Has anyone ever worked their riding horses in blinkers?

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If so, why?
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They're widely used in driving and racing but, AFAIK, never used on pure riding horses. Has anyone used blinkers to solve a problem with a riding horse? If so, what was the reason and did it work? Is there a glaringly obvious reason why these are stupid questions that I really should be embarrassed to ask?
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i used french blinkers on my mare, as she was very nosey and we couldn't keep her concentration on what we were trying to do but they just made her more spooky.
 
Interesting. I would sugges maybe they could be used to help a distracted horse concentrate?

I don't think them though.
 
I know 2 people who used fur on the cheek pieces of their horses bridle. The one used it to focus the horse when going XC and the other used it to try and stop the horse from being distracted at things outside the arena, thus stopping the horse from spooking.
 
Riding your horse in blinkers has been known to be helpful in many cases, but I have also heard reports from people who consider it very dangerous. The danger is easy to recognise - if you use traditional driving blinkers, your horse can only see straight in front of him, and so if something spooks him, he could choose to bolt in a straight line without being aware of what is happening to either side of him.
The upside of using them is, as you say, keeping the horse concentrating in the direction that you would like him to concentrate. One of the techniques that Monty Roberts has used is effectively 'blinkers' above the eyes - the basic theory being that the horse won't choose to go where he can't see, so this can be an effective treatment technique for working with a rearing horse (once all potential physical causes have been ruled out). I have also known plenty of people use the fur on the cheek pieces just to help their horse with that extra bit of concentration.
Hope this helps,
Sue
 
When my friends mare was broken she was very spooky and just plain dangerous on the road. The guy that broke her had her hacking out using blinkers and plugging her ears. Over time she got better and eventually they were taken off.
 
Yes, it's fairly common to do with spooky saddle horses in the US (eg Saddlebreds, Morgans). Note, I'm not saying they are spooky as breeds, but those that are sometimes are worked in hoods.
 
One of our driving horses used to be ridden in blinkers as you could not get on him without, as he got older we then rode him in a riding bridle and he was fine.
 
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