Drawreins advice

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Luckylocalian

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Hello all. Wondering what your opinions of draw reins are. What are they actually supposed to do/achieve when you ride in them. When would you advocate using them? Any tips for good/bad use of draw reins and the correct way to use them. Would you recommend them or not? Thanks!
 
Personally I hate them. I think they build up the shoulder and the wrong muscles in the neck as horses tend to bend their necks in the wrong place. I'm sure they have their uses, but I can't stand them and think they do more harm than good.

They don't encourage the horse to use his hind quarters and horses tend to lean on you if they've been schooled in DR - that's what I've found, anyway.
 
Best advise I can give is..................Don't use them!!!!
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Interestingly I used to use them on Amy ocassionaly.

But having a horse now that seems to have been ridden constantly in them prior to my having him they are something I would think very carefully about useing again. They have really spoilt his movement when ridden, and it's taking some work to encourage him to lengthen his frame again.

The more I learn the more I think that, like many gadgets, they probably should be left in the box. If you 'need' them you're not riding the horse properly. And if you don't know how to use them, you shouldn't attempt to.
 
they can be very useful, but if used in the wrong hands can do a great deal of damage, i find most people that use them tend to use them to bring the horses head in, this does nothing. think of there use a bit like a curb rein, normally the only time the rein comes into play is as an aid of support.

i hate to see horses heads drawn in and the draw reins as tight as they can be. used in this way over time they are the cause of resistance leaning and muscels in all the wrong places.
 
Do not use them, learn to achieve an outline in the correct way ,learn how to overcome resistance in the horse,learn how to sit correctly and influence the horse to carry itself in a more atheletic and graceful way.
BUT DON'T RESORT TO DRAWREINS
 
See I have always thought that they were "evil" and did more damage than good but I have recently started flatwork lessons with an extremely successful and well respected dressage rider and he has asked (read "told") me that I ride in them continually for four weeks to (amongst other things) teach my big horse to respect me more and listen to my aids...... what are your thoughts??
 
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.. he has asked (read "told") me that I ride in them continually for four weeks to (amongst other things) teach my big horse to respect me more and listen to my aids...... what are your thoughts??

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Whoa I really hope you don't follow his advice!
I agree in the right hands they can be useful and I generally use them around twice a year, when horse being deliberately difficult.

Imagine you are made to do sit ups, you might manage a few if you are not used to it, but if I suddenly made you do 1,000 per day you'd be pretty sore after a few days. This is exactly what draw reins do, they force an 'outline' easily and therefore use unusual muscles for the horse.

Using for more than 10 mins initially is pure cruelty.

Prolonged use in draw reins won't help anything, you horse will have an odd shape and won't develop correct muscles.
 
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.. he has asked (read "told") me that I ride in them continually for four weeks to (amongst other things) teach my big horse to respect me more and listen to my aids...... what are your thoughts??

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Whoa I really hope you don't follow his advice!
I agree in the right hands they can be useful and I generally use them around twice a year, when horse being deliberately difficult.

Imagine you are made to do sit ups, you might manage a few if you are not used to it, but if I suddenly made you do 1,000 per day you'd be pretty sore after a few days. This is exactly what draw reins do, they force an 'outline' easily and therefore use unusual muscles for the horse.

Using for more than 10 mins initially is pure cruelty.

Prolonged use in draw reins won't help anything, you horse will have an odd shape and won't develop correct muscles.

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Completely agree with this! Don't do it! When a horse is not used to working in an outline the muscles don't get used, so if you force them, not only will you not help your own riding skills, you'll make your horse sore and develop the wrong muscles usually giving the horse the look of it's neck being kinked. Surely a better way of teaching your horse to respect you would be to earn it through patient positive reinforcement and schooling, rather than force the horse to obey?
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For fear of setting hte cat among the pigeons - I use draw reins. I think they are invaluable for teaching a horse that it can flex downwards without falling over. I found that they emmulate a pro-rider's hands by flowing through the bit with each nod of the head. It is very important that you mark them though so that you are constantly aware of how tight they are - they should be slack when the horse relaxes down onto the bit. They are only an evil if they remain tight when the horse has softened and done what you want. I used them during the establishing of the basics with my youngster - just getting her head round the idea that pokeynosed was not the only way of doing things. Also gives you a helping hand if you are needing to really ride them into the contact. Now I don't need them at all as she is established and softens without the need for any encouragement.

In my view they are useful if used correctly.
 
Personally i do not like them, as someone else stated, they do not get the horse working through the back, its more of holding the head in and nothing else matters, i would prefer to do lunge work in side reins, depends on what personally you are trying to achieve. <font color="pink"> </font> <font color="black"> </font>
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I put my mare in them from time to time. My instructor- rides Grand prix does also,

Also all the sj yards ive worked in use them occasionally.

I would say it all comes down to personal preferance and backed up with schooling i would say
 
I agree honest - please don't shoot! I just have found my boy a right handful the fitter he gets and quite a few people have said he is a spoilt teenager and needs to learn some respect and become more manageable before he becomes dangerous so I found the money and went to a highly regarded not to mention very expensive instructor who has told me to ride in draw reins and if I don't do as I am told then where do I go from here? I only want to do what is right by my handsome horse tho so feel stuck between a rock and a hard place.....!
 
I would go with your trainers advice, i am sure he has got a vast experience of many types of horse, i use draw reins occasionally, but never in a cruel way.
 
I'd say use them for now - they'll prevent your horse from using his strength against you if he is being bloshy. And if you are careful that they become slack when he is good and relaxed then where is the harm? You certainly won't be clamping his head to his chest and it is a very clear positive reward when he does what you want. I would however wait until your next lesson before using them - You'll want your instructor on hand to show you how to use them correctly.
 
i used draw reins occasionally from the advice of 2 instructors and always in a very careful way-never that they were too tight opr just used to pull the neck in...and they were very useful.
However my new horse had been ridden in them in ireland "basically to make him look pretty when he was sold" and he does lean in canter right down...but is getting better.
 
Dont like them and wont use them but for the benefit, i'll give my views.

Draw reins will never teach a horse to work correctly unless you are already a very good rider who's quick at ensuring the horse is engaged over his back and using his hind end correctly. If indeed this is the case, then one would question the need for them in the first place with exception to very severe remedial cases.

Please understand that whats referred to as an outline - more particularly the positioning of the head is the very last thing that falls into place from correct riding. The hind end being the first thing that frequently needs attention.

What draw reins will do is drag the head downwards and give the impression that the horse is working. They can aid keeping the attention of a horse that spooks due to visually fixating on things as they also limit the horses' visual field (so if you have a horse that spooks at things he sees when being ridden, draw reins can help to prevent him actually seeing them). This of course depends on how tight you ride them, but they can limit the field of vision to the feet and the area directly infront of the feet.

In addition to that, there are long term problems to consider and i should stress here that these are problems which usually cant be undone. That is to say, once the damage is there, its never ever going away.

Firstly, the walk is usually the first gait to become affected as this is the easiest to screw up. Draw reined horses frequently develop a very ambling walk gait. For a walk to remain four time and nice and supple and flowing, the head-neck axis has to be allowed to sink with every step. This creates a pull along the spine and in turn, releases the long back muscle. Horses that are restrained by either hand or artificial aid have to keep that long back muscle tense in order to carry the rider - thus the walk doesnt flow correctly and you get the ambling walk gait.


The trot is often another one that becomes affected - more so if the horse is worked quite deep in draw reins as the muscle that attaches the base of the skull to the foreleg shortens over time. This creates a strange frontleg action. The problem here is that the hind leg isnt affected so the trot action becomes slightly disunited looking. This is something you see a LOT in GP dressage horses.

Lastly would be the canter, frequently in draw reined horses this becomes 4 time and choppy although the canter is much easier to "fix" again than the walk - which is usually lost for good.

Finally a couple of quotes taken from Dr Heushmann:-

"Some of its (draw rein riding) consequences are: bursitis of the poll, ossifications of the poll, painful processes in the back and prolonged lameness, as well as a disturbance of the basic gaits. The consequences of this crude exertion of force and tense backward orientated riding are often resistance and unwillingness of the horse which may ultimately go as far as rearing.

Draw reins are the sell out of the equestrian art! This rein diverts the influence of the bit onto sides of the lower jaw, exerting backward-influence on the horse. It is incomprehensible to me how it can be possible to "tolerate" such an instrument and even allow it at horse show events. Many orthopedic problems such as lameness coming from the hind-quarters, and also disobedience are the result of this stressful form of backward-orientated riding. A large number of horses that end up requiring veterinary treatment for such symptoms are not actually ill - they just have to be ridden in another way!"

In another article he goes on to reply to a rider who asks why she struggles to teach draw reined horses to piaffe:-

"It takes about two years for the muscular arch from the poll via the upper neck with a stable connection to the withers. the back muscles and the croup muscles into the long ischiadic muscles, to be developed and stabilised. Horses that have been restricted with draw reins are never capable of developing this dynamic, powerful and swinging arch. These horses only work with clamped back muscles. This is why they recede the neck, which is usually broken infront of the withers, tense up the long back muscle and raise their hind legs by means of the also tensed croup and ischiadric muscles. Bringing the haunches under them is impossible. A draw reined horse never has the chance to work correctly via and with the back to develop a strong, correctly muscled upper neck and enough thrust to make it strong enough later to bring under the haunches.

This is why it is not any wonder that at Grand Prix level you rarely find a horse with honest and correct haunches."

Many people argue that they are fine in experienced hands. In reality, the people who are experienced enough to be using them are generally those that dont need them except, as i mentioned before, in very extreme cases. The question is whether you think you are that good or not. If so, the next one would be whether you consider them ethical or not.

As for your trainer recommending them therefore they must be good. Look at the arguments over rollkur. Many GP dressage riders use this but does that make it correct? A good trainer would not force you to use anything you are unsure of or uncomfortable with and I'd be questioning why on earth he was telling someone who's unsure of their use to ride with them.

Finally, id encourage you to read this:-

http://www.sustainabledressage.com/tack/gadgets.php#drawreins

as Theresa explains beautifully how utterly damaging they can be both physically and psychologically
 
I think maybe people are jumping to conclusions a little here -

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"Imagine you are made to do sit ups, you might manage a few if you are not used to it, but if I suddenly made you do 1,000 per day you'd be pretty sore after a few days. This is exactly what draw reins do, they force an 'outline' easily and therefore use unusual muscles for the horse.

Using for more than 10 mins initially is pure cruelty. "

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and

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"Don't do it! When a horse is not used to working in an outline the muscles don't get used, so if you force them, not only will you not help your own riding skills, you'll make your horse sore and develop the wrong muscles usually giving the horse the look of it's neck being kinked."

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We don't know that her horse doesn't already work in an outline, do we?

I personally don't use them on my horse as any extra pressure on his mouth and he'd just stop.

But with several other horses I've ridden I'd use them as they all knew how to carry themselves, all had muscles in the right place but would still have days where they weren't concentrating and the draw reins helped just remind them where their head should be.

I think if your horse is carrying himself reasonably well anyway (and I assume he is pretty well schooled or you would be wasting your money paying such an expensive instructor otherwise) and you used them under his supervision to start with so you knew you were using them correctly, I don't see a problem.
 
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We don't know that her horse doesn't already work in an outline, do we?

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But if he had a nice outline, you probably wouldn't be using them at all.

Unless the transitions are causing a problem, but them most head raising activities caused by half halting on downward transitions are caused by single jointed bits, and most head raising activities on the upward transition are caused by the rider.

Sticking draw reins on fix be a quick band aid, but doesn't solve it! (Although I did use them the other day so my neddy twigged leg on and ask for a bigger stride did not mean stick your head up and run! However I only used them briefly as thought it was unfair on his muscles to do more)
 
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