends on my mood in that case, I guess.


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## smrobs (Jul 30, 2008)

Western rider here and I only wear gloves when I absolutely must due to how cold it is outside (though now that riding is a hobby instead of a job, I generally wait until it's warmer if I can).

I suspect the reason why riding in gloves is more of an "english" thing is because of the contact. Riding on contact puts more pressure on the reins in your hands. If you have sensitive skin on your hands, I can see how blisters might happen and if your hands get sweaty, your grip would suffer. 

However, since western horses aren't ridden on contact, we don't really have to worry about the grip. After all, if you have to keep a tight rein on your western horse to the point the reins are slipping/being pulled through your hands, then you've got a pretty serious training issue there.


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## Alexandra V (Jul 6, 2013)

I ride both English and western, though not high levels of either (in fact not even showing levels haha!) and not dressage either. 

I really dislike wearing gloves when riding. I just feel like I have no grip on the reins and I feel like I can't feel them. The only times I wear them are in the harsh Canadian winters. Even then though, I was given a pair of SSG winter riding gloves and I still prefer my thin cotton dollar store ones.


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## EdmontonHorseGal (Jun 2, 2013)

the only gloves i wear around horses are the cheap 'one size fits all' with the rubber pimpled palm and fingers, and only in the winter when i can't get away without wearing gloves for fear i'll lose my fingers to the frost. that's about -15 or colder, or else my hands are naked. had this same pair of cheapy gloves since the late 90's now......... lol.

i like feeling the rein right against my hand, and although i did all my lessons and first leasing riding with gloves, for some reason i ditched them once i got my own horse back in the day. i ride mostly english, and don't find keeping rein contact an issue with bare hands. but i have a nice set of flat braided reins that i've taken real good care of over the years, so they are very kind to my hands.


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## thetempest89 (Aug 18, 2013)

I ride with gloves. I thought it might help my problem of slipping reins but no, I just ride with such a loose hand, my hands don't close enough. One of my bad habits. But my hands don't callous. But I work with my hands at work so maybe my hands are just use to the contact?? I really prefer riding without gloves, I like to feel. But the guy I ride now has double reins and I feel like I do better with my gloves on, more contact with them.


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## CandyCanes (Jul 1, 2013)

Dressage rider here:
I ride with gloves most of the time. If I forget, it's not the end of the world. The only purpose for me, is if the weather is cold, and also if you have a horse that pulls like a train (like candy...) gloves just make it the tiniest bit less sore...


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## Clava (Nov 9, 2010)

For me it is nothing to do with the discipline, when I was young I never wore gloves except in winter, now I'm in late 40s and I always wear gloves. I simply find it more comfortable on my hands but in terms of dressage riding and feel it makes no difference. Gloves definitely help when out for a gallop as most of my horses take some hold when going for it in the bits I use.


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## ponypile (Nov 7, 2007)

General English rider.
I always wear gloves. My first moth of riding I didn't wear gloves, but wore them for a small 4H schooling show at the end of that and never went back. It's one of those things I feel "naked" riding without now. I also think it give you a better grip. Some of it also probably spurs from the fact that I have really soft hand. Like actually wimpy, uncallused hand. Because of this I always wore gloves while doing barn chores and just kept my gloves on. A lot of the time riding also involves lunging first, and I just won't lunge without gloves; I've held onto too many hooligans at the end of a line! Now-a-days I work in health care where I have to wear gloves all the time, and a lot of hand washing is involved. The best way to counter my hands drying out like a desert is to put on moisturizer before putting on my gloves at work. So basically they're sitting in hand creams most of the day. I've just given up ever having callused hands again!


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## SueC (Feb 22, 2014)

I mostly ride without gloves, whatever type of riding, because it gives me a better feel for the reins and that helps me have "soft" hands. The only kind of gloves I found that don't interfere significantly with that for me are the thin white cotton gloves people with sensitive skin wear under rubber or latex gloves when washing dishes etc. I wear those a bit at the moment to prevent excess sun and to keep the skin on my poor abused hands in better condition.

I noticed that lots of people say their reins slip without gloves. You can get nonslip reins if riding in the wet. I don't quite get why anything else would cause reins to slip - and it got me thinking that maybe people are holding reins differently to how I was taught (Central European dressage tradition), which is that the rein comes in through the gap between your pinky and ring finger, right against the finger webbing, travels along the back of the ring, middle and index fingers at the edge of the palm, and then curls back out over the base of the index finger, with your thumb on top. (If riding in double reins, one of them goes below the pinky.) The reins are thus held quite easily by friction and slight pressure between your fingers and finger / thumb, and not at all by making a fist. I don't even make a fist, my fingers are only loosely curled into the hand, and this helps create more give to go with the movement of the horse's head.


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## Boo Walker (Jul 25, 2012)

I ride with gloves every time. I have arthritis in my hands and find I have a better grip with gloves than without. (I also have numerous sets of really thick reins to help with the grip). As a kid spending every spare moment outside on a horse without gloves, I have a few sun spots on the backs of my hands so I feel the gloves also give me sun protection.


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## Acco (Oct 4, 2011)

hunter/jumper rider. When the weather is nice, I ride without gloves. I hate getting sweaty in gloves in the summer (and I hate having a glove tan line!). I'll only wear them for shows, or if I'm going to ride a horse who will give me blisters without gloves. My horse, thankfully, doesn't give me blisters so I don't need gloves with him 

And I'm a wimp about my hands being cold so I wear gloves all winter (SSG Winter Rancher - loooove them!)


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## Darrin (Jul 11, 2011)

Trail rider. I only wear gloves when it is really cold outside. I find myself over gripping the reins and using more force than needed because I can't feel the reins well.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Dustbunny (Oct 22, 2012)

Trail rider here. No gloves for me.


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## Beling (Nov 3, 2009)

a forever dressage student here:

Gloves have always been REQUIRED in my instruction. I once watched a tearful student get sent back to the barn when the international-caliber instructor told her, no gloves, no lesson.

I believe it has something to do with "equalizing the action of the hand" (that phrase comes from somewhere.) Anyway, I AM more comfortable with them, now.


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## Corporal (Jul 29, 2010)

Gloves protect your fingers, breeches or jeans or tights protect your legs, a helmet protects your head and boots with a heel protect your feet.
I would get blisters without gloves when I took HS lessons bc the horses had hard mouths. I abuse my skin enough that riding with gloves is a habit and the one thing that always gets put away in it's proper place at the end of a ride. =D


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## Darrin (Jul 11, 2011)

Corporal said:


> Gloves protect your fingers, breeches or jeans or tights protect your legs, a helmet protects your head and boots with a heel protect your feet.
> I would get blisters without gloves when I took HS lessons bc the horses had hard mouths. I abuse my skin enough that riding with gloves is a habit and the one thing that always gets put away in it's proper place at the end of a ride. =D


Only time I've had blisters is when I tried nylon reins on a loooong ride. That was the first and last time I used nylon or got blisters on my hands when riding.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## ArdentPaladin (Jan 29, 2013)

I never riding with gloves. Even in the middle of winter I'd rather have numb fingers than ride with gloves. I've tried it a few times, but I feel like my contact is all messed up. I can't tell if my reins are tight or slack, and can't feel my horse's mouth at all. Maybe it's because I grew up without gloves. I have noticed that after taking a horse break and then starting riding again, I've gotten a few new callouses


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## COWCHICK77 (Jun 21, 2010)

Forgive my ignorance, but I am having a hard time understanding getting blisters from holding the reins. The only time I have had blisters from reins is when riding tougher horses that were run-aways, hard in the face or all the above.


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## trailhorserider (Oct 13, 2009)

COWCHICK77 said:


> Forgive my ignorance, but I am having a hard time understanding getting blisters from holding the reins. The only time I have had blisters from reins is when riding tougher horses that were run-aways, hard in the face or all the above.


Yeah, same here. I've never gotten blisters riding, even on 5 hour trail rides. Even on my Fox Trotter mare that pulls like a freight train coming home.

The only thing I can come up with it that all these people that ride in snaffles must be pulling on the reins like they are water skiing. :lol:

People will hate me for it but I would rather ride with a curb bit with less contact than ride in a snaffle and hang on tight enough to get blisters! I guess that makes me a western rider through and through.

If your hands are getting tore up, what is the bit doing to the horse's mouth? I thought the whole goal, even riding with contact, was to have a soft horse?

I rode in gloves today. It was cold out. Otherwise I never ride in gloves.


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## SueNH (Nov 7, 2011)

No gloves here either unless it's protection from the cold. Even then I'm pulling them on and off so I can feel what I'm doing.
During the warm weather my hands get pretty callused. Besides doing all the horse keeping jobs I do a lot of gardening. The calluses are a badge of honor. 

Blisters from reins? I never had blisters from reins even when I was young and basically a centaur.


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## nikelodeon79 (Mar 3, 2008)

I'm a dressage convert.

I absolutely cannot rode with gloves. This winter was brutal and I was riding in barely above zero temps but just could not wear gloves.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## greentree (Feb 27, 2013)

I always ride and drive with gloves! I started because they were required for showing, and I cannot change something on show day. I used to have to ride a few days in my show boots to get used to them, even.

Now that I am older and my hands are weak, I MUST ride and drive with gloves.

If you have never had blisters from reins, it is because you have probably never ridden a 30 yo Grand Prix schoolmaster....talk about WORK!!!

Nancy


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## Darrin (Jul 11, 2011)

COWCHICK77 said:


> Forgive my ignorance, but I am having a hard time understanding getting blisters from holding the reins. The only time I have had blisters from reins is when riding tougher horses that were run-aways, hard in the face or all the above.


In my case it was wet nylon reins on a 6 hour trail ride. That nylon acted like a dull saw over time. Never been an issue with leather reins
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## kiltsrhott (Mar 11, 2012)

I ride English and I ride without gloves. I feel like my sense of touch is dulled, and I am completely incapable of managing buckles and such while wearing gloves, so I prefer my hands be naked. I also get hot and sweat in gloves. I don't even wear gloves to ride during the winter and my hands don't get cold. If I wear them in summer weather, I just collect pools of sweat inside my gloves and it's gross. I have never had a need to wear them other than for show. I have never had blisters or sores from holding the reins.


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## Strawberry4Me (Sep 13, 2012)

Dressage rider here... At the risk of having people tell me I am doing something horribly wrong, I will tell you I wear gloves. I wear gloves because if I don't I get callouses on my fingers.


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## Maple (Jan 10, 2012)

General english rider, previously rode out race horses. 

I hate wearing gloves, when riding out TBs I may wear them for the first lot and then progress to none unless it was frigidly cold out. 

I don't wear gloves while riding my horse, to the degree that I last bought a pair abour 5 years ago and have not needed to buy any since. I'm a casual rider, and spend more time hacking then schooling. I can understand why competitive/serious riders wear gloves though.


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## smrobs (Jul 30, 2008)

LOL, I live and work on a farm and I play guitar, the reins are the _last _reason I end up with callouses.


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## jaydee (May 10, 2012)

English rider here - that also does a lot of trail riding. I actually prefer to wear gloves but mostly don't because I put them down somewhere and then forget where they are - or the dog finds them and chews them up.


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## Strawberry4Me (Sep 13, 2012)

smrobs said:


> LOL, I live and work on a farm and I play guitar, the reins are the _last _reason I end up with callouses.


 
I have callouses from farm work too, but they hurt so much worse when they are between your fingers, not on the palm of your hand... 

As for playing guitar, I tried that too. Got blisters, gave up. Also I have zero rhythm....


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