Follow-on from riding is Side Reins post - Hacking in a Harbridge?

0ldmare

0ldmare

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A friend of mine has been advised by her instructor to hack out in a Harbridge. Its done up fairly short and comes into play even if on a very slight lift of the head. I feel a bit uncomfortable about it, just simply because of what might happen if the horse freaked out for some reason. Am I being just old fashioned about it?
 
Personally I wouldn't use either side reins or a harbridge for hacking out in as I think hacking should be fun and relaxation time for the horses. And yes, if they freak out, you've got an additional problem to contend with. I suppose if you really want to use a harbridge, make sure its a leather one so it can snap if necessary.
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I do not like Harbridges because they hang down and there is potential for the horse to stand on them as the head comes down such as if they decide to have a sneaky snack of grass.

I used to hack my horse out in a market harborough as it had a martingale type band around the neck so horse could not stand on it.

Also I would have thought it would be more sensible to start with it loose and tighten it gradually.

Unless the horse has a very high head carriage and is forward going, I found these devices can tend to put a horse on the forehand.

I am sure the instructor knows more about the horse and rider than I do and I am generalising.
 
I don't think it's old fashioned to think that riding out in a harbrdge could be dangerous, it's more a point of fact. I have to wonder why the instructor feels the horse needs this piece of equipment on for hacking of all things, do it have some sort of behavioural problem that it can't keep it's head below the vertical on a hack or does she just think it'll look cool?!

More to the point is the instructor qualified and understands how the harbridge works and what might happen if the horse spooked or tried to bolt.

Quite disgusted to be honest, I hope the horse doesn't get hurt in the process of this madness.
 
Glad I'm not alone in thinking this is a bit unwise. I hadnt thought about him standing on it if he put his head down, but as you say given that its leather it would break fairly easilly

Forget-me-not, when I said 'freak out' what I meant was get a fright and p*ss off with her (which is not unknown). Because his head is pretty strapped down I thought he might panic
 
Hi Silverspring et al,
I thoroughly agree with you, I am a little disgusted to find an 'instructor' giving this kind of advice.
Firstly, why?
What is missing from the crucial basics of good schooling that means resorting to gadgets?
Are the hands in these gadgets (or instructing use of) experienced enough to handle a situation that calls for their use?

Many horses forced into gadgets become sour and resent work - not a pretty picture. It can encourage an outline to some extent - but what is the use if this is not correctly adapted for when the rider is either onboard (if it's used in ground work) or what happens when the 'gadget' whatever that maybe is taken from the rider.

I have witnessed people unable to ride their horse without 'draw reins' and other such contraptions....

Short cuts to false outlines get you nowhere.

If there is a problem I assess the horse, his training, his rider's ability and exactly what they are trying to achieve.
The biggest problem of all is a rider who thinks they know what they are doing, but it becomes clear during observation that they do not.
More often than not the horse is blamed for the lack of impulsion, or lack of good carriage - when in actual fact it is the rider.

We also need to consider with our horses just how often we train them (again and what level we are). Afterall - the self carriage on our competition horses is from short regular sessions - not being dragged in from the field and expected to do it all - and if they don't shoving a gadget on them!

Sorry, mini soapbox rant, do apologise!
 
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