Plaited leather reins - any good?

[autumn7]

I need to replace reins for hunting. My current ones are Eventa (smoothish rubber, very
flexible) which have been OK over past couple of seasons hunting apart from extreme weather/particularly filthy conditions when I've found them to be slightly slippy on occasions, although not massively a problem 95% of the time.

Prior to these I've always gone for the good old pimple rubber grip which are obviously great but I love the look of the plaited leather reins and fancy buying some at Burghley tomorrow. However, they have to provide the fail safe grip I require for hunting.

Do they? All views welcome!

 

[Mince Pie]

See if you can find the half rubberised reins that have rubber underneath but are smooth leather on top. They're very smart and very grippy!

 

[AFlapjack]

Not so sure about plaited reins but I have a pair of laced reins which are really good for grip I think the plaited reins would be grippy too as neither have any rubber that can get slippery.

 

[lizness]

I wouldn't use plaited reins to hunt with as the leather is thinned to be able to be plaited therefore willl stretch very easily and probably break morre easily.However nice english laced reins are lovely are nice and grippy

 

[Devonshire dumpling]

hubby hunted in plaited reins last season and struggled lol xx

 

[ofcourseyoucan]

depends what bridle you are riding in. a single rein i like a good rubber rein, if in a double or 2 rein combo i like a laced rein and a plain rein so not too much in the hand. plaited rein tends to stretch and become thin .... thin reins on anything strong or that pulls is/are horrible. good gloves are also a must. macwet gloves give good grip. also a lot depends on weather, and how sweaty your horse gets....... lots of choice but at the end of the day it all comes down to personal preference.

 

[DollyDolls]

They look great at the meet. I stupidly left my show reins on when my OH went hunting. I had stupidly given the horse far too much food. The horse came back having had a great time, OH was grinning from ear to ear, but my lovely english leather hand made (VERY EXPENSIVE) show reins are now stretched and look like a piece of dental floss in the middle.

 

[MerrySherryRider]

Not much grip in wet weather.My plaited reins were abandoned long ago. I have the eventa's too, they are lovely.

 

[Doncella]

Laced reins or Continental but not plaited. I hacked out the other day in the rain, in the double as I was expecting trouble but forgot to swap the reins. NO BLOODY GRIP DOHHHH!!!!

 

[_MizElz_]

I would never ride in anything other than plaited reins - good ones are pretty hard to come by, so if I see a nice pair (smooth on both sides, not rough like some of the cheaper ones) then I tend to pick them up!

Second choice would be laced, but plaited reins are definitely my favourite. I do everything in them - hunting, XC, showjumping and hacking

 

[rosie fronfelen]

my old boss always used plaited reins on one of his horses andhe was manic out hunting.They were fairly thick, about an inchwide, if not more.

 

[autumn7]

Thanks all for your opinions. I'm back from Burghley and after rifling through various different types of reins I finally settled on Jeffries bio-grip which are up market (if price tag is anything to go by), rubber grip pimpled and are fairly narrow and extremely flexible, (a match in flexibility for the Eventa, horserider).
I twiddled with some super-to-look-at havana plaited but was disappointed to discover I found them knobbly and uncomfy to handle, couldn't possibly imagine hacking in them let alone hunting - and they weren't a cheap make, can't recall what though as I looked at so many.
broke_but_happy the half rubberised were nice, nearly bought them, a close call. Mulled over the laced too, but these were before I came across the bio-grip I bought. Once I felt those I was sold. Better the devil you know and all that.
DollyDolls, what a sin. Hope OH invested in some new ones for you. I'd have been gutted too.
And _MizElz_, isn't it strange that you're the only one that loves plaited. Shows it's horses for courses even so far as rein preference doesn't it!

 

[FMM]

Laced are OK, but the ones with the rubber on the inside are fab when the weather is bad or you have a sweaty horse!

 

[tjmadron]

I worked the last 4 seasons for a master and he used Plaited Cotton reins .The attatchment and 1st quarter length (from the bit each side ) were leather . They were fab for hunting with as very easy on the hands and you had excellent grip no matter what the weather

Like these but with more leather

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Plaited-f...t=UK_Horse_Wear_Equipment&hash=item415d21f8bc


But always make sure they are cotton and not nylon as they will give you sore hands

 

[hunting mad]

I worked the last 4 seasons for a master and he used Plaited Cotton reins .The attatchment and 1st quarter length (from the bit each side ) were leather . They were fab for hunting with as very easy on the hands and you had excellent grip no matter what the weather

Like these but with more leather

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Plaited-f...t=UK_Horse_Wear_Equipment&hash=item415d21f8bc


But always make sure they are cotton and not nylon as they will give you sore hands

Did you used to work for Mike weir?!

 

[tjmadron]

Did you used to work for Mike weir?!

Hi ,

no way down at the tip of Cornwall for the Western

 

[Addicted to Hunting]

Was going to say try bio-grip reins, but wasn't sure if you would like the look of them, I love mine but had to get them shorten as was tending to hold onto near the leather join, but have got a 14.2

 

[JenHunt]

I hunt with a double bridle, and have a pair of plain leather reins on the weymouth, and a pair of half leather half rubber (inside edge) reins on the bradoon. seems to work well!