Following on from Yogi, dressage hacking etc . . .a question.

On the buckle, totally chilled horse and rider, often :D. Never thought we'd see the day, given what she used to be like :rolleyes::cool:

Country lanes. Open fields. School (before, during and after).

D1 and Grey Mare are now at the stage where she feels comfortable with just holding the buckle :D. GM is not yet filling the space, but she's getting there :D
 
quite often, especially out hacking, mainly because I am a lazy so & so & some times can't be bothered to hold the reins, esp if we are just pottering about ( & i am on the phone or texting... he has to look out for him self!)

was most impressed with my mum's horse recently, took him on a funride & he was so chilled we did almost all of it on the buckle end, reins like washing lines (more to highlight he is a totally relaxed angel than for any other reason)

Anky won't really go forwards in a hack canter unless he is on the bridle, but will trot along in a lob type trot with no contact
 
Billy starts on a light contact when schooling otherwise he is too busy spooking, then loose contact then pick up and work and stretch out after each piece of work. I let out the rein a bit on the way home but not all the way to the buckle as he has a tendency to lose concentration (he is only 5)

My old mare though is hacked, always on a buckle end. She has arthritis in her neck anyway so I don't want her to take a contact but can ride her safely just by seat and leg.
 
I ride on the buckle lots out hacking in walk, trot and canter. I got commented on today as I was hacking back from doing some fast work (at home) with no hands on the reins, they were just sat on my dead sheep pad in front of the saddle (she has pony reins and is 16.3 so they sit there quite happily) no stirups and texting! Not the safest I guess but she is pretty trustworthy!

I think its nice to hack out on the buckle as a relaxing time for them, especially as Lilly doesnt really want to go outside in the field now so its the only real time she gets to be free and relax
 
Used to hack my mare out on the buckle all of the time and I would often do schooling sessions in the arena in trot and canter at the end of the buckle to get the horse to listen to my legs and seat when changing direction and during transitions. Havent got that far with the youngster yet, but i can do downward transitions using only my seat with her.
 
Ooops, I often get on and wander round the school without holding any reins while I put my gloves on, pull my T shirt down etc....

Do all walk/trot/canter on the buckle to start with after episodes of tying up. Have gone up the gallops on the buckle too.

Also always drop reins to the buckle when I finish a jumping round, and my mare knows that means its job done, and she comes back to walk. She can be very strong with fences, so it means I don't have to pull her mouth about.
 
I guess I am in the minority here, No.He has 22/23 hours to slob along all he likes each day. I walk out for about ten minutes on a loose contact but it is still a contact ,and gradualy ask for a bit more. I give him stretches and on a long hack ,may well get off and walk with him,but on the buckle No. My view is that as a herd animal ,he is happier and more confident knowing I am still in charge making the decisions for him.Possibly because I mostly exercise by hacking,I feel I need that bit of control available instantly.Doesnt really matter in a school, the worst that can happen is you fall off:D
 
yep , no contact and i mean non at all if its not needed - i walk, trot , canter and gallop like this - jump ditches logs , only time i pick up contact is if i meet dog walkers who don't bother to put their dogs on leads, or if i meet another horse (:
 
My old instructor used to make me do schooling excercises on the buckle end. It's great because it really makes you use your legs and your body instead of your hands. I always go along for a bit on hacks on buckle end as my boys are fairly sensible but I wouldn't at canter because that would be asking for trouble!
 
I probably shouldnt admit this but...

I have been known to drop my reins and stick my arms out airoplane style whilst cantering along a grass track out hacking!

I often used to ride with no reins in the school tie them in a knot & steering just with legs walk, trot and canter. Dont really do it now as I am staff at a riding school and dont want kids copying me!
 
Yea I do it all the time, to and from arena, out hacking, all paces. When I warm up at shows I start by a walk and trot around the warm up area on the buckle.
Not sure why to be honest, cause I can?
 
I warm up the TB mare by cantering on a loose-ish rein and standing in the stirrups. This helps her to loosen her back up and takes a bit of fizz out before we can then start the trot work. As for hacking on long rein - impossible with her, but absolutely compulsory with the gelding!

I too was at the Yogi lecture and was pleased to hear him emphasise this aspect of it - too many people go straight for the outline and you can see the tension building up. I thought it was a great lecture all round actually :)
 
mini-eventer said:
I often used to ride with no reins in the school tie them in a knot & steering just with legs walk, trot and canter. Dont really do it now as I am staff at a riding school and dont want kids copying me!
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You laugh . . .I took a notion to get on my old event horse one day when he was turned out in the indoor arena - just a rug on, no headcollar, and, I'll confess, no helmet for me - and started cantering around. As I went by the door I thought I saw something but shrugged it off and went 'round again . . . only to realise one of my students was standing in the doorway! :eek: The poor kid looked like she was going to cry. :D Oops.
 
Yep all the time :D mainly because I'm to lazy to hold the reins properly on a hack. Normaly have slightly shorter reins on the road but still no contact unless he tries to prat about then as soon as we are off road I put them on the front of my saddle or saddle cloth :o. Today we were walking through all the puddles with reins on saddle when he decided to jump one from walk and then trot off, I was laughing so hard I forgot to pick my reins back up and he is only walking at the moment (trying to reduce fittness).

It has helped him learn to stretch as before he wouldnt put his head down at all but hacking on the buckle combined with schooling has helped him to lower his head, apart from when the tree looks to yummy to resist :rolleyes:;).
 
TarrSteps said:
Out of curiosity, how often so "you" out there in internet land ride on a completely surrendered rein? I don't mean active stretching, or just with the horse's nose poked out but still on a contact, I mean on the buckle with a totally relaxed arm, with the horse relaxed and filling out the rein. And when and where do you do this? Does anyone walk on a LOOSE rein to start? Do you ever trot or canter on a completely surrendered rein, even if just to see if you can?

(I do meet people who THINK they are on a loose rein but aren't and I was interested to see this crop up at the Yogi demo, where he told a couple of people to ride "on the buckle" then had to chivvy them into actually doing what he'd asked.)

If not, if you are always "holding" the horse's head, what is the reasoning?

I am just genuinely interested in the thinking behind what people do.
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A lot of the time, when hacking and when warming up / cooling down. However, I am riding 4 x four yr olds at the moment, a 3 yr old and a very frisky 6 yr old too. I give them a long rein when I feel they are not going to take advantage. It all depends on the circumstances. All my horses go out in the field every day, hack and are treated as "horses" first and foremost.
 
often start a session in school on buckle unless she is particularly perky and therefore to do so would be compromising my safety in which case would still be loose but not properly on buckle.

I often also finish a session on the buckle in trot then walk. Find it useful when on the buckle to check my weight/balance/aids are correct by asking for serpentines etc without the use of the rein aids. can really be quite an eye opener ;) Canter will do extended 'give and retakes' of the rein when properly giving the rein for up to half a 20m circle. It allows me to check she is off the forehand and also helps her to naturally balance and sit back on her hocks I have found, instructor comments she actually 'sits' and 'rounds' more when I actually give the rein so we use it as a good tool to evaluate the quality of the canter.

On hack I will often be on a nearly loose rein but not quite properly on buckle as I don't think it is safe when on the roads. Will be properly stretched but if i need to I can intervene quickly.
 
Mini-eventer, here's a little secret . . . mad people never truly grow out of it. :) Just guessin', but I suspect I was older than you are now. :) Luckily teaching was only a tiny part of my remit at that place. But when I ran a riding school/show barn is was my boss - a high level judge, top trainer and old person - who was the worst for insane "schooling" episodes. We were jumping a horse one day, had got all excited andcranked all the jumps up, suddenly her husband slammed open the door to the school and roared, "What ARE you doing?!?!? You are both old enough to know BETTER!" :D She got me hurt probably more than anyone else I've ever worked for and that's saying something.
 
I do it all the time and out hacking I hardly ever take a contact. I have been known to put a neck string on her out hacking and see if I could go the entire hack without picking up the reins although obviously for hacking the bridle does have to stay on!
In the school I w/t/c without reins and often bridleless - I think it improves your communication with your horse through your legs and weight aids and helps your balance. My old yard was very relaxed and when I said I wanted to enter the clear round jumping without a bridle on they didn't bat an eyelid!
(We do have days when we do contact as well though;))
 
I do the first 5-10mins on a completely surrendered rein this involves walk, trot, canter and a bit of lateral work. I then gradually sneak my reins up without horse noticing to stop him resisting contact.

When my instructor is feeling mean :p she takes my reins off the bridle at the beginning of the lesson to make sure I don't rely on them too much for control and steering.
 
Generally I will warm up with a completely surrendered rein and also have breaks during a schooling session on the buckle-end. My trainer in Spain insists on it - all his horses are taught that if they are on the buckle-end, it's a chance to relax and unwind physically and mentally. I tend to hack for long periods on the buckle-end too, unless I'm on roads or the horse is having a spooky day.

My new half-loan horse in HK is a bit of a different case as he's very green and gets worried if he doesn't have clear commands from the rider so it's too risky to ride him on the buckle end but hopefully he'll learn to relax and grow some confidence. He does stretch nicely into a long contact once he's warmed-up so I tend to use that as a break instead.
 
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