Rein Handling?

> Reguarding whip use: what do you mean by drive an "apparatus" ? Do
> you mean we should practice our reinsmanship using a rein-board before
> actually driving our horses?

It would certainly help you to spot any inconsistencies in your rein handling, eg when using the whip. And, if you end up wanting to learn to drive English coachman / Achenbach / German style, you can profit a great deal from using a rein board to practise turns of differing severity. (PS - this is an ENGLISH style that just happens to have been popularised by Benno von Achenbach, who learnt it in England; and therefore it may SEEM to be German from its name, but it wasn't originally.)

> > How do you drivers--the ones who always keep the whip in hand when
> driving--hold your reins?

THIS IS THE NO-FRILLS, NO FLUFFIES EXPLANATION .... IF YOU NEED SMILES, IMAGINE THEM PLEASE.

Starting at the shoulders: I sit up straight as though riding. I let my upper arm hang vertically to the elbow. My forearms point inward at roughly 45 degrees to my upper arms, but they are more or less parallel with the ground (so a touch more than 90 degrees of angle between upper arm and forearm).

The backs of my hands follow the same angle as my forearms and my thumbs are uppermost, knuckles pointing forward and nails facing my lower chest/stomach. (Does this sound familiar from riding???) They're about 6 inches from my middle.

The left rein comes to my hand over the top of my left forefinger and down through my palm. The right rein comes into my hand between ring finger and middle finger and down through my palm. I keep an even pressure on the reins by slightly squeezing the edges with my lower 3 fingers (I use a 1 inch heavy ribbed cotton webbing rein that narrows in use to about 7/8ths). The slack of the reins falls down my left outer shin.

I create a basic hold, as above, that gives even contact on either side of the bit. By turning my hand nails-up I can incline the horse to the right - it gives the left side of the bit, and takes the right equally. (Read your palm, turn RIGHT.) By turning the back of my hand up, the reverse occurs. (Look at your watch, turn LEFT.) NB contact with a driving horse can often feel heavy to a rider - but don't forget, the driving horse is only carrying the weight of the rein from the neck terret to his mouth, which is less than the hand-to-bit distance when riding; while you are carrying the weight of the rein from pad terret to your hand, which is much longer. So what YOU may feel is rather heavy, the horse often barely notices.

I carry my right hand forward and place the middle 2 fingers between the reins, which enables me to adjust the length of either rein without letting go of my basic hold in the left hand. My right hand is always there, barring I need to use it for signalling, whip use, blowing my nose, waving to friends, insulting idiots, etc. When I do that, I leave the whip under my left thumb.

English driving uses both hands, not the left only. For sharper turns: You form a loop in the rein, by taking a rein in your right hand, that you can tuck under forefinger or thumb then let go as the turn is completed. You can also adjust both reins with the right hand, eg let them slip through the left, or feed them back with the right. Don't forget to give with the opposite rein as well as take with the "turning" rein. Don't put your left hand in front of your right.

The whip is ALWAYS in my right hand, held by balance not by grip. Every whip balances differently and you need to find one that suits you and your strength. You hold it just below the point of balance, not by gripping the end of the handle. This enables it to lie in your hand ready for use, but it doesn't stop you adjusting the reins, because the holds (above) allow the whip to lie independently of your fingers. The whip, held in this manner, will lie at 45 degrees from everything (if you are a math person, 45 degrees from the x, y and z axes!) not upright or horizontal or leaning on the person sitting next to you. You need a long enough whip to be able to touch the horse on the shoulder or pad without you reaching forward bodily and losing contact with the reins. A long-ish stock and a decent thong are required to enable this. Those little smackers used by the trotter and pacer men will not suffice :)

You also need to be sitting high enough in your vehicle to see over your horse. You can't drive comfortably for any distance if you have to hold your arms up at shoulder level just to keep the reins off his arse.

As for getting the whip caught up in bushes, just move it temporarily to the vertical or horizontal (as required) when passing bushes. (I drive on the left and sit on the right, so if you are in a country that has to drive on the right, this may be more difficult for you because you may be sitting on the left of your vehicle.)

I thank you. Pay at the desk please.