All Thumbs

But in a good way!  That thumb thing that Val started (or, continued), has got me all excited.  When I tried it on Sydney, I was more focused on keeping my thumbs up and forward more than anything.  And on top of that, Sydney has some tension issues that we're working on that require lots of changes of direction, widening of the reins, and so on.  It's hard enough to keep my hands quiet with him without also thinking about my thumbs!  But, thumbs forward was really beneficial.

When I rode Speedy G with my thumbs forward and on top, I also remembered to point them down.  Down is not exactly a good description.  I actually like closed better.  It almost felt as thought my thumbs were like clothespins: by pressing them down onto my index finger, it held the rein in place.  The unexpected result was that I was able to loosen, or soften, the rest of my fingers without losing my reins!  AHA!  Soft hands ...

Speedy G hated it.  Weird, I know.  He felt the difference immediately and tried all sorts of funky maneuvers to get away from the contact.  This tells me that our contact hasn't been as honest as I had thought it was.  As Speedy hopped around and searched for the right answer, I held the reins very steadily, but softly, and just kept adding leg.  Using a Courtney King-Dye expression, there was a lot of ugly, but then things got a lot better.

I really started to feel a better connection with the outside rein and with Speedy's hind end.  I need to work on that some more.  It is absolutely amazing to me how repositioning my hands and thumbs can so drastically influence my riding!