The ride is a dance and no dance partner would have locked up wrists and fingers.
Soft and supple signals trust to the horse.

IMO...I find the wrist to be like the ankle...often overlooked but a very important joint whose rotations and stiffness can have a detrimental effect on suppleness and activation of other body parts.

To me...the hand may be an enforcer with the half halt and the fingers the hired guns...but it is the wrist is the conductor that allows for any energy to travel.

To me though..the half halt is not just always a hand aid...it is ridden with the whole body...and the wrist...it conducts the kinetice energy on its trip sending it through the elbow into the shoulder down the back into the seat where the seat catches the energy and sends it back out as an aid itself...kinda like a rider "circle of energy" when one thinks about it.

Also..the wrist...as I mention...can control the the activation point on the mouth with a simple rotation.

With a rotation in the wrist...the open rein can be either small..or involve the elbow for a larger one.

A downward or upward motion of the wrist has you lifting or dropping the half halt motion with the rein tension ...the amount of drop/lift can also affect the "amount" of half halt in the hand and where the bit works on the mouth

A stiff wrist...will stop any kinetic energy to the mouth or from the mouth...it will also bemet with a slight bit of resistance...for no matter how soft the fingers in the hand may seem...the tension in the wrist is transmitted to the mouth much like tense thighs are felt on the horse through the saddle stiffling shoulder...only tension in the wrist will have the horse react at the jaw.

Often...tension in the wrist will run up the arm and affect the elbow having the rider "hold" the elbow away from the body...often people try to "soften" the elbow when really..it is a stiff or bent wrist affecting the elbow that need suppling.

I have always thought wrists were a large part ofthe half halt ...yet it seems to me it is often overlooked when it comes to its' active part with this aid...but that may just be me and my opinion.

-- Edited by Kairen Jamieson on Thursday 16th of December 2010 09:26:29 PM

Fingers, hands, wrists, elbow joint, shoulder sockets are all part of a chain which allows the seat to be used with nuance or not.

The reason that there should be a straight line from elbow to horse's mouth when see from the side and from above is that it is function.  If the upper arms are hanging vertically, then the seat's effects are best felt.  The thumb up carriage sustains the elbows closest to the body without pinching them there.  Walk and canter allow a degree of bascule in the working and extended gaits.

As to using the hands, turning the thumb over with slight opening rein or lifting them is a non action, that merely suggests something to the corner of the mouth.  But if the wrists are too often busy, or the ring fingers more than slightly more closed or more relaxed then that is too much, especially if it is intended to create more flexion.  The wrist however are not rigid but ever so slightly inward flexed.  Everything with the greatest neutrality/relaxation in the muscles so that the seat's effect is best interpreted.

For me the hand is not the 'enforcer' of hh, it is a point to be met (seat to hand).  Not hand closing first, but a 'receiver'.

 

When I used the word "enforcer"...it has nothing to do with harsh strength...it is the fingers that may "squeeze" for the half halt action...but imo...it is the hand that after the wrist that controls the amount the fingers are used through the tendon/ligaments that run through the wrist first...it has nothing to do with strength...more of the action needed for the hand/fingers to work...hopefully that is more understandable for what I mean....because as Imentioned...a half halt is more than just the hand to me...though it is a very important part.

Even the thumb on top and pointed up is controlled by the wrist...though the whole forearm is involved...which is why arm positioning and armpit angles can/are affected by wrist placement/rotation and suppleness.

Simple experiment...lay the hand on the table closed lightly in the fist with the thumb on top of the other fingers as it should be when holding the reins...now..move the thumb up from the fingers without involving anything else...not possible right?

Now...hold the wrist and move the thumb...still not possible...now..hold the elbow and move the thumb allowing the wrist to rotated...quite possible here.

Rotating the wrist while holding a hand weight will help a person with rotation control..up/down with the weight is the same....but the best exersice that I have done...was playing coloured jacks...it taught me to contol the hand...the fingers..and the eys...you have to pick upcertain colours...as you get better and more co-ordinated...it is amaxing how much finger/wrist movement/control is needed for this game and suppleness in the wrist is paramount if one wants topick up more than one jack at a time.


Most exersices will help a wrist...but mainly ...the tension I find in most people wrist comes from a bit of balance/alignment issue in the saddle unles there is an injury.

The alignment is not in the whole body though shoulder tension running down the arm is often caught in the wrist causing them to stiffen..it can often come with people who put their "shoulders back" to straighten the spine instead of using the cores...or they are riding with a bit more weight/tension in the upper arm stopping the weight in the wrist (these riders often have the thumb straight up or even out a smidge too much with a bit of an open elbow angle and upward tilt in the wrist.

If a rider can located the tension source and eliminate it...the wrist will naturally soften...if the rider is tensing at the wrist alone...the fingers/hand itself will be tight and there may be finger/hand cramps that will tell you if the wrist is the main culprit...but more often than not...the wrist is tight from something in the arm/shoulder/back that has stiffled the suppleness...but this is just my opinion on the matter.

-- Edited by Kairen Jamieson on Friday 17th of December 2010 11:24:19 AM

LOL...actually...most forums have a sort of automatic system that has a set of word in them and will filter the words like that....and some of the word on the general list can be taken two ways and are often edited....this may be the reason here.

I am on a family forum that has some of us adults laughing at the words censored...but understand why.

Kairen, figarocubed* (forgot to add you in here!) and barnfrog, you all bring up very excellent points. I think the wrist is too-often overlooked as just a "halfway point" between elbow and hand, or elbow and horse's mouth. This comes back to the point that as riders, we must be very conscious of our body position at all times, and how it may be affecting our horses. There's a reason not everyone is a grand prix dressage rider! ;) Riding well is a difficult thing to master, and awareness of our different joints and weight distributions etc is a key part of becoming the best rider we can be. :) Thanks for your contributions!

-- Edited by Barnmouser Ash on Friday 17th of December 2010 03:46:19 PM

-- Edited by Barnmouser Ash on Friday 17th of December 2010 03:46:37 PM

ROFL!

ooooo...so would belly dancing.....I never thought of that....I took some classes with a friend one year..had a hoot....and worked my wrist without knowing it....lol.