[drivingpairs] Why Achenbach
- From: Hzlax@xxxxxxx
- To: drivingpairs@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Mon, 1 May 2006 12:00:36 EDT
There were some good answers already. To me the main reason is to not lose
contact nor disturb the mouth when using the right hand for some of it's tasks.
Like using the whip, which is one of the main reasons for putting the reins in
the left hand when driving singles and pairs, when using the whip. But when
driving team the main reason - besides the whip - is, when making a turn to
take the loop in the leader rein one hand needs to move forward to take the
loop.
So when driving two handed, the moment that hand moves forward to take the
loop, the contact on the rein in that hand is lost. Granted, this applies more
to teams than to tandems, since teams are wider, thus the loop is more
important. With a small and quickly reacting tandem, as Bridgette has it,
leader loops
are not as often necessary, and one can drive two handed without taking loops
there mostly, but with a team that won't work. Also, of course I agree, that
two handed is quicker and thus better for cones and hazards - and many World
Class team drivers use it in dressage now too - but I still prefer Achenbach
for training and for dressage for keeping the proper contact. For a quick turn
in cones and hazards a quick drop of the contact is not such a big deal, when
the horses are trained properly elsewise.
For the comment what our ancestors did when plowing as well as what Amish do
now, that's really a different story, as draft horses were not driven "on the
bit" nor did they need to "bend" or go "round". That's were voice commands
came from and are good. The farmer had his hands on the plow and the reins
around
his neck. So "gee" and "haw" were / are fine there.
Hardy
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