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

If Klaus could come and tell my ex-racer, who's been off with an abscess for a few days now, that he's supposed to accept my hands and learn self-carriage before I attempt to ride him tomorrow, i'd really appreciate it.
 
kerilli said:
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...
Click to expand...


Apologies, but are we talking about what you think or what Klaus B thinks? Because from the quote posted in your OP I get the impression he wouldn't agree with what you just said. Seems like he thinks they are never justified.

I disagree with that, just for the record. I think when used properly and carefully they can be useful in some circumstances. So shoot me :p I can't remember the last time I used them, I don't think I'm a good enough rider too, but i'll still defend them.
 
Last edited:
Draw reins? bahhh humbug!!:eek:

the only reason any person should have draw reins on their yard is when you need to bring two ponies in from the field and the good leadropes have been chewed by the not so "good" collie puppy!!:D:rolleyes:
 
Ignition said:
Apologies, but are we talking about what you think or what Klaus B thinks? Because from the quote posted in your OP I get the impression he wouldn't agree with what you just said. Seems like he thinks they are never justified.

I disagree with that, just for the record. I think when used properly and carefully they can be useful in some circumstances. So shoot me :p I can't remember the last time I used them, I don't think I'm a good enough rider too, but i'll still defend them.
Click to expand...

Erm, right. My original post used quotation marks to show what KB said. A direct quote from H&H.
In the part you question, I clearly wrote "I think"... no attribution to KB. My opinion only.
I agree with you, btw...
 
But my point is that you're rather contradicting yourself by saying that what Klaus B said (in essence, that draw reins should never be used) is correct, and then later on saying 'I think draw reins can be used sometimes'. Do you see how I mean? Not trying to cause an argument, it just leaped out at me.
 
At a complete purist level the statement is actually correct. Draw reins are a lazy way of achieving a result....but as we don't all do dressage, we aren't necessarily all looking for the same result.

It could also be said that many other 'classical' dressage methods force a result...and i'm not just talking about rollkur here.

Horses for courses and all that...
 
On occasion, I have found draw reins to be kinder than the alternative argument. It has only ever taken one (or rarely, two) sessions to get the point across, and then we return to riding without. I like that you can regulate the pressure, that they can be easily released and gradually loosened until you're getting what you want with only the 'threat' there, then take them off and finish the session getting what I want, nicely and without any extra aids. Only ever once per horse too.
 
I don't understand the last comment. Am, happily, quite drunk and not awfully bright about horses, but really don't understand the last message. Am I too thick/drunk or missing the point of the message? This could be a while after the last message, of course.
 
If you use draw reins to yank a horse's head in then yes, of course they are bad.

HOWEVER, they are a useful tool in correct hands....I haven't ridden my horse for over a week now...any of you purists like to come and hack him out without draw reins when we eventually get to ride???!

They have their place, and not one person is going to say they are good for producing a dressage horse, not one person is going to say they are the best way to create an outline...but they ARE a useful bit of kit, and using them as and when you require them does not make you a lazy or bad rider.
 
For flipt's sake. Have fun. Horses do enjoy life, if they're allowed to. My huge thing in life is to produce a great horse who jumps like a bugger with fun.
 
Sorry I disagree.
There are times draw reins can save you getting chucked off and on a really naughty horse they are an excellent way of insisting on obedience.
In the right hands they are fine, the problem is every Tom Dick and Harry uses them mostly incorrectly.
You'd probably be surprised just which top riders use them at times, not everyone is as talented as this gentleman and I would say used correctly they have their place.
The trick is to use them only when you need to and ride on the normal reins 95% of the time.
 
Moragulous Mulled Wine said:
Draw reins? bahhh humbug!!:eek:

the only reason any person should have draw reins on their yard is when you need to bring two ponies in from the field and the good leadropes have been chewed by the not so "good" collie puppy!!:D:rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Or your 4yr old has scoffed both leads & a headcollar in the space of a couple of minutes :rolleyes: - while the farrier trimmed his mothers feet - Little B****R has done this since day one - used to carry a stick around in his mouth! :D

Will sometimes use a Market Harborough but NEVER draw reins.
 
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?
Click to expand...

Yes, and then I will not be alone in saying that she is quite possibly both.
 
But but but I got a Dr's certificate miss!! Does that excuse me? ;)

In general I would agree with Mr KB, but I would dearly love him to ride beau for a week and get him going well without them, because he has defeated mum and I for yrs...

Given the amount they have helped us with Beau ever since the physio suggested using them, and we use them only for brief periods when needed, and actually after 4 weeks only feel the need to put them on about once a week. I'd argue that in some cases, if used carefully they can be a very useful AID, like spurs or a whip.

Unfortunately as someone mentioned eariler in general every Tom, Dick and Harry that uses them, uses them incorrectly...
 
I'd LOVE to send a translation of this quotation to the riding club I attended here a couple of years ago. Riding lessons involved horses and ponies in these suckers (solid leather "triangle" reins attached from girth to bit rings to D rings). Glad I left... It felt unsafe and pointless.
 
I don't think there is any place for them in schooling. Imagine if you had your head strapped down, albeit lightly and just for "safety", you'd still know you were restricted and wouldn't want to use the rest of your body correctly, which would lead to stiffness and pain in your neck and back. Because you were so restricted no one can tell your muscles are aching either. The whole purpose of schooling is to encourage the horse's body to relax, the back to swing and the neck to stretch out and seek the contact, and then the horse is be able to communicate when its muscles are fatigued and needs a rest.

Are so many horses as difficult as people make out and do they really "need" draw reins? Surely the root of the problem is in the horse's management (feed, turnout, health, saddle etc) or in the rider's lack of skill? If tiny Laura B can handle the rather wild Alf without draw reins just by patience and good riding, then shouldn't we at least be aiming for the same thing? And if we can't ride as well as we'd like, then finding someone else to help with the schooling of the horse, for the horse's sake?

I have never yet seen a horse ridden in draw reins that looks correct, soft and swinging to me no matter what anyone says. And then there's even more issues when the draw reins come off, again, which was demonstrated clearly by Klaus at the National Convention. I actually thought the horse had a lameness/stiffness issue until we were told it was schooled in draw reins, so tight was its back and so long it took to relax and seek the contact.

If a horse is trained correctly from day 1 and certain principles are adhered to, then draw reins are never necessary. Sorry to say it is often incorrectly trained horses that "need" them, and that is soley the fault of the rider.
 
My guess is they are a way of curing a sympton and not the cause which was poor early training, ie pulling on both reins and little or no release when getting a try... so he learns to lean and not give ...
 
Ignition said:
But my point is that you're rather contradicting yourself by saying that what Klaus B said (in essence, that draw reins should never be used) is correct, and then later on saying 'I think draw reins can be used sometimes'. Do you see how I mean? Not trying to cause an argument, it just leaped out at me.
Click to expand...

And I'm not allowed to think slightly differently to KB? I agree with him totally in one respect - they aren't for dressage.
However, I personally think there's a big difference between using them for control/safety, and using them for dressage schooling to try to improve the horse's way of going. Maybe I didn't make that distinction quite clear enough.
Judging by the answers on this thread, I'm not alone. ;) ;)
HenryHorn puts it perfectly, saying that
"In the right hands they are fine, the problem is every Tom Dick and Harry uses them mostly incorrectly."
I wish I had an endless supply of 20 year old farm boy apprentices to sit on the nutty ones too... failing which, I'll just have to remain a hypocrite. Happy?
 
I would personally much prefer to use drawreins than market harboroughs, At least draw reins can be put out of action by dropping them on the horses neck... MH's can't!

Any training method will have it's supporters and it's haters, and people will always be there to abuse any method. Drawreins are no different. With correct usage, they have their purpose (and to anyone who says they create continuous restriction, that is them not being used correctly ;) ) I hack my horse out in them occasionally, but with very very little contact on the drawrein. I don't see how they are any different to a martingale in that purpose, except you can choose how much action they have.
 
Agreed, I think a market harborough is even more inescapable.
I think that even used judiciously though, a draw rein has a different effect to a martingale. A martingale just prevents the head from going up, whereas a draw rein has a distinct downwards-and-inwards-towards-chest leverage action, and makes the rider's hand aids far far stronger...
 
Yes but if used with them loosely, they have the same effect on the mouth when a horse throughs its head up, and then an instant release when the head returns back to normal. If you have any sort of contact on the drawrein when the horse is working normally, yes it is a very different action :) but for that "moment" with loose DR's it's very similar.
 
Yogi B and Tina Cook use them in the new RoR Racing to Riding DVD; there is a whole chapter on them.

I've never had a horse I've needed to use them on and have never seen them used correctly so I don't have an informed opinion of them but can see how, in the right hands, they may be useful.

I did however think that the the draw rein section was incorrectly placed in the DVD. It comes straight after the "getting on, walk, trot and canter on both reins" bit and BEFORE "Basic Schooling Exercises". Probably just me but I would have thought more emphasis on schooling exercises with "problem fixing" more towards the end rather than draw reins on and hey presto a horse in a pretty shape! Lets face it, few of us ride like Tina C.
 
I'm training at a show jumping yard (not in the UK, but top ranking riders for their country) and the majority of them do everything in draw reins - including jumping pretty decent sized fences (1.40/1.60m etc).

Personally I don't like it, but horses all jump amazingly with them (no signs of discomfort) and it's just the way that they train them.

As someone said before, its horses for courses at the end of the day.
 
I think it really depends on the rider. Draw reins can be helpful in the right hands and with a difficult horse. Generally I don't like draw reins as I have seen bad riders use them with disastrous effects that I have had to spends months correcting.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top