Draw reins - God has spoken. ;) ;) ;)

kerilli

kerilli

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This week's H&H, p44, Klaus Balkenhol says: "If you use them you are lazy, just trying to make life easier for yourself. Good riders don't need them."
and
"You should ride instead with good hands and an elastic contact, so the horse learns to accept your hands and learns true self-carriage."

YES!!!
Sorry, just had to post that in case anyone missed it...! ;) ;) ;)
 
kerilli said:
This week's H&H, p44, Klaus Balkenhol says: "If you use them you are lazy, just trying to make life easier for yourself. Good riders don't need them."
and
"You should ride instead with good hands and an elastic contact, so the horse learns to accept your hands and learns true self-carriage."

YES!!!
Sorry, just had to post that in case anyone missed it...! ;) ;) ;)
Click to expand...

Never a truer word spoken. Thank you for posting this.
 
I read it and thought the same :D Though I will accept they have their uses, however getting a horse to work correctly isn't one of them!
 
Yes but - he is dressage, so does that apply to xc and sjing?

Otherwise he just said Ellen either is lazy or a bad rider...

On saying that I cannot ever be bothered to put them on, but I might consider it if baby / wiley horse was trying to smash me in the face.... does that make me lazy or careful?
 
I know someone who regularly uses draw reins and yes, she's incredibly lazy so I'd say that's a rather perceptive statement ;)
 
Jen_Cots said:
Yes but - he is dressage, so does that apply to xc and sjing?

Otherwise he just said Ellen either is lazy or a bad rider...

On saying that I cannot ever be bothered to put them on, but I might consider it if baby / wiley horse was trying to smash me in the face.... does that make me lazy or careful?
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Smart. I think they are okay in very specific (short-term) instances for safety if you are riding a nutcase. That's not the same as using them routinely to get the horse into an outline...

I don't know anyone who uses them for xc, but they seem rather de rigeur for showjumpers. Especially with the true reins dropped on the neck... :( :( :(
 
HAHA brilliant! i actually agree.i use them sometimes on evil youngster when he's doing his best to deposit me on the floor or on TB when i can't be bothered and am being lazy- so yes he's right - i am both lazy and useless! :D
 
I actually agree to a large extent BUT he was discussing the same question at a symposium I went to and someone asked him what he did with horses that needed to be reschooled and/or were particularly obstreperous and therefore very hard on the rider, where draw reins might be helpful to keep a lid on the situation or convince the horse to see things differently . . . he did at least look at bit chagrined, laughed and said he had an endless supply to 20 year old farm boy apprentices to ride horses like that. :D :D ;)
 
good riding is good riding - whether it's Dressage, SJ or XC..... and to my mind good riding does not involve the need for draw reins!

I'm not sure I'd be as harsh as to say SJ'ers that use these are lazy but maybe they are just trying to get results too quickly?

To be fair, as kerilli highlights, maybe they might have a use for a rehab case for a very short period of time..... but even then I'm not so sure - there are normally other, better ways to achieve what you want with a horse that don't involve them, it's just perhaps those ways also take longer.....
 
TarrSteps said:
I actually agree to a large extent BUT he was discussing the same question at a symposium I went to and someone asked him what he did with horses that needed to be reschooled and/or were particularly obstreperous and therefore very hard on the rider, where draw reins might be helpful to keep a lid on the situation or convince the horse to see things differently . . . he did at least look at bit chagrined, laughed and said he had an endless supply to 20 year old farm boy apprentices to ride horses like that. :D :D ;)
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LMAO!!!!

(ooh, I could do with some 20 yo farm boys....)
 
Kelpie said:
LMAO!!!!

(ooh, I could do with some 20 yo farm boys....)
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Insert "Irish" /\ here


and it's probably some of those that have caused the problems in the first place, good old Irish backing, you can't beat it.:rolleyes: They'd probably argue that speed = profit and s0d the correctness.
 
Kelpie said:
good riding is good riding - whether it's Dressage, SJ or XC..... and to my mind good riding does not involve the need for draw reins!

I'm not sure I'd be as harsh as to say SJ'ers that use these are lazy but maybe they are just trying to get results too quickly?

To be fair, as kerilli highlights, maybe they might have a use for a rehab case for a very short period of time..... but even then I'm not so sure - there are normally other, better ways to achieve what you want with a horse that don't involve them, it's just perhaps those ways also take longer.....
Click to expand...

Ditto this one too :D
 
It made my instuctors year to hear that at hartbury , it is fun to get someone having a lesson to ask her ...should I try draw reins:D...... but yes its good to get back to the great classical way and getting the basics right instead of forcing things and using gadgets....
 
Dont necessarily agree. There is a place for these, I understand that, like everything related to horses it can be abused but there have been horses I have used them on and they have been very helpful. On reflection they have been used to change a mind set as opposed to a way of going and - gasp - I had to go through a stage of hacking out my boy in them to stop him spinning. He stopped, we no longer need draw reins when going out.

But I do recognise its horses for courses. I had a far more backward mare and draw reins would not have helped her at all. She needed to gain confidence and just relax and move so any restriction would have been totally unhelpful.
 
Kelpie said:
good riding is good riding - whether it's Dressage, SJ or XC..... and to my mind good riding does not involve the need for draw reins!

I'm not sure I'd be as harsh as to say SJ'ers that use these are lazy but maybe they are just trying to get results too quickly?

To be fair, as kerilli highlights, maybe they might have a use for a rehab case for a very short period of time..... but even then I'm not so sure - there are normally other, better ways to achieve what you want with a horse that don't involve them, it's just perhaps those ways also take longer.....
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Well, if they're being used for rehab, then it's two reins, and only use the DR as back-up - think two reins when ever used.
 
Luci07 said:
Dont necessarily agree. There is a place for these, I understand that, like everything related to horses it can be abused but there have been horses I have used them on and they have been very helpful. On reflection they have been used to change a mind set as opposed to a way of going and - gasp - I had to go through a stage of hacking out my boy in them to stop him spinning. He stopped, we no longer need draw reins when going out.

But I do recognise its horses for courses. I had a far more backward mare and draw reins would not have helped her at all. She needed to gain confidence and just relax and move so any restriction would have been totally unhelpful.
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Hurrah for some common sense, nothing is ever so black and white in real life as it is in Forum Land. ;) :D
 
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