13/10/2026
And we are back at it for term 4 🙌
I had some good questions today about why it matters if our thumbs are on top or not when we ride - here’s a wee video which shows the difference quite well!
Thumbs on top = all your bones in alignment, making it possible to move your elbow smoothly and maintain a steady contact, even when your body is rising up and down for the trot.
Knuckles on top = bones no longer aligned, making it much harder to keep the hands steady (note how the hands of the rider bounce up and down as the rider rises).
Riding with your knuckles on top also causes a flow on effect of misalignment through your whole body - once your hands flip over, your elbows stick out, which causes your shoulders to roll forwards, which causes your upper body to slouch…
When you ride with poor posture, your muscles aren’t able to help you stabilise your body, or move in harmony with the horse as well as you could otherwise. This makes it harder to give clear aids, and makes you much more likely fall off!
