Where my hand should be in contact with the reins always confused me. Even training with Olympians. I remember one Olympian telling me one thing and another Olympian telling me another thing. My horses have never gone better than when I keep my hands and my reigns in a positive contact like Alicia describes and this idea of a positive contact, not a negative contact is vital to make dressage progress. When I was learning to ride dressage, my hands were so far back. I used to have rub marks on my knuckles and my saddle had leather worn off the pommel from where my hands kept rubbing because my hands were so much in the wrong spot. Shortening your reigns and having a positive contact. Sounds so simple and easy, but if you just commit to doing that, everything about your dressage riding will change.
