hacking in draw reins...views?

[Lou_Lou123]

I'm working in a racing yard in Ireland at the moment, and we hack the horses in draw reins and I know several more local trainers that do it. The horses aren't schooled like riding horses, and so it really helps them to build muscle correctly and make them stronger, as they don't really understand contact and outline! They are not ridden with their chin on chest or anything extreme, usually just long and low to stretch... unless there is a hedge monster and a bit more contact is needed on the snaffle rein!!!

It also makes them nicer rides when they come to do their cantering work and for the jockeys!

 

[Annette4]

I wouldn't do it....but then I wouldn't ride in draw reins full stop because I've not ridden in them before so I'd want some lessons in how to use them before I went out. Hacking is dangerous enough IMO without adding stuff. I've used a MH before and if I'm honest Id rather use one over draw reins out hacking as it's roughly he same job without two sets of reins so reduces the risk or the horse getting tangled up should anything happen. As I said though...I've never ridden in them so for me that is the safer option.

 

[marvie]

I'dlike to know how can they give more control without inducing hyperflexion? Horse is jogging, riders upper body is rigid and horses nose is reaching closer and closer to its chest, Laws of physics would apply thats for sure!!!
Would a local riding school/instructor promote the use of draw reins? If publicly they did then they could face enquiry.
If the horse is dangerous to anyone or anything living or inanimate whilst out in public spaces there is only one safe answer to behave responsibly and ride at home where the only damage can be caused to yourselves and your own property.
Driving regularly through newmarket i have never seen any of the horses in training being taken out in draw reins in public, maybe lawsuits are a worry to the trainers.
Mandy sorry must be blunt but take pro active measures, gadgets are great thats why they go in and out of fashion and are worshipped by those who can't be bothered to take a horse and do the job properly regardless of length of time taken.

 

[MandyMoo]

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I'd like to know how can they give more control without inducing hyperflexion? Horse is jogging, riders upper body is rigid and horses nose is reaching closer and closer to its chest, Laws of physics would apply thats for sure!!!
Would a local riding school/instructor promote the use of draw reins? If publicly they did then they could face enquiry.
If the horse is dangerous to anyone or anything living or inanimate whilst out in public spaces there is only one safe answer to behave responsibly and ride at home where the only damage can be caused to yourselves and your own property.

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i understand your point

but i would just like to say, that my original point of this post was to ask if it was ok for me to always ride in draw reins, not because i can 'haul' on his mouth and pull his head into his chest while he jogs and prats about so i can have more control...my point was that because Bugsy is SO well behaved in them i can even rest them on his neck tide in a knot, not even use them, and he is instantly calm...THAT is how i can get control without hyperflexion. i dont believe in 'gadgets' etc, this is the only horse i have ever had that i have to use them on...and wouldnt do so if it wasnt a case of safety.
thankyou for your concern for my horses welfare, but there really is no reason to think i will put my horse under any discomfort such as rolkur...or any kindof of hyperflexion...when i use draw reins on him, if you looked at him, he is not behind the verticle, i am not gripping the draw reins, but keeping a contact on my usual reins and holding the draw rein loosely.

as for not riding in public as being 'dangerous' and riding on my own property...this is why i am resorting to draw reins, so i can be completley safe while hacking. and our own property consists of 2 menages...and i think riding a horse ALL the time in a menage is more cruel than putting on a pair of draw reins loosley and popping safely round the woods!

xxx

 

[Seahorse]

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my friend who works in racing told me that a very well known trainer has all his horses hacking out in draw reins!
I hack my horse in a market harborough but am thinking of changing it to draw reins as I can drop them when necessary but the MH is in use all the time.

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I'm curious to know which trainer this is?

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Not naming names but his yard is near Worthing!!

 

[Mike007]

I would use a double bridle in preference for hacking. If you need somthing as coarse and powerful as draw reins, the horse shouldnt be on the road yet.

 

[mainpower]

Well that's a bit chicken and egg isn't it? In my case my horse is 17, absolutely bomproof with any traffic you can throw at him, yet panics at a pheasant, pig, occasionally roadsigns that weren't there the day before. All the de-sensitising in the world at home has not "cured" him of this, throw something unexpected at him and he'll get upset. For instance, he has an aversion to being ridden past round hay-bales.... yet he eats from one ih his field every day. Being a typical cob with a fleshy mouth I have not felt him to be comfortable in a double bridle, I show him in a pelham. I am very cautious about venturing out on my own, don't do windy days, and rarely venture anywhere new (I had a "safe" 30 min route until the day someone put some pigs next to a narrow stretch of the bridleway which is fenced with saggy barbed wire on both sides). Like I said above, he is schooled to elementary standard, I keep him on my own yard where OH has a noisy workshop, we have three slightly unruly dogs, a resident herd of deer and a couple of pheasant families. We are behind an airport. Horse will not bat an eye at any of these! Unless we meet them out hacking. Now, I am open to any suggestions on how to learn to ride my horse better out on hacks...... I don't often hack alone, but if no-one's about life can be pretty boring for him in my boggy sandschool, and boggy field!

 

[SupertrampIII]

If it's safer then do it! And it's not like he's having them on everyday, and tbh if theres no solid proof that hyperflexion does any harm to horses then i'm sure hacking in loose draw reins a couple of times a week is hardly going to kill him. I dont personally use them because so far i've had no need to, but think of the amount of top competition horses that are worked everyday in them and there's clearly nothing physically wrong with them all =D

 

[exracerfan]

A market harboro has no effect when the head is in the right position and is legal for show jumping, so is useful that you can use one all the time if needed. Also think its a good way of ensuring the horse never gets caught in the wrong part of the mouth if it tries to lift its head too much.

The reason why horses tend to be quieter in draw reins I think, is because they often only think about what they can see and if they cant lift the head up to look into the distance, they will not worry. (A horse has bi-focal vision and needs to lift it for long distance vision, and drop it for near vision.)