Dependant on draw reins

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silu

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I have just bought a new horse which is an experienced showjumper, hopefully to help me improve!

I am delighted with the horse and have no regrets about the purchase. When I tried the horse it was ridden on the flat in draw reins and the seller was open about the fact that the horse was very used to them and that it went better in them.

I am not the worst rider on the flat and have been riding the horse without draw reins which is obviously strange to the horse and it isn't too happy, it is almost as tho the horse uses the draw reins as a comfort blanket? the horse is 9 years old. Has been ridden very well at some time in it's life as it understands leg yield, shoulder in, flying changes etc but maybe not been ridden so well for the last couple of years. Should I just accept the fact that the horse is happier in draw reins or keep trying gradually to reduce the horse's dependancy? I feel the horse would use it's neck and consequently it's back better if I could ride it without them but don't want to upset it too much either. While it may not use it's back that well, my god it can jump despite this! Hopefully someone can give me some sound advice. Thanks.
 
Bin the reins and school for the result you want. It sounds very much like the previous owner didn't have the skill to work him correctly on the flat. He will in time get over being held down and will be all the happier horse.
 
If he's dependent on draw reins he probably isn't using his back properly at all. If you can teach him to go forward with a swinging back, he'll probably quickly learn to feel comfortable and you can happily bin the draws. What does he do to show that he's unhappy without them?

In general, work on lots of forwardness, lots of sweeping leg yields across the diagonal and spirals, just to get the horse to push from behind and swing. Keep it quite simple, with a focus on forwards into an elastic contact that gives the horse space to learn to stretch into. Work in the walk will help too - i.e. leg yield out in walk, then half pass back in, and vice versa. Anything really to unlock his body.
 
As halfstep and Evelyn said... you need to ditch the draw reins all they do is fix your horses head in position which is not correct... the head should naturally fall into an outline if they are working correctly from behind. It sounds like he just needs to go back to basics and be reminded as it's obviously all there just pushed to the back of his brain atm :)
 
Caz89 said:
As halfstep and Evelyn said... you need to ditch the draw reins all they do is fix your horses head in position which is not correct... the head should naturally fall into an outline if they are working correctly from behind. It sounds like he just needs to go back to basics and be reminded as it's obviously all there just pushed to the back of his brain atm :)
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Yes, get rid of them. They may have a role, briefly for some horses but usually they're over-used and stiffen a horse-and it sounds as if you're getting through to him without them. You could always as mentioned use two reins to wean him off. (That's how I always thought they should be used anyway, with two reins, the draw rein for extra sensitivity only-so easy to abuse horses with them otherwise).
 
Draw reins need really, really expert hands and I don't mean to be disparaging about the previous owner but if he used them all the time and not to correct a specific issue he probably did more harm than good. Can you book a lesson with a good instructor to get an opinion from the ground? I would imagine the horse would benefit from working forwards, long and low to develop the right muscles.

The only time I would use draw reins would be for safety reasons if the horse could not be stopped in any other way.
 
A lot of SJers are always ridden in draw reins, and we are talking top flight SJers, and they still win all the big prizes...therefore it is up to you whether you ditch them or not. I use draw reins on my SJer when he is lively, but they sit on his neck - he knows they are there, he deffo likes them being there like your horse, but I don't ride on them, so as Kat said, try that out and see what you get. TBH unless you want to do dressage then they are not going to harm your competition career. Also, some horses do actually work over their backs correctly when they are in use - abuse only comes from those who rely on them.

You can start teaching him to stretch down and work forwards into the bridle, etc., as explained above, and over time I am sure he will work well without them. But don't feel pressurised to have to get rid of them completely - do what makes the both of you happy :)
 
Weezy said:
A lot of SJers are always ridden in draw reins, and we are talking top flight SJers, and they still win all the big prizes...therefore it is up to you whether you ditch them or not. I use draw reins on my SJer when he is lively, but they sit on his neck - he knows they are there, he deffo likes them being there like your horse, but I don't ride on them, so as Kat said, try that out and see what you get. TBH unless you want to do dressage then they are not going to harm your competition career. Also, some horses do actually work over their backs correctly when they are in use - abuse only comes from those who rely on them.

You can start teaching him to stretch down and work forwards into the bridle, etc., as explained above, and over time I am sure he will work well without them. But don't feel pressurised to have to get rid of them completely - do what makes the both of you happy :)
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Agree completely. Unfortunately you do get the copy cats that use them just because Sjers do, and thats where damage is being done! If the horse works well on the flat with them, leave them in place, but do lots of work laterally and flexing to get him to relax, and make sure you can vary the outline. Once you can do that, you will find you can naturally ditch the drawreins. :)
 
KatB said:
Agree completely. Unfortunately you do get the copy cats that use them just because Sjers do, and thats where damage is being done! If the horse works well on the flat with them, leave them in place, but do lots of work laterally and flexing to get him to relax, and make sure you can vary the outline. Once you can do that, you will find you can naturally ditch the drawreins. :)
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Agree completely too with KatB.
 
I totally agree that the long term goal is to ditch the draw reins. However, if the horse has become dependant on them, he will have built his muscle (or not used his muscle) in a very particular way. Ditching the draw reins straight away could result in the weaker muscles having to do a lot more work all of a sudden - which could result in more problems.

Also, (warning: emotional response coming up) if the horse struggles mentally without draw reins - and you are the new rider that took them away - isn't he going to associate you with the discomfort? You need to build a bond with the horse, so when you say 'it's ok to stretch forward and let go a bit', he trusts that you will be there for him if he needs you - but gets brave enough to let go a bit. IMHO taking away the draw reins immediately is a bit like throwing him in at the deep end - makes both of your jobs a lot harder.

You need to do whatever you feel comfortable with and capable of - but it definately would not hurt to get the opinion of an instructor who can watch and advise.

Good Luck - with a bit of time invested, I am sure you will have a happy and relaxed horse.
 
Thanks for all the advice. I did take the draw reins off straight away and agree perhaps that was a bit sudden and the horse was maybe feeling it a bit in the neck department!, ( ears back, and impression of a giraffe )now being ridden somewhat more correctly. However it was also exploring that it could put it nose almost on the ground in canter once allowed to stretch, so was pleased about that. I was interested in the 2 rather differing opinions, suppose the hairy chestnut of show jumpers verses dressage riders!

I have a very good dressage instructor and plan to take the horse to a lesson with him when he is next around here. He'll hate the horse as it bounces about and does 1 time changes behind but I'm not fussed in the slightest as no posh circles required, he'll like it's walk tho, ooooses athleticism and over tracks by a country mile with "swing" and it's trot is really very nice with draw reins on! canter....ummm interesting.

I will just use them for part of the time and then take them off gradually over the weeks. It isn't the case that I cannot ride the horse without them or scared to do so.
 
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