any good websites explaining what draw reins actually do???

[its_noodles]

Hello everyone,

As titled, I am trying to learn a bit more about how draw reins actually work. Could someone point me to a couple of good websites please? I didn't really learn anything on wiki btw...:eek3:

My instructor used to have draw reins on and the horse's head was always down there. She took the draw reins off a couple of weeks ago and I ended up having a tug of war with her mouth and got blisters on my fourth fingers...

Many thanks

 

[Dave's Mam]

Think about the force & motion.........
Harsh except in the most gentle hands.
They are a pressure tool.

 

[be positive]

The dreaded draw rein debate, I don't think they are so bad BUT they do require skill to use them correctly and your instructor clearly lacks that skill, they are a useful safety net, if used with care they can just assist the rider and guide a difficult horse in the right direction.

If used incorrectly they act as a lever to pull the head down and in and nothing is gained, in fact they do harm as the moment they come off the horse feels the release and throws its head up in relief, ending up worse than before as it will have been working with its muscles braced against the action, usually with a tight and hollow back and trailing hind legs.

Find a better educated instructor, then rather than trying to find out how draw reins work look at how the horse should work, it is not all about tugging the front end in to look pretty.

 

[mandwhy]

Sustainabledressage.net has good explanations of how gadgets work, obviously it portrays them mostly in a negative light because draw reins have no place in dressage or really very many places at all! Your instructor sounds like the opposite of what I would want in an instructor and horse to ride :-(

 

[YorksG]

Any instructor who regularly uses draw reins, needs to go for some lessons! The correct way of going comes from using the horses hind end as the 'engine', not keeping the front end down and in!

 

[maccachic]

Draw reins work on the wrong end of a horse - useful for pulling up locomotive racehorses.

 

[JillA]

Basically draw reins use the principle of a pulley to exert more weight to pull a horse's head in and down - they don't give a release (unless you are exceptionally gifted with them) so they don't teach the horse anything, they just force him into a false frame. Hence when they are not there he will demand the comfort of being able to poke his nose.
As said above, a proper outline comes from engagement of the hocks, which means that to balance and stop himself falling on his face the horse has to raise his neck and drop his head.
Draw reins can be really badly abused and if your instructor is using them it reveals a worrying lack of understanding of basic schooling TBH

 

[cptrayes]

They are more often abused than not, but if they are used to prevent the horse from popping its head up, rather than to pull it down, then I much prefer them to a martingale which makes the horse turn its neck upside down.

 

[misskk88]

In the right hands they can be a useful tool, but personally I feel for only very short term use. My view of gadgets has changed drastically over the past few months. The problem is sometimes in inexperienced hands they do not achieve the intended purpose of them.

Personally draw reins used on riding school horses, for novice riders, really says mores about the riding instructors ability to teach effectively. Sorry if people disagree but I say this as I saw/see it first hand at a local yard. Horses head is forced down, rider holds onto mouth, and horse cannot engage quarters (or 'engine' as it is often described in lessons), everything becomes a backwards and push/pull motion. When a horse naturally works in an outline that is balanced and forward, it will almost feel 'uphill', whereas to me, drawreins, whe used incorrectly can create a downwards and backwards feeling.

I am all for giving novices a helping hand with the right gadgets and methods (heck I have been riding years and still need a helping hand!) to give them a feel of what things should be like as they improve, but creating false outlines and motion is not the one!

 

[NZJenny]

OP, Google will be your friend. I went looking last year and found quite a few, mostly western orientated. If draw reins doesn't help, also try running reins.

 

[Luce85]

Don't know if I can find a website, but in the right hands draw reins are fine in the short term, i have used them before when needed, but they are not a long term solution.

 

[Carrots&Mints]

We used them on the traditional for about a week, that was enough, it was just help him keep his outline when transitioning from walk to trot, litrally a week and thats it, not used them again they are back in the cupboard!!

Useful tool but not be used long term i dont think, and can be used incorrectly in the wrong hands, one lady at the yard used them every day with her ID big 17HH thing, even out hacking... went bizerk and bronched (is that how you spell it) all the way down the main road.

 

[_GG_]

Hello everyone,

As titled, I am trying to learn a bit more about how draw reins actually work. Could someone point me to a couple of good websites please? I didn't really learn anything on wiki btw...:eek3:

My instructor used to have draw reins on and the horse's head was always down there. She took the draw reins off a couple of weeks ago and I ended up having a tug of war with her mouth and got blisters on my fourth fingers...

Many thanks

If you have to get into a tug of war with your horses mouth to any point, but especially to the point that you get blisters, something is very wrong and in this case, I would say it is your instructor. That kind of contact will only serve to harden the horses mouth (after causing a great deal of pain and discomfort) and then you'll have a horse that is basically numb to the hand...so you'll have to use more leg and more hand and more leg and more hand in a vicious circle until riding becomes a chore and it will take a lot of work to undo the damage.

Draw reins can have a place for some horses, in experienced hands. Any instructor that uses them on a regular basis and then condones a tug of war with a horses mouth needs striking off the register.

I'm not saying you are doing anything wrong OP...but just that you and your horse would be far better off if you found a new instructor who not only understands the basic concepts of how to get a horse going properly, but can also do it and teach you how to do it.

I don't want that to all come across negatively, but I really can't help it. Horses are not machines to be pulled and tugged at. They are the animals we love and we should want to do things in a correct manner that doesn't cause them pain or discomfort. It makes me sad to think of a horse and rider in a tug of war for the purpose of getting the head down

For your sake as well, you are just wasting your money on this instructor. She is not teaching you how to ride, she is teaching you how to cheat.

 

[Kylara]

I have a new client who had been taught before to wiggle the head into an outline. She was having major problems with her trot - he is a little behind the leg and is short coupled and has quite a short trot step. His walk is fantastic though and offers a lovely outline. First thing I told her was to ignore the head position and we would work on the trot and engaging the hindquarters. Loads of transitions, collecting, lengthening and stretching later (about 25 minutes) he suddenly started holding himself better, responding to the leg, more in an outline, and he was engaged and powering through from behind. She was over the moon.

The outline comes when the horse is working correctly. Draw reins are a short term solution to help a horse understand where you want his head (stopping nose poking) but they need to be used gently and with a good user can be effective with release as well.

There is a horse nearby that is always ridden in a sort of side rein bungee thing from noseband to girth and is never ever ridden without it, (because horse whacks head up when ridden without it) is heavily on the forehand and heavy in the mouth. I'm pretty sure it has a sore nose too. It masks a problem instead of fixing.

I too would recommend a new instructor. Also if you lunge and want him to engage back muscles and lower his head/neck, try a chambon for 5-10 minutes after warm up on the lunge. It's a very good way to strengthen the back and helps horses come up off the forehand and does very little interference unless they stick their head up, when it encourages them to soften and lower it again.

 

[Wagtail]

What always amazes me is the number of instructors who advise their novice clients to put draw reins on their horses! Unbelievable.

 

[Spotsrock]

Draw reins work on the wrong end of a horse - useful for pulling up locomotive racehorses.

I use mine on my big ex racer Have had quite a bit of education in using them over the years. I use them when he gets a little ahead of himself due to a change in grass sugars or routine (ie enforced periods stabled due to wet ground) just as a safety net to help pull him up if needed - he puts his head up and out when he goes, or to help keep his head level so he can't get a good buck in.

I rarely need them for this anymore as his education seems to have done most of the hard work, and had barely used them for ages but being pregnant and struggling to work him as hard as i would like I have dusted them off to encourage him once or twice a week - I can't seem to apply my legs as strongly with the bump, spurs rub him and he throws his head up at the merest tickle from the schooling whip (I know his history since birth and he has never been beaten, it's grump not fear) so once a week currently I school with a schooling whip and draw reins. They are generally there but loose (not near his feet!) unless he starts getting grumpy or refusing to work when I pick them up a little to get him organised then slacken them off again. He's huge, I'm tiny and riding for 2. Normally we muddle along nicely with my reins and legs!

He actually works really nicely in them, goes quite long and low which I am told means I'm using them properly and that no-one has ever used them badly on him (no one else has ever used them on him).

You do have to be careful though. I hold them as double reins so that I can adjust them if needed quickly in response to his movements without dropping my snaffle rein, though I have seen them held with the snaffle rein. Only in a snaffle, though I have seen them used on a gag and a pelham, and they are generally there to provide guidance not control, he can always move his head about a bit, just not throw it and the gentle downward pressure when he does bring it high encourages him to lower it again.

Works for us but I do still flinch when I see people strapping horses heads down with them!

 

[*sprinkles*]

I actually love draw reins and I think they get a bad rap from the fact that so many people use them as a pulley to incorrectly force the horse's head in. Used correctly OP, they are a very useful tool to hold together a horse who is maybe quite long and strung out but they need twice as much leg as hand. They are also useful for placing the horses head, if that makes sense but are useless unless the back end is pushed into gear first as otherwise all they create is a false outline. It's useful to remember that your horse's mouth is as soft as your own (or should be) and while gentle, encouragement is fine, force is not. A much more handy tool is a German martingale (I think called a market harborough in the UK?!) as the draw rein effect only comes into play when the horses head gets into a place that is no longer controllable and has a direct pressure and release effect.

 

[its_noodles]

thanks everyone for your replies.
i am a scientist and i want to know how things work, hence the post.
in my instructors' defence, the two are both very experienced and the poor horse is a schoolmaster. amongst the lot, i think im the one who doesn't know what im doing...:eek3:
btw, i think i got that "engine" bit.
thanks again

 

[Pigeon]

The thing I have learnt that has helped me the most in dressage -

"If you feel like you want to use your hands, use your legs instead".

It's so true. Keep your hands still - if horse comes above the bit put on more leg. If horse is rude about it (yanks reins out your hands) tap with the whip.

 

[its_noodles]

The thing I have learnt that has helped me the most in dressage -

"If you feel like you want to use your hands, use your legs instead".

It's so true. Keep your hands still - if horse comes above the bit put on more leg. If horse is rude about it (yanks reins out your hands) tap with the whip.

good point Pigeon. that's the "engine" bit i got from the posts...

 

[blitznbobs]

the only 'horse' I've ever used on them was a pony who used to tank off in a field when a neighbours child rode it... child was too small to sit back and tell it no so it was just doing what it wanted with her. I got on it and it didn't even try - but when she got on it did the same thing again... so I put draw reins on it... and it didn't do it any more - for a week she rode it in draw reins and it was cured of the habit.

 

[cptrayes]

Deleted, too long to explain properly!

 

[Queenbee]

The dreaded draw rein debate, I don't think they are so bad BUT they do require skill to use them correctly and your instructor clearly lacks that skill, they are a useful safety net, if used with care they can just assist the rider and guide a difficult horse in the right direction.

If used incorrectly they act as a lever to pull the head down and in and nothing is gained, in fact they do harm as the moment they come off the horse feels the release and throws its head up in relief, ending up worse than before as it will have been working with its muscles braced against the action, usually with a tight and hollow back and trailing hind legs.

Find a better educated instructor, then rather than trying to find out how draw reins work look at how the horse should work, it is not all about tugging the front end in to look pretty.

I have to say, i dont agree with your statement that as soon as the horse feels the release they toss their head up... I can understand this if the reins are being used forcefully and incorrectly, but in my opinion/experience, of the horses that i have used DR on, I have started by using them only when hacking, as a back up that only come into effect if the horse brings its head up, then and only then do they act, for the rest of the time they remain loose. After a short while, i stop using them, i may need to use them once a week, as a reminder, then once a fortnight, then maybe once a month... Only if ive been riding and experienced the horses habit slipping backwards... Never as routine. But i have never experienced a horse chucking its head up when it feels the "release" as this is never how ive used them. The horse should only ever feel any action from them when it chucks its head up. They should not be used/acting in anyway as a tool to keep the horse in an outline/false outline