Holding The Reins, English Style

Place each rein between your pinky and ring finger. Run the rein up through your palm and secure it with your thumb on top. Gently close your fingers around the rein. Hold your hands upright, with your thumbs as the highest points. Keep your wrists straight, creating a direct line from elbow to bit.

The reins are a direct line of communication to your horse. Holding the reins incorrectly is like trying to have a phone conversation with a bad cell connection. Pertinent information gets lost, confusing the horse. 

This isn’t just about tradition or looking pretty in the show ring. Correctly holding the reins creates contact between the rider’s hands and the horse’s mouth. Without proper contact, you won’t be able to close the loop and be truly connected with the horse.

Regardless of whether you’re just starting or you’ve been riding for years and your trainer is still yelling “thumbs on top!” from the center of the ring, this article sheds light on the intricacies of holding the reins.

The “Straight Line” Mandate

It’s helpful to understand the “why” behind holding reins. 

Correct equitation teaches that when mounted on a horse, the rider’s elbow to the bit should create a straight, unbroken line. Instructors introduce this basic principle of riding to all beginning students.

To maintain this straight line, avoid flexing the wrists. The rider should focus on keeping the palms of the hands facing each other. A visual many instructors use with their students is to have them imagine they are holding a tray when holding the reins. This encourages riders to keep their palms facing each other.

Holding the reins with palms facing down (often called “piano hands”) or knuckles pointing at each other is incorrect.

It’s important to note that riding is nuanced: the straight line from elbow to bit is not rigid. It’s dynamic. A horse’s head and neck move naturally, bobbing in the walk, reaching in the canter.

Your elbows, which should be resting close to your sides, must follow that motion. They act as hinges, opening and closing as needed to maintain a steady, soft connection.

Wrists and hands in the proper position won’t interfere with or block the elbows from following the horse’s motion, which allows contact with the horse’s mouth to be successfully maintained.

The How-To: Building the Correct Hold from Scratch

Let’s put it together. Doing this right from the start will save you from years of trying to unlearn bad habits.

1. The Grip

• When you pick up the rein, you’ll grasp it with your ring, middle, and ring fingers and close them around the rein. When held this way, the rein runs between your ring and pinky finger, and the excess of the rein drapes over your ring finger. Your thumb presses down on the rein to keep it in place.
• Your pressed-down thumb, combined with the three other fingers enclosing it, keeps the rein from slipping.
• The classic advice is to hold each rein like a small bird – firmly enough that it can’t escape, but gently enough that you don’t harm it. 

2. Hand and Wrist Position

• Hands vertical. Not flat “piano hands”. Think of carrying a tray. Your thumbs should be the highest point with palms facing each other. 
• Straight wrist. No flexing or turning of the wrist. 
• Position. Your hands should hover just above and in front of the withers, approximately 4 to 6 inches apart.
• Your elbows should be bent and rest softly at your sides. 

3. Picking Up the Reins

• First, ensure the reins are flat and not criss-crossed over the neck.
• Make sure both reins are even, that is, you aren’t holding one longer or shorter than the other. 
• The bight (the excess of the rein) typically hangs down on the off-side (the right side of the horse). This is mostly a show-ring thing, though; if you want to have it hang to the left, that’s fine, too.

4. Adjusting Rein Length While Riding

Contact is a conversation, which means your rein length is almost never static.

To shorten, slide your thumb and finger of one hand up the other rein to grab it, then slide your original hand back to the new, shorter position. You will do this many times in a single ride.

To lengthen, you simply soften your grip—primarily by relaxing your thumb- and allow the leather to slide smoothly through your fingers. You should feel a consistent weight in your hands—a few ounces. If you feel nothing, they’re too long. If your arms are getting tired from pulling, they’re too short (or, more likely, your horse is leaning on you, which is a whole other topic).

Common Mistakes and Quick Fixes

• Piano Hands: Hands held flat with palms facing down. This immediately breaks the straight line at the wrist and makes it difficult to make subtle finger movements. The fix: just rotate your hands upward until your thumbs are on top.
• The Death Grip: White knuckles mean you’re all tension. Remember the little bird. And wear gloves. Good gloves provide grip, so you don’t feel the need to squeeze so hard.
• Failing to Keep Fingers Closed and Thumbs Pressed Down: This is a common problem among many riders, which allows the rein to lengthen inadvertently, causing you to lose contact with the horse’s mouth and thus lose the connection.

For beginners, this problem can be magnified because they’re in the early stages of developing feel, balance, and strength. One toss of the horse’s head can pull the reins from their hands. In these cases, the style of rein on the bridle can make a big difference.

Smooth leather reins are not the best choice. Reins with hand stops—small pieces of leather sewn around the reins incrementally —give riders more substance to hold on to.

ThinLine English Reins offer riders the option of reins with or without hand stops. Additionally, the English Reins are wrapped in ThinLine’s grippy, no-slip foam. The foam contributes to a secure feel even when wet. The foam is soft and not bulky, so even riders with arthritic hands will find these reins easy to hold.

ThinLine Lined English Reins are a fancier rein for those who show or if you just like fancy reins! One side of the rein is Italian leather, and the other side has ThinLine foam sewn onto it for a no-slip grip that’s easy on the hands.

Rein material, rein width, rein length, and even flexibility can be factors. Riders soon learn their preferences as to what they’re most comfortable with. That’s why ThinLine reins come in different widths, lengths, and colors. 

Beyond the Basics: Advanced Grips and Tools

Once the standard rein grip is second nature, there are variations for specific jobs.

Double Reins

Used with a double bridle, often seen in upper-level dressage, you hold two reins in each hand. Horses wearing double bridles have two bits in their mouth, a snaffle (called a bridoon) and a curb bit.

• The snaffle rein, which is attached to the bridoon, is held similarly to a single snaffle rein, except the rein runs between the middle and ring fingers, so it’s held only by the middle and ring fingers with the thumb on top.
• The curb rein, attached to the curb bit, goes between your ring and pinky fingers and is held in place by the thumb as well.

By separating the reins this way, you can apply pressure with either rein just by subtly squeezing different fingers. The two reins attached to the two bits allow for more precision.

The Fillis hold is another way to hold double reins, but the one described above is the more conventional method.

Bridging Reins

Helpful for jumping, cross country, or on a strong horse. The bridge provides stability and prevents you from accidentally jabbing the horse in the mouth.

To make one, shorten your reins to your desired length. Then, take the bight (the excess rein) in one hand and tuck it under the thumb of your other hand. You then press this “bridge” hand firmly down onto the horse’s neck. This creates a solid anchor for you to balance with that is independent of the horse’s mouth.

Putting It Into Practice: Using the Reins

• Direct (Opening) Rein: The simplest turn. To go right, you move your right hand slightly to the right, as if opening a door for the horse to pass through. You support this with your inside (right) leg at the girth. Be sure not to pull back on the rein.
• Indirect (Supporting) Rein: The outside rein in a turn. It lies against the horse’s neck, acting as a supporting wall that prevents the shoulder from bulging out. It provides balance.
• The Pulley Rein: For a bolt. You shorten one rein dramatically, plant that hand firmly on the neck as an anchor, and then pull sharply up and back on the other rein. It uses leverage to force the horse into a circle, which breaks their forward momentum.
• The Half-Halt: The half-halt is a momentary rebalancing of the horse. It’s barely a hand aid. It starts with your core and seat tensing for a split second, followed by a squeeze of your legs to keep the engine on, and then a brief closing of your fingers on the reins, followed by an immediate softening. 

Common Questions

Below are common questions we get asked.