Draw reins

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Again NO! and I hate the things don't use them!!!!

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They do have their uses on the flat, when used correctly and sympathetically. However I totally know what you mean, you see too many horses who learn to tuck their head in without ever engaging their quarters through over use of draw reins.
 
Totally agree, so many people don't know how to use gadgets like this correctly and end up riding in them all the time forcing their horse into a false outline. It something that really bugs me.
 
just to put the cat amongst the pigeons....yes you CAN jump in them and lots of professionals will...but whether I would actually do this or recommend that anyone does is a TOTALLY different matter!
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I do ride one of my horses in draw reins (on tha flat) but i have reasons for doing this but i do feel that you need to know what you are doing with them- as with most gadgets they have their uses but can be very easily abused....
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just to put the cat amongst the pigeons....yes you CAN jump in them and lots of professionals will...but whether I would actually do this or recommend that anyone does is a TOTALLY different matter!
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I do ride one of my horses in draw reins (on tha flat) but i have reasons for doing this but i do feel that you need to know what you are doing with them- as with most gadgets they have their uses but can be very easily abused....
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Just because a professional rider does it doesnt man to say it is right!
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Far too often draw reins are used as a short cut, when the horse just needs time and training to get stronger so it can carry itself better. All draw reins do is pull the front end in, they dont engage the hocks. Its the rider that does that!

You are right, gadgets are easily abused and you have to know what you are doing with them. I disagree that you can jump in them though, you are wrong there. Apart from the risk of the legs getting caught in them the muscles used when a horse jumps would be totally restricted by draw reins. And the horse needs its head at a certain height to actually be able to see the jump! In practice the horse could jump in them but why people think that jumping in draw reins is training the horse to jump better is beyond me, because if they knew HOW the horse jumped they would know that draw reins are detrimental to the horses physical jumping process. So no, you shouldnt jump in them.
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thats exactly what i meant teddyt- you just explained it better than me!
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you CAN jump in them but personally i would never do it because of what TT says! lots of pros still do it though....
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Draw reins are usless unless the horses is going forwards from behind properly.. which is usually why the horse is not in self carridge int he first place..

You can jump in them if you are a competent rider... Would I recommend it.. WOULD I BUGGERY!

Lou x
 
Not saying it is right but Robert Smith advocates them in his book on training young showjumpers and I have seen a lot of producers use them for jumping. I have done to at the request of a superior, they must have deemed me capable :-)
 
I can see why people do use them for jumping. If I ever used them it would be as a form of control for something the horse was likely to do on the approach/landing and most likely wouldn't have a strong hold on the draw reins over a fence - I have never jumped in draw reins btw!

I used to warm up in them to give myself a modicom of control from napping/rearing behaviour and have jumped in a market harborough with good results - ie I didn't fall off
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If they need to be used as a method of control in situations like this, where horses need to get used to things without throwing a wobbler, then I think they are useful, I'd rather that than some loony horse hooning around
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You CAN use them for jumping, whether you should is a completely different matter
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I know a 4* eventer who jumps their horses in JUST draw reins, no normal reins on aswell...
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I think perhaps Rupert Campbell-Black did and had a fall? And thats just Jilly Cooper making a point about them.

Those who do I think are nuts. frankly how is a horse to use its self at all over the fence? I think useful if you are in full knowledge of what you are doing and in the long-and-low carriage but otherwise wouldnt touch them. a bungee rein may be another matter?

You want a horse to make a "shape" over a fence? V poles, high cross poles and a technical grid should aid it to bascule if thats what you are wanting?
 
I used to VERY OCCASIONALLY jump in draw reins. Never over anything sizeable and only when used with a running martingale as you can put the reins through so that they don't drop down between their legs. Also had to be very ready to release them if you felt the horse stretch more than you were expecting through the air.
More normally if I was using the old fashioned draw reins that didn't clip on/off the girth, they would be knotted short enough that I didn't have to worry about them and pushed up behind the horses ears so that I could jump without taking them off after warming up, but still be there if needed.
 
if you want to see people jumping in draw reins just pop down to your local bsja show an even at beitish novice you will see them being used so plenty do not that im suggesting they should at all!!!!
 
friend used to on her newcomers/fox mare in the warm up, not to improve her jump more to stop her leaping across the arena in the direction of the jump (and they used to reduce the number of bucks afterwards) animo mare with attitude
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You can jump in them if you are a capable rider but you have to be very careful... not sure I would, but I know that riders like Nick Skelton use them, and jump in them. In my opinion they are overused by a lot of showjumpers. My horse is schooled on the flat well enough not to need them, so not sure why so many of them feel the need to use them all the time. Maybe they should just go for dressage lessons instead! They can help with control on a young horse, and are an ok bit of equipment as long as used correctly and not overused... I would not agree with certain professionals that think a young horse should be ridden in draw reins all the time.
 
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, you see too many horses who learn to tuck their head in without ever engaging their quarters through over use of draw reins.

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This completely describes my old horse- as a (not very well bred
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) ISH he didn't really have naturally flashy, Warmbloody paces, but when young was schooled in draw reins all the time= when i got him (at 13!!) his nose could practically touch his chest, and the front legs had a lot of action, but the back legs just shuffled along behind.
 
i've only once ever seen someone jump in them. this was a former instructor of mine (very good, had ridden to Grade A etc) on a v experienced horse.
he brought it into a 2'6" upright as a warm-up in draw reins, and they both ended up on the floor...
quick lesson.
 
Yes you can jump in them, I know someone who jumps (as well as schools and hacks) in them and I think I have only ever seen her ride her horse once or twice without them.
Personally I would never jump in them.
 
There's a pro event rider who jumps all his in them. We bought a horse off him and were totally shocked when we took the horse for him to xc school the following week and he jumped round a novice height track in draw reins.

Explains a lot of the horse's issues.
 
I have seen Geoff Billington use them with a young horse in a demonstration - although I do not think he jumpped in them.

But rather than jumping in with the draw reins why not get yourself a copy of Enlightened Equitation and have a read of that first, sort out your flat work and then I doubt you would then even consider using them for jumping.

But like any took or gadget it is also very much down to the person using them as to what effect they have (good or bad).
 
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