Dressage truth bomb from Suzanne: hands!

This was an especially good one for me because I tend to overvalue harmony when I ride. I have to remember that sometimes you have to sacrifice harmony to generate some improvement in the horse's way of going.

Hands get a bad rap. It's ironic because so many riders "hand ride" anyway. All the fiddling with the reins (or even a death grip) without the proper support of the seat and legs is incorrect and ineffective. Yes, we must ride with our seat and legs, back to front. However, hands play a very, very important role. They "catch" the resulting impulsion and help shape the horse and facilitate balance. That is not to say they "hold" it. They must give for the horse to demonstrate self-carriage. Hold too long and the horse either resists above the aids or curls or has a fake "head set". Give too long, however, (especially early on in the training process) and the horse is back on the forehand. Their natural balance is more forward, and they push, rather than carry, behind. It is all about degrees, and these degrees vary from time to time and as the horse's training progresses. We all want to look good and not be too "busy". Many riders look especially good on a horse, but aren't really riding - not getting the best result from the horse. Others get a lot done but look as if they are working too hard. The sweet spot is hard to achieve. It makes sense, though, that the better the horse goes in training, the easier it will be to look good in competition. That is why Wolf often said that competition interfered with training. It is what it is, though! Competition tells us how the training is going. Another thing that Wolf often said was "from nothing comes nothing"! A rider must use all the aids at their disposal. None are inherently "bad". We have to remember, too, that horses don't often come to us without the baggage of some bad riding/training. Correcting this has it's own set of obstacles to overcome. The rider's scores in "Collective Remarks" include not only seat and position and harmony, but also effectiveness and use of the aids - ALL of the aids!