i love draw reins

becca_norrey said:
eeek, very dangerous in the wrong hands! :mad:
Our local flavour of the month instructor turned up at the local yard on Sunday, taught for 4-5 hours (mostly jabbing horses in the gob and kicking them with spurs for that time :mad:) and left again. I went up on Monday to see 3-4 people schooling in the outdoor school in draw reins..... :eek:(obviously her gadget of the week)
ARGH!!!!
Surely its all about harmony and partnership between horse and rider..... nope apparently its all about strapping them down, beating the cr*p out of them oh and leaning on their neck with your hands either side down by the girth :eek:

Yes I have ridden in draw reins previously, bungee, side reins the lot around 7 years ago (i was 15, who would give those things to a 15yr old? :o ), but wouldn't go back as funnily enough most of the time you take these things off, and the horse goes back to doing what they were doing... if you do it slower with correct training, the results seem to last..... :rolleyes: ;)
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OMFG!!! Your 'flavour of the month' instructor could be the clone of the one we've got here! First time I've ever seen anyone riding in draw reins only (ie - no 'proper' reins) was in a lesson with this person! My RI and I nearly fell over laughing. Can you imagine anything more stupid or dangerous???
 
How peculiar, I could have sworn I'd seen a post by the op a few days ago where she claimed to have used them with great success on a previous horse. I must be mistaken and I certainly can't be bothered to go back and check :cool:

Y'know, draw reins are just one of those taboos on here, not worth the effort. Sure, they're not ideal for teaching a horse to work properly for dressage, sure they are useful if your horse is trying to kill you, but you can also guarentee that half the teenagers out there using them don't really understand when to use them, when to leave them off, or even what they're trying to achieve with them. I see a lot of them who actively aspire to have their horses notably behind the vertical and heavy on the forehand, because they genuinely think that's correct :(
 
JFTD said:
How peculiar, I could have sworn I'd seen a post by the op a few days ago where she claimed to have used them with great success on a previous horse. I must be mistaken and I certainly can't be bothered to go back and check :cool:

Y'know, draw reins are just one of those taboos on here, not worth the effort. Sure, they're not ideal for teaching a horse to work properly for dressage, sure they are useful if your horse is trying to kill you, but you can also guarentee that half the teenagers out there using them don't really understand when to use them, when to leave them off, or even what they're trying to achieve with them. I see a lot of them who actively aspire to have their horses notably behind the vertical and heavy on the forehand, because they genuinely think that's correct :(
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I think the post was started as grenade to liven up a boring wednesday:D
surely no proper H&Her would use them in real life.... would they ????!!!!!!
 
JFTD said:
How peculiar, I could have sworn I'd seen a post by the op a few days ago where she claimed to have used them with great success on a previous horse. I must be mistaken and I certainly can't be bothered to go back and check :cool:
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'Twas only the work of a few seconds. Yup, it was yesterday and then they were on the 5yo.


Brambridge04, thank you, have livened a lot of people's afternoons up, I suspect the worst is over but if you're feeling sensitive I suggest you switch the pc off and let this one drop. The rumblings will no doubt continue for a while but take heart because this is always an "interesting" subject and you say you are using them under instruction.
 
As far as I can see, draw reins are like any other piece of kit.

Whether they are beneficial or not solely depends on how they are used and by whom. :)
 
when you can ride properly you will not need draw reins, just accept that on some level you aint doin it right, but when you can you will understand the difference and the feeling you will get will stay with you for the rest of your life, and you too will not want to use draw reins because the ride you get will confirm correct training, the horse will show you by offering you a wonderful experience.

get an instructor who can train without draw reins, and more importantly can show you how to train a young horse, your horse properly, the whole horse not just its head position, that comes last, write that across you heart and one day you will understand.
 
jemima_too said:
*pulls up a chair, makes flask of coffee, puts snacks within easy reach, grabs fags and ashtray and settles in*

Actually that might be premature, this would go much longer in CR!
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Lol!!

I hate draw reins too but if someone else wants to use them and can use them correctly I'm not going to tell them not to use them!
 
tristar said:
when you can ride properly you will not need draw reins, just accept that on some level you aint doin it right, but when you can you will understand the difference and the feeling you will get will stay with you for the rest of your life, and you too will not want to use draw reins because the ride you get will confirm correct training, the horse will show you by offering you a wonderful experience.

get an instructor who can train without draw reins, and more importantly can show you how to train a young horse, your horse properly, the whole horse not just its head position, that comes last, write that across you heart and one day you will understand.
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I am perfectly capable of producing a young horse thank you - the horse in question is 10 and I don't use them until AFTER a correct outline has been established.
 
I've just gotten a lovely 4 year old in for schooling and she has supposed been broken.....well the first day I had her I lunged her, just saddle and bridle, well she took off flat to the mats with her head stuck to her chest. I am now going to have to fix what ever horrible gadget has done to her.....her owner paid for her to be professionally broken. So what counts for professionally broken nowadays?!!!!

Oh and backed and ridden are two entirely seperate things.....

I don't mind most gadgets if used correctly to the horse you are using them on!! ie if a horse doesn't go well in a bungee don't use it try and find something else....
 
I couldn't draw an outline, but I'll keep plugging along the right way.

I do agree that all too often proffessionally broken can be synonymous with gadget-ed to the hilt in order to facilitate a fast impressive looking turnaround to the naked eye, imo.
 
This thread has just reminded me of a lady I used to see riding her horse aroud the village. She rides in draw reins attached to just under the saddleflaps. But the thing is she only uses these draw reins and no actual reins!!!!! I don't see how she would be able to stop
 
I think the same goes for any 'gadget' - it depends who uses them, how and whether the horse actually needs them....I see far too many over-gadgeted horses with flashes/martingales/draw reins/side reins/stronger bits that are not needed.
Personally I don't like gadgets, but wouldn't rule using them out if it was going to work...
I have seen an increase of people lately hacking out in draw reins (and even, popping a few jumps in them!)!
K x
 
Surely its not the gadget/bit that does the damage its the hands attached to it!!!!!!
I've seen more damage done with a snaffle than with draw reins used correctly!!!!
I use gadgets but in moderation, but hey I also smack my horses so suppose im going straight to hell!!!!!
 
I ALWAYS use draw reins! I have a big highly strung tb who I can't control otherwise. He used to flat race so his head was always sky hig so I put the dr's on and hold onto them reeeeeeeeeeeaallllly tight so he can't move his nose off of his chest - result! I am in perfect control! His breathing has gone a bit wonky though, as though he has a broken pipe somewhere ...

Then I use them on y 17.2hh as he really is FAR too big for me and I have over horsed myself. I use them as breaks on him. Again as tight as I can get them then I have no trouble riding him. I jump him like this too as he started tanking off with me into fences.

I break and school my own natives and they all get lunged into the ground in pessoa's with draw reins on attached to the stirrup bars right from day one. I will have no head pokeyness and no nonsense! I only want perfectly schooled horses on my yard. I don't care if they don't like it or not they just have to get on with it else I bring out the lunge whip - that makes them all go forwards!

On a slightly less sarcastic note - what does everyone think of the old V man himself, Harvey Smith?
 
Well OP you have learnt that your horse can work when asked differently from the previous aids given - not a judgement on your riding or gadgets. But sometimes use of a gadget is about confidence and finding an alternative to doing it the same old way and expecting different results.

I hope you can use what you have learnt to have confidence working with the mare and knowing that she can work to a contact or whatever your specific issue was (read lots of posts since yours and mind fuzzy) and that she has the potential.

Not personally a fan of draw reins as in my show jumping youth I saw them abused to much - woo hoo the kid who told us all that if 'you tie a knot in them (quite far along) you can get the head in even further' :-((

Hate to see a horse with the break in the neck from them - don't tihnk any amount of correct schooling will never recover them from that.
 
Shoot me now because I have used draw reins to get my lad to hack safely.

After 2/3 hacks with them he soon realised that it's not acceptable to try and bugger off on the road/ throw your head up and wack me in the face/ jog everywhere and generally just be a complete horror.

He now hacks without them fabulously, he still is a little spooky and joggy but nothing too bad.

p.s I also skin cats. ;)
 
i would stand in the international arena and say it,( i aint scared of nobody.)

though more scary , to say it on here?

would never miss an opportunity to support good training above any gadget and rollkur, even on a tongue in cheek thread.
 
I went to visit a dressage rider who competes at a very high level. She was riding her horse in draw reins out on a hack, I make some comment to my partner about her use of draw reins and he, rightly, pointed out that she knows more about it than I do :)
 
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