Draw Reins......

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MizElz

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my horse has real problems balancing herself in canter; her trot has improved heaploads, but in canter, she still wants to naturally go with her head high and her back hollow. in the past, i have tried working her in draw reins, and she has resisted - only in canter - to the point of coming to a dead halt and trying to rear. i think i have only just realised now how much it must have been hurting her, for since we switched to dressage, i have had to do so much more suppling work with her, it is amazing she ever managed to jump as she did!

now she has improved so much in trot, i felt i could try her in the draw reins in canter once more, to see if she could now begin to grasp the outline needed. she was far happier, more relaxed, and i had her going forwards, long and low like never before.

is it a bad thing to be working her in the draw reins? im not forcing her, but i just felt i wasnt able to maintain the canter outline alone. has anybody else resorted to this?
 
Personally I hate draw reins with a passion. I think they encourage the horse to lean on your hands and prevent them from relaxing their neck and stretching down. Just my opinion, though - I know plenty of people that use them....
 
this is exactly how i felt about them, until i realised the difference between draw reins and a bungee. the latter is the one they really lean on, and i feel that bungees simply force the head down, they dont help them to use themselves at all. all i know is that when i rode elz in the draw reins yesterday, her canter felt so totally different - she really was using her hind legs, something she never normally does - and her mouth was light!
 
I had a great lesson a couple of weeks ago with a showjumping dressage judge. I explained that our dressage tests all said that he needed to become more rounded, supple and to accpet the bit more (some just said he pokes his nose out
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) and that although we were making progress is wasn't great. We spent a lot of time working on the quality of walk and trot and on transitions from one to the other and then went on from transitions from trot to canter and back. She said that the rounding would come from the back end rather than the front - I.e. I need to get him to use his quarters more - we have been practising a lot and there has been an enormous improvement with his generall paces and his nose has started to come down and in more.

All this is to say that I have never been a a fan of using drawreins to bring their head in and down and this lesson and our progress since has confirmed this. You might like to consider whether you both need to just practise and school a lot more to get the balance in canter, although this only something you and your instructor will truly know
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hmmm....i do kind of agree with you, i would much rather be able to get her working correctly without any 'training aids', but the other thing is that, when we had the reins on, i was for the first time able to actually sit up and concentrate on my own position, rather than be thrown forward by fighting with ellie! its soooooo tricky, my instructor has suggested using draw reins (tho i havent in any lessons so far), and also side reins on the lunge. but i am SERIOUSLY not happy about lunging ellie as she once came down whilst i was lunging her, and i dont want to risk that again!
 
When I use draw reins instead of attaching them between the legs to the girth I attach them to either side of my dressage girth on the buckles. They act more like side reins and I find my horse works really well with them like that and they can go longer and lower rather than the head being pulled down and in.
 
Draw reins don't bother me in the slightest; I've used them a couple of times in the deep and distant past and they have certainly helped the horse see the light a bit quicker.

I think everything has a place, but most importantly I think that so long as the rider is competent and uses these gadgets as an aid to help them achieve something, whether it be to help the horse OR the rider, well then I see nothing wrong with using them.

They aren't something that is part of my riding anymore but I don't have a view either way on others using whatever helps.
 
I had a horse that was short in the neck and hollowed in the back. He would fight and fight in order to go the way he wanted and draw reins knocked this battle on the head. He would give up fighting and then would have them taken off and work properly. He was a stubborn sod and strong in the neck. Draw reins evened this battle up!
They are not a long term fix but they really can help make a horse see the light. I have absolutely no problem with them when used correctly.
 
I would start lunging with a perssoa (sp?) training aid in canter it really helps them find their balance on their own.

As for draw reins i think they are a great device if used correctly, the idea is to show them the light and use your true rein not work off the draw reins but to help them understand what your asking, ie, you could fiddle with them all day long whilst they have their heads in the air but if you use the draw rein to show them what your asking and put it down and keep your hand quiet, they'l soon realise its nicer to work with my head low than to have you swinging off my mouth.
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I echo Tia - have to admit to using them today on Rocks for the first time, and after 10minutes of using them I could drop them and have him working lovely and light without them. I much prefer that to an hour of fighting!
 
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