Hacking in Draw Reins

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LizScott

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Just wondered what the pros and cons of this is? It's not something I've ever done or plan to but there are a lot of people on my yard that always hack in them and have always wondered why...? (I'm too embarrassed at my ignorance to ask them!)
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I know someone who hack in draw reins because when she hacks on her own her horse is very nauty, rears and spins. She says the draw reins give her better control. Personally I would just bring a neck strap
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I am happy to hold my hand up and say I hack out in draw reins.
My horse can be nappy on the roads and lacks concentration but I feel that he is more respectful with them on, I do not use them all the time or as a quick fix but just evey so often to help being him back to me.
 
if it means you have control of the horse's which you wouldn't have otherwise, then i think it's okay, as long as they aren't tight all the time, but are there as a preventative measure rather like a martingale. however, i'd rather see the horse in a martingale!
in practise though, most people have them in play most/all of the time, and they are an inescapable pressure on a horse. this is why i think they are "the work of the devil" in any but truly expert hands. An expert might use them briefly to correct a specific evasion, which is fine... for instance to show a horse that it can do a simple change without hollowing. the draw reins would be loose enough to only come into play when the horse hollowed.
In general, however, they are used by people who can't get the horse to work from hand to contact into an outline. If someone can't do that, either because the horse's musculature/training/balance/conformation/whatever will not let them, or because they lack the training to be able to do it, then the last thing they need is draw reins, which will teach them nothing about feel, and possibly force the horse into an outline it cannot cope with.
 
The people I've seen hack in them really don't have a problem with control - the horses are generally good to hack but have heard it said by a couple that the horse doesn't work on the bit when on a hack without them. Personally I like to give my horses a break when hacking...but that's just me!
 
I also have hacked out a nappy horse in draw reins. It made a huge difference but wouldn;t advise it to an inexperienced rider esp on a nappy horse as if they went up on the road and the hand was allowed forward the horse may well come over in them as it prevents the freedom of the head.
 
Well I'll hold up my hands to using them when hacking.

I was taught to use them how Kerilli says, they only come into action when he hollows and I mean hollows, not just comes slightly above the bit as you mainly see them being used (which is totally wrong) or rears and tries to muck about.

I'd never use them to hold an outline, only as a way to stop the horse taking the mickey where all other methods have failed.
 
I do too... well not all the time but definitely if he has a split mouth and is in a snaffle and I intend to canter!!

My chap can be a complete twat... typical Cavalier!!

He is a lot nicer and easier to keep under control if he's in one of his moods, I have them so they aren't actually doing anything until he chucks his head up, and while I am out I will on the quieter roads let them go really loose and stretch out completely for a short time before bringing him back up together onto the bit again!

When cantering he tends to grab at the reins and stick his nose out and down, and even swing his head from side to side (Lovely chap that he is!!) it means he can't grab so easily as he comes against the draw rein!
 
I would say I don't think you should use them out hacking to do fast work - recipe for an accident IMO. If you are going to be doing fast work then they need to be tight, and that means the horse does not have it's head if it trips...reins get dropped, baggy by front legs, leg goes through, horse and you on floor
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I'm really anti-gadget and think that the majority of people who resort to using them do so as they can't be bothered to ride properly (or don't know how too) and just want to pull their horse into an outline rather than schooling and teaching the horse to carry itself properly.
 
My trainer uses draw reins out hacking on her old fat and very gobby cob - her reason for it was that he is very set in his ways, pulls horribly and she gets tired of holding him up. I don't think it teaches him anything but it certainly makes her life easier.
 
I'm not a big fan of gadgets either but have used them on my horse in the school and it isnt because i can't ride or cant be bothered to school properly and used it as a quick fix but because my horse was being rude that day and just didnt feel like doing anything asked of her(stuborn cob!) but i did only used them once(i've had her 5 years) I probably wouldn't use them on a hack and its the reason some of you have said you/people you know used them because my horse is naughty i wouldn't risk having them on but would use a market harborough if i ever 'had' to.
 
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I'm really anti-gadget and think that the majority of people who resort to using them do so as they can't be bothered to ride properly (or don't know how too) and just want to pull their horse into an outline rather than schooling and teaching the horse to carry itself properly.

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I challenge you to come and ride my horse and see what you think once he's done his tricks on you!!
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That is rather a sweeping statement, I am not a world beater but I would say pretty experienced at schooling and producing youngsters. I am not lazy and I do school them but some horses can be just a bit difficult and rather than fight and end up scaring them or letting them get away with it, if I can't get them to do what I am asking then I occassionaly use 'gadgets' to help. I find they can help a horse to understand what I am asking, once they have got the hang of it they don't need them any more!!
 
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think that the majority of people who resort to using them do so as they can't be bothered to ride properly (or don't know how too) and just want to pull their horse into an outline rather than schooling and teaching the horse to carry itself properly.

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very sweeping statement....................... and i do they have there place and if used with know how, IMO they're a good bow to a horse's education and muscle development over their back and working through hock. If used as i say, with knowledge
 
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think that the majority of people who resort to using them do so as they can't be bothered to ride properly (or don't know how too) and just want to pull their horse into an outline rather than schooling and teaching the horse to carry itself properly.

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very sweeping statement....................... and i do they have there place and if used with know how, IMO they're a good bow to a horse's education and muscle development over their back and working through hock. If used as i say, with knowledge

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Well said. With knowledge they have their place, and yes there are people who use them incorrectly but then even a simple snaffle bit in the wrong hands can be misused
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I do too... well not all the time but definitely if he has a split mouth and is in a snaffle and I intend to canter!!

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Seriously?
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eeeer what?

You use them as breaks?
 
A while back my instructor suggested I rode all the time in draw reins. Tried it, but it appeared to place mare in a false outline. She didn't like it, so we binned the draw reins and binned the instructor. Mare nows goes happily on a contact with good old leg to hand.
I think instructor suggested it as a quick fix, but it sent her backwards.
 
At the right time, in the right hands, these "gadgets" that everybody hates, can also be invaluable. Honestly, my horse was a nightmare, and soon became obvious that he was used to being strapped down (show jumper), it became almost his safety blanket as as soon as he had nothing on,so to speak, it was terrible,on the verge of dangerous if you were hacking.anyway, with time and perserverance I can now school a few times a week with nothing on but I always at the moment still hack with draw reins, not tight, nice and relaxed but if we have a moment they will be tightened until we get over it. People have to stop making assumptions all the time. Good for you if you ride with nothing but a happy mouth snaffle all the time but lifes a s**t and sometimes these things need to be done.
 
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I do too... well not all the time but definitely if he has a split mouth and is in a snaffle and I intend to canter!!

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Seriously?
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eeeer what?

You use them as breaks?

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Sorry that did actualy sound quite bad without me explaining!! Do I use them as breaks?.........No not at all....
My chap is very strong, the only thing I have breaks in XC is a waterford, but the down side is when he bears down on the bit if he's in one of his twat days then he usually splits the corners of his mouth... and not because I am heavy handed!

He is most of the time (9 out of 10) very good in a waterford but when he has an 'excited' day he is a nightmare, I have tried most type of bits and to no avail! I hunted him in a waterford with 2 reins and I will never go again! After just 3 hours his mouth was in shreds. I teamchased in a pelham with kineton noseband and got well and truely pee'd off with but mouth was fine.....
If he is eventing and I need to keep him fit but his mouth is split he has the softest snaffle I can find...nathe or similar.(I have tried a hackamore and he hates it, is pretty dangerous in fact!!) So he has the draw reins on and as soon as he knows they are on he usually behaves himself, I rarely have them in use as I said before, they are just there as back up incase he gets has a silly moment, if I'm just hacking he'll spend a fair bit of the hack on a looser longer rein to encourage him to stretch down more anyway! If I'm just doing road work then I wouldn't use them!
 
I wouldn't want to ride on the road in draw reins. If the horse trips or slips the rider would have to be exceptionally quick to allow the horse to get its head up and rebalance.
 
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I'm really anti-gadget and think that the majority of people who resort to using them do so as they can't be bothered to ride properly (or don't know how too) and just want to pull their horse into an outline rather than schooling and teaching the horse to carry itself properly.

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I have a very, very spooky 16 year old horse, who is getting increasingly worse to hack alone. I bought him "pre birth", I'm the only person who has schooled him. We compete at Elementary, averaging 70%. I have my BHSAI and PC A. I don't consider myself someone "who can't be bothered to ride properly", or my horse to be unschooled. But I have two choices; confine my horse to the school or my small field, or find a way to hack out safely without trampling on someone when he spins or ending up under a car! As I don't have anyone to hack out with very often I have, in the last month, started hacking in draw reins, only taking up the contact on them if he throws his head up. I have never schooled him in them. But I have used them for schooling older "spoilt" horses. They are a useful tool for some problems in the right hands. In an ideal world, with text book (or pony story book) horses and riders, we'd have no use for gadgets. Just as its better to use a schooling whip than constantly nag and kick, put a stronger bit in than haul on a softer bit, draw reins can help the penny drop with some horses, rather than go through months and months of frustration for horse and rider.
 
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