Every wonder why it is so important to have 2 hands on the reins when checking up?
Here I show you how to accomplish this and explain why it is so important.
Polo Playing Tip: How to Use Two Hands on the Reins
Transcription:
So, the other thing that I wanted to just chat to you about quickly, was the tip of using two hands on the reins when you stopping your horse.
Because it makes so much sense that when you checking the horse, you are able to use two hands and square yourself up. And also when you then turn, if you turning right, it's easier to use that right hand to make the turn, but you've got to do it in a very subtle way. Okay.
And I first want to show you what you do with your mallet when you're doing that. You've got obviously this grip, okay. The correct grip on the mallet. If you just turn your hand over like this and you open your hand, okay.
Open your hand and lay the mallet on this knuckle, the actual strap of the mallet holds the mallet in place. You're going to be resting the mallet on that knuckle, and it's holding from the strap behind.
Now, as you open your hand, like that, that is lying on that knuckle and the strap is holding it from behind, from falling out your hand, but that leaves you with your fingers free.
Now, what the fingers free means, is that you can hook them in underneath the reins on the right-hand side. Now, as you check the horse, you're using two hands to check. If you wanting to turn right now, you take your right hand back a bit, but as you take your right hand back, your left hand is moving slightly forward.
So, you loosening the reins on the left side, as you tension the reins on the right side. And that helps to get that most to the right and help the horse to turn.
So, just let me get some reins in my hand and show you what I'm talking about from that. Now, as I dropped that hand and open my hand, as I've shown you, I do that on my right-hand reins, just in front of my left hand.
So, as I'm turning, I can take the slight tension with my right hand and move my left hand slightly forward. But if I'm stopping, I'm pulling the horse with both hands back to me like this. And it makes a big difference to square myself up.
Because if I'm only pulling with one hand, I'm very often pulling to one side or I've got a very weak pull here, but this squares me up. It takes the pull straight back to me.
And now I can turn either way by very subtly turning my hands the way I want to go. If I want to turn left, I turn this wrist this way. Okay. And if I want to turn there like that. But as I turn, if I just turn my hand over, I've got the mallet back where I want it and I can use it again.
