Thursday Video: What Do You Do With Your Other Arm?
So, you’re happily loping along on your western pony, but what do you do with your free arm?
Benjamin Disraeli is credited with saying “The canter is a cure for every evil.” And while most of us would agree that a good canter really does seem to wipe away many of life’s smaller problems, for western riders who have advanced to leveraged bits, it creates a whole other problem — WHAT DO YOU DO WITH YOUR NON-REIN ARM?
Certain disciplines have their standards. In Western Pleasure, the free arm is held straight to the side. In Western Equitation it is supposed to be relaxed, held at the side or even with the rein hand. In reining it almost appears as if it’s pumping with the momentum of the horse. In mounted shooting, typically it’s holding a gun and aiming toward the targets (at least on a good day).
However, unless you’re competing in one of those disciplines, people do all manner of interesting things with that free arm. And Instagrammer rdranchhorses has no problem pointing that out (although she’s much kinder than we would have been on some of these):
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Happy Thursday, Horse Nation. Go riding!
