bridle hand

American  

noun

1. (of a horseback rider) the hand, usually the left hand, that holds both reins or both pairs of reins, leaving the other hand free to manage a whip, crop, lariat, or the like.

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Etymology

Origin of bridle hand

First recorded in 1570–80

Example Sentences

The former is no less fatiguing to, than the latter is distressed by, the bridle hand.

From The Young Lady's Equestrian Manual by Anonymous

The bridle hand started as if to draw in, but almost at the same instant the animal sprang again into a gait which showed the spur had touched her, and was quickly out of hearing.

From John March, Southerner by Cable, George W.

At the time I was at his bridle hand.

From The Honour of Savelli A Romance by Levett-Yeats, S. (Sidney)

Suddenly he felt a sharp stinging pain in his213 right shoulder, and but for a convulsive grasp of the pommel with his bridle hand he would have pitched headlong to the earth.

From Danger Signals Remarkable, Exciting and Unique Examples of the Bravery, Daring and Stoicism in the Midst of Danger of Train Dispatchers and Railroad Engineers by Hill, John A.

Roden’s meditations took to themselves wings, and drawing his revolver, as more convenient at close quarters than the rifle, shifted the latter into his bridle hand, and sat for a moment intently listening.

From A Veldt Official A Novel of Circumstance by Mitford, Bertram