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Despite blizzard conditions and driving snow the

Middleburg Christmas parade went on. The crowd was a

little smaller than usual but nonetheless enthusiastic to

see Santa driven down the street on an antique Private

omnibus built in the mid 1800s by Brewster and co of

New York

Etiam enim.Quisque interdum turpis

accumsan sem. Donec odio mi,

dapibus id, mattis rhoncus,

semper non, tellus.

Achenbachs Safe,

Sane Driving

Grips 4

5

News

NonsuchNews articles and events

from the stables of Ayrshire

farm

Vol.1 no.1Winter 2010

Inside

Christmas in Middleburg

2009


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Nonsuch News Vol. 1 No. 1

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4

Achenbachs Safe, Sane Driving GripsBy Kathy Hansen

reprinted by kind permission from the August 2008 issue (Vol. 46, No. 4) ofThe Carriage

Journal

For final work on collection, the horse must be put into a curb bit. This bit is not designed to control anunruly horse but is a refined tool to coax the finest, lightest performance possible from a strong, highly

schooled and responsive equine athlete.

To handle such a tool, the driver must be as finely trained and coordinated as the horse. While the

jointed snaffle bits used in training programs are forgiving, curbs are not. Jarring a sensitive horses

mouth while changing grips on the reins, or while turning, can destroy weeks of patient work.

Thus a drivers hands now become vital. To review the general concepts of good hands and the

driving position, and the seat from which it arises, see The Education of the Driving Horse in the

January 2008 issue. There you will also find a discussion of contact, the yielding versus the fixed hand,

etc. Please review that earlier article, as this article will focus on handling the reins.

The system of choice is the Achenbach method. Its combination of safety, flexibility, and logic make

it ideal for most kinds of driving. This style was developed in Regency England, where coachmendevised new ways of handling the reins to control their fast, stylish horses. One of the leading

exponents of this style was Edwin Howlett, born in France of English parents, who in 1864 set up his

own business in Paris as the first of the driving masters. A student of Howlett, Benno von Achenbach,

popularized the English method in Germany and published a book on driving in 1922. From then on,

the style he taught came to be known as the Achenbach system in Germany, and it is used by many

international drivers today.

The basic gripsAt first, the Achenbach method may seem

awkward, but once learned, its movements are so

efficient and effective that they seem natural. In

this method, the left hand holds the reinsall of

them. The right, which holds the whip, can make

adjustments in these reins for turns and stops. In

the dressage, or training grip, the reins are

separated and carried one in each hand. But even

this grip is based on the reins-in-the-left-hand

grip and it therefore differs from run-of-the-mill

two-handed driving.

Pick up your reins to the driving apparatus

and follow along. Get a whip, too. To control a

horse, you must be able to send him forwardinstantly. Without a whip, voice commands

become only empty noises. Never pick up your

reins without one. Start learning to handle it

now. Hold it under your palm, balancing it

loosely on top of your thumb and little finger.

Control the whip with either your little and ring

fingers or your thumb and first finger, as the

need dictates.


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The holding gripBring the near (left) rein over the top of

your hand. The off (right) comes between

the middle and ring fingers (see the photo

on the previous page).

To ensure a soft contact with the horses

mouth, keep the thumb and first fingerrelaxed. Hold the reins with your lower

fingers. Keep your driving hand near the

center of your body, your right with the

whip in it, close by.

To make delicate adjustments with the

lines, grasp the reins in front of the left

hand.

The right, first finger goes over the

top of the near (top) rein, the lower

rein between the ring and little

fingers. In effect, youre slipping your

middle two fingers between the reins.

Relax the driving hands tension and, by twisting the right hand, adjust the reins. You mayalso shorten the reins by tightening the fingers of the right hand on the reins and sliding

the left hand forward.

If you must take up a lot of slack in an

emergency, grip the reins with your whip (right)

hand behind the left.

Then loosen your hold with the left and,

by pulling with your right, shorten the reins


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6

Practice these adjustments on the driving

apparatus. The weights should not swing, but

slide smoothly into their new positions as you

adjust the reins. As you use your right hand, be

careful with the whip. More than one passengerhas lost a hat to an inexperienced drivers whip.

To turn left, twist and move your hand to

the right. Keeping your thumb and finger

relaxed, tip your hand over so the back of the

hand is up.

The rein will lie across the back of your hand.

Watch your weights. The left one will rise, theright, lower. The left rein shortens, the right

softens, and the horse, if you had one, would

turn left.

If you want a sharper turn, twist your hand

and then move it toward your right elbow.

This motion shortens the rein and signals the turn

the weights will rise. The shortening not only slows

the horse, but also takes up the slack he produces in

the reins as he shortens his stride and collects.

While giving rein aids, be sure keep your fingers

turned toward your body. Only then can your wristact like a spring to damped the inevitable jars of the

reins and soften the force of the bit.

To turn right, twist your hand upwards, so that

you can see your fingernails.


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The right weight rises, the left lowers, and a horse

would turn right. To increase the sharpness of the

turn, move your hand toward your left hip.

Especially in this position, be careful to keep the

wrist softly bent.To halt, grip the reins with your right hand as in

figure 3 (two fingers between the reins), but farther

in front of the driving hand. As you bring your right

hand back to halt the horse, the left moves upwards

taking up the slack.

By reaching forward to grasp the reins with your right hand, you dont have to stop the

horse with your hands under your chin. The horse cannot escape the aid, and the whip has total

control throughout the halt.

For fine English harness we turn to Greg Hunt of Hunt Harness.Greg continues to maintain a low volume shop with select craftspeople

striving to create the finest harness. Their quality and service have

satisfied customers who in turn are the most honest form of advertising.


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8

The dressage grips

Often a trainer must use a rein in each hand. The

Achenbach method provides a series of training, or

dressage, grips that meet these needs.For the working grip, separate the reins by

grasping the lower (off-side) rein with your knuckles

up.

To keep track of the amount of rein pulled

out, touch your right thumb to your left hand.

Then when you return the rein (by

reversing this process), the reins will both be

even.

Pull the rein out about six inches. Keep a

hold on the rein in the left hand, creating a

bridge. Pull enough slack out so your right

hand can move independently of the left, but

not so much that you cant return the rein

easily to the left hand.

The near rein will enter the top of the left

hand; the off rein enters the bottom of the right

hand. To keep the right hand relaxed, you will

have to hold the rein with your thumb. To put

both reins back in the left hand, reverse the

processsliding the off rein back into itsoriginal position. Note: Always halt or use the

whip with the reins in the left hand.

Practice transferring the reins from one

hand to two. Keep the weights still. They must

not swing sideways or move up and down. You

only want to change the position of your hands,

not signal your horse.

To turn left, tip both thumbs backwards,

toward your body.


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This action shortens the left rein and lengthens

the right. Watch your whip. This is where I often

take my passengers hat off.

To turn right, press your thumbs forward.

Notice that the weights dont shift

much. For the dressage grips to be

effective, the horse must be in contact

with the drivers hands.

For a half-halt, bring the left thumb

back and move the right forward.

(see photo below.)

This shortens both reins, checking the horse for

an instant, balancing and collecting him. It takes

practice to do it smoothly, without making the

weights swing. Take care you dont poke your

horse in his rear with your whip tip.

To halt, put both reins in the left hand by

reversing the above procedure. Be sure theyre of

equal length from the bit; otherwise, the horsewill slide sideways. Then reach forward with the

right hand, slip two fingers between the reins and

halt as in the single-handed grip.


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10

Practice, practice

As you practice with your driving apparatus, try to keep the weights from swinging. Still weights

reflect good, smooth hands. When you feel comfortable with a couple of pounds in each hand,

increase the weights to condition your hands for the stress of actual driving. Morley Knight, in his

Hints on Driving (1884, reprinted in 1976), notes that an average team puts ten to twelve poundsinto the whips hand, and those pressures not infrequently exceed thirty-five pounds.

Once you feel comfortable handling the reins, start using the Achenbach grips on your horse.

Experimentmove your hands and see how the horse responds.

The Achenbach method is specifically designed for safely driving show or pleasure horses. The

flexibility of the dressage grips is perfect for schooling horses in the snaffle, while the single-

handed grips supply the stability demanded by the curb bit. Practice until your hands are steady

and sure. Then you can put the final polish on your driving horse.

reprinted by kind permission from the August 2008 issue (Vol. 46, No. 4) of TheCarriage Journal. Photos (14) byJennifer Singleton; hand model: Kathy Courtemanche.


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