spinoff of mane/rein bight side: crop?

[zakattack]

is there a certain side that is "correct" to carry your crop during a class? i know you should keep it in only one hand, no switching, unless its during schooling for training purposes. i always carry it on my right with the end of the rein so everything is on one side

[vxf111]

I try not to carry it in the ring at a show, if I can help it.

I don't think there's a hard and fast rule that you can't switch it (effectively and subtly) or that it has to go on one side.

I think most right handed people are more comfortable holding it in the right hand.

I keep it on the inside hand, switching when I change direction, because the horse had a tendancy to drift in and to avoid stepping deeply on the inside for upward transitions. Also, he knows how to pin the crop against the wall of the indoor right before he's about to do something ubernaughty... clever boy ;)

[loshad]

For jumping, I carry it on the side he's most likely to try to run out on and then only if he's having a Little Moment. My current horse, silly freak that he is, ONLY runs out to the right, so it goes in the right hand. I don't do flat classes with a crop ever.

[Cita]

I was always taught crop goes in the inside hand. (I think this evolved from trainers and other railbirds not wanting to get smacked by an errant "correction.") Exceptions can be made for schooling purposes.

I was also always taught bight on the right, mane on the right, mount/dismount only from the left, pass left shoulder to left shoulder, always walk on a horse's left side when leading, rise and fall (post) with the leg on the wall, etc., etc., etc.

[PinkPonies]

I have a really hard time carrying a crop in my left hand (I'm a rightie obviously) so I usually carry it in my right hand. I need to practice that because I feel really awkward when I have to put it in my left hand.

[FarnleyGarnet]

I always thought the crop was to be used to make the horse move forward. If the horse is not responding to leg the rider could use the crop (always behind the leg) as a reinforcement of the aid (leg pressure). Because of this I always carry the crop in my outside hand when flatting (changing hands when I reverse). In a course I would carry it in the hand that was on the outside when I asked for the canter on the hunter circle. That way if the horse was resistant to moving off my leg I could reinforce with the crop when asking for the canter. After that I never need the crop.

Hopefully someone who knows for sure will post... now I'm worried I'm doing it wrong!

[caffeinated]

For jumping I tend to carry it in the right hand just because it's more comfortable.

For flat classes, I change depending on where the judge is unless the horse requires I carry it in a certain hand. If the judge is in the middle of the ring, I casually switch the bight and crop to the outside in each direction. If the judge is sitting outside the ring on the rail, I switch them both to the inside.

I have no idea why, it's just what I've always done :)

[Hunter Mom]

Mine is always in the right hand because when the big girl thinks about running out, it will always be to the right.

FYI - When I showed saddlebreds as a kid (eq) we always held it in our inside hand - switching your crop was part of reversing.

[superpony123]

i'm right handed, but i almost always carry my crop on the left, atleast with my pony, because if he's thinking of pulling anything tricky, it's going to be ducking to the left, or somehing related to the left.

[findeight]

Should go on the inside and learning to smoothly switch it is a good thing to know. Plus carrying it on one side all the time gets you lazy with your hands on the reins and can lead to trouble if you have one that drifts towards your weak side over fences.

Primarily it is to use behind the leg to go forward but it is also valid to use it to block a drift as well as switch to the side it is ducking out towards in a stop or run out. They seem to know it's there.

Oh...and don't carry it in a Hunter under saddle or anything else judged on the horse. It may be carried in an Eq flat class, and you will need to switch sides on the reverse.

[LSM1212]

I, personally, feel more comfortable carrying it in my right hand (I'm righty, of course). But my horse needs me to carry it in my left hand. He drifts left when jumping and is more sluggish going left during flat work.

[Peggy]

If I'm carrying just to have it (as Don Sachey once told me, "never go to war without a weapon") I carry it in my dominant right hand. Otherwise, it depends on the situation. With most horses on the flat I'll carry it with the inside hand (esp if you have one that tends to try to look outside the ring and spook/spin to the inside), but with mine lately it's been the outside (trying to encourage not hugging the rail during rehab phase). Hold it in the left hand for one horse I ride o/f b/c that's the direction he'll try to escape. Years of practice and not being all that right-hand dominant mean that I can carry it in either.

[SarahandSam]

I've always been told to carry it on the inside.

[Paint Hunter/Jumper]

I usually hold it on the right, as I am right-handed. But I change it if I need to.

[Hunter DQ]

I was always taught to carry it to the inside for a flat class, in order to engage the inside hind if I needed it for impulsion. But at an IHSA show I attended a few weeks ago, all the trainers had their students keeping crops to the outside. ??? Why?

[Tilly]

I'm a righty too, but I often carry the whip in my left hand :confused:
I usually wear spurs, but if I ride with a whip in a class, I keep it in my right hand, and I don't switch when I change direction.

[Troispony]

I was always taught to hold it on the inside and switch when changing direction. If I hold it on the outside I get all stiff trying to keep it from hitting the wall (of course, trainer makes fun of me for carrying a too-long crop, so that may be the problem :lol:)

[kateh]

I was always taught to carry it to the inside for a flat class, in order to engage the inside hind if I needed it for impulsion. But at an IHSA show I attended a few weeks ago, all the trainers had their students keeping crops to the outside. ??? Why?


Because there's no guarantee your draw will want to pick up the correct lead! :winkgrin:

[FarnleyGarnet]

Because there's no guarantee your draw will want to pick up the correct lead! :winkgrin:

That's probably why I carry it on the outside too! I've been doing too many years of IHSA and nothing else! Having it on the outside seems like the best plan of action since some the IHSA draws aren't so good with their leads... or wanting to canter at all.

The consensus so far seems to be that either hand is appropriate so long as the crop is always used behind your leg.

[zakattack]

Originally Posted by kateh View Post
Because there's no guarantee your draw will want to pick up the correct lead!

haha good point! i ride IEA and thats something i will keep in mind from now on :yes:

[dogchushu]

Until these threads came up, I hadn't thought about which hand holds my crop for years! When I was a brand, new beginner, it was always in my inside hand to discourage drifting in. But that was as a beginner on ancient schoolies who tried to find the shortest distance and I had no leg! :lol:

Nowadays, I'm really not sure where it goes. I guess I hold in in whichever hand I think needs it during that particular ride (could be to reinforce a leg, discourage drifting, whatever the mare needs right then) and then switch it if a switch is needed. I'm not sure why you're not supposed to switch crop hands. If my horse will go better with my crop on the other side, I'm going to switch. (No. Not back and forth repeatedly in the middle of a class or anyting. That would be stupid.)

[Equitate.]

I've never thought about it either. When I'm in a flat class (which isn't terribly often) I don't carry one anymore. When I did way back I always carried it on the outside in case I had to remind my pony with a tap so the judge would be less likely to notice :D.

[vacation1]

Interesting. I've been taught to carry it on the outside unless there was some specific need to use it inside, but I don't recall an explanation. Of course, I'm still a beginner, so this is possibly a tactic by the instructor to keep the school horse from running out of the nearest gate on the outside.:lol:

[horseradish]

FarnleyGarnet got it right. Your whip goes in the inside hand, as a correction if your horse doesn't respond to your leg. Your should be creating impulsion and bend by riding from your inside leg to your outside hand. The exception would be picking up the canter, where the first beat of the canter is the outside hind (if you're on the correct lead); hence, you cue the canter by shifting your outside leg slightly behind the girth (and adding whip if you get no response). As for switching hands, I would think, in an Eq class, it would show more skill/knowledge to switch, than to maintain the whip in the same hand. Likewise, even carrying a whip in HUS could present a negative picture of your horse.

[Pirateer]

I carry in my right hand unless horse needs it more left. I am pretty good with both hands though as far as rapid response time.

I rarely carry in a flat class, but always in anything o/f.