Grass reins?! Or kept on head collar and lead rein?

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Kirwil

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The new pony is going really well and my brother is progressing much faster than we anticipated. He is however a total piglet and as soon as his feet touch grass he decides its snack time. This morning this sent my brother into a lovely somersault down his neck, neither were particularly bothered by this but its something I want to stop.

In a head collar and lead rein his manners are very good, but without someone by his head he's quite cheeky. He kept eating when I rode him too and I really didn't want to pull on his mouth and tried to keep urging him on with my legs but that wasn't effective until I got my sister to encourage his head up using the nose band. :( Should I try grass reins? :confused: I've always thought of them as quite cruel and never ridden a pony in them before. But I've also never ridden a pony that keen to eat either, usually the opposite when faced with an open field! His current bit is a single jointed d-ring snaffle which I'd imagine would hurt a lot if he ducked his head down and the grass rein kicked in. Which is the point, but still don't want to bully him.

Sorry for the waffle... grass reins, good or evil?
 
Grass reins all the way, falling off a grazing horse is not nice and does nothing for a boys street cred!
 
100% Grass rein - all our school ponies had them on. Also teach your brother that pulling one rein works better than two to get greedy pony heads up again. One rein unbalances the bit in the mouth while two reins can be leant on.
 
Grass reins. We got some a few weeks ago, I thought they were cruel but could not risk the safety of my daughter. I have put them On very loosly but he can get all the way down, he was cross for about 5 mins and then just a accepted that they were there to stay
 
Daisy rein to the headpiece is the traditional solution. At riding schools I have seen a bungee used for the same effect, or bailer twine going from saddle d through the bit, over the head, through the bit again and to the opposite d ring. I have also seen a drop/flash/grackle noseband be very effective at stopping a pony having unscheduled snacks.... a crack on the bum with a whip tends to help break the habit too.
 
I am not ashamed to say I used grass reins on a heavy cob I used to ride! He was in the terrible habit of snacking on a ride when we got him and it was a nightmare getting his head up again, this played up my shoulder injury. So at the grand old age of 39 :rolleyes: I put some grass reins on for a couple of months. This got him out of the habit and having taken them off after a couple of months, just made sure I never allowed him to graze again and get back into the bad habit!

They were also very useful when my kids learned to ride, pony would take the p*** when she realised she had a weaker rider on her but the grass reins did the trick again.
 
Daisy rein - I ride my New Forest in one as she is a pig and given the chance will haul me around to snack whilst out hacking and this doesn't do my bad back any favours.

I also find its good when riding out in company and she tries to put her head down and tank - with the daisy rein shes just pulls on herself and I don't have to haul on her mouth, she soon realises she's fighting herself.
 
Grass reins are a wonderful invention! Lots of people use lungey bunjeys for this now as they stop the pony moving its head too much in either direction and only comes into play when needed. Lucinda Fredericks puts her daughter's pony in them in fact!
 
I use a daisy rein on my daughters pony - a leather strap from the top of the bridle that runs to the d-rings of the saddle.

Does the trick and prefer it because it is not directly attached to the mouth, I do realise that essentially when the top of the bridle gets pulled it lifts the bit in the mouth, but imho daisy rein a bit kinder x
 
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