Poll! - Draw Reins

Draw Reins, how many people

  • Total voters
    0
I only use them for lunging so couldn't really say! Never ride in them. Haven't ever had a horse which needed them for ridden work.
 
I personally would never use them on either of my horses, in fact would never use them full stop.

The problem is still there after they are removed,the horse has been forced rather than shown and understood what was needed of it. If they are misused then the rider ends up pulling the horse's head in instead of having the horse on the bit properly; it flexes poorly on the bottom end of the neck but the horse isn't flexed at the poll. This can result in a horse appears to be in an outline,but the horse has no self-carriage or suppleness and does not use or engage its hind.The only way to get self-carriage is through the horse having his body balanced, and his hind legs are engaged and carrying his body.

IMHO you will not achieve this with draw reins unless you are very a experienced trainer, too often they are seen as a quick fix but they can create horrendous problems.

FDC
 
Last edited:
I've said never use as I know that there are more intelligent ways of achieving self carriage.

I mean c'mon, do we still live in the middle ages or what???
 
The way I see it, if used to give a bit more control on a young horse in a collecting ring, or hacking, then fine if used very carefully. If it helps with safety then fair enough.

If they are being used to get a horse 'in an outline' then you should ask yourself why.

An 'outline' and self carriage is, IMO, a culmination of correct training, working forward, rhythmically, straight and soft. Training should concentrate on these, and the outline will come in its own time. If it's not, you must ask yourself where in your horse's training, is he missing one of the building blocks. You could use a gadget, of course to 'show him where his head should be' but all you'd be doing is admitting defeat and admitting to yourself that you've missed a step, but you really can't be arsed to go back and work out where. You can't show him how to carry himself, working over his back, etc. etc. only where to stick his head. You would also be bringing his head in, back and down, rather than encouraging him to stretch out and forward into a true contact.

Unfortunately, like all great structures, if you're missing bricks and you continue to try and build on top of them, the horse's training will come crumbling down at some point, and it's going to take a hell of a while to build it all back up again, what with having to shovel all of those duff bricks out of the way first ;)

J&C
 
I think if used correctly, like any artificial aid, they can be useful. We had a horse who had been schooled well, developed a good quality of self carriage, and used himself correctly from behind. Every so often he would 'forget' and a very short application of pretty loose DRs would 'remind' him. This probably happened once or twice over a year. If a horse has no idea of what is required, and hasn't learned correctly, DRs can be more destructive than constructive. I saw an appalling display at Ashwell Show this year where two young girls were 'riding' a lovely looking horse in tight DRs in the lorry park. Poor horse was distressed, confused, backing off the reins and reversing into people and wagons. The girls were yelling, and hurling four letter abuse at the horse and each other. They were advised several times to remove/loosen the reins and stated he would be uncontrollable without them. :eek: Eventually the DRs were removed, and, what do you know, poor horse calmed down. Sadly, I recognised the girl as a previous poster on here (no longer - she wasn't too popular ;)), but it was very distressing to watch and hear. :mad:
 
Only time I use artificial aids is when Im lunging and thats extremely loose side reins that do flap around a bit.. I wouldnt consider using side reins, never have never would.

Some people seem to quick to resort to artificial aids if their horse isnt quite doing what its told without proper training of using the actual equipment ending up doing more harm than good.

xx
 
The problem is still there after they are removed,the horse has been forced rather than shown and understood what was needed of it.
Click to expand...

If used correctly they will not force anything, but will help illustrate something to the horse.

Many people do not use them correctly but that is the fault of the person, not the aid.
 
My guess would be because the action is more 'back' and pulls the nose back, rather than back and down, which, I suppose is preferred. It's said to be milder in that position, though.

J&C
 
I said "A" but that doesn't mean I would use them on my horses or support the use of them as a training aid - I see them as a useful safety tool on particularly annoying / messed up horses, rather than as a way of creating an "outline"...
 
Sadly..... that is what they are most used for (outline) and actually I feel encouraged that on here most would only use as a correctional aid.
 
xspiralx said:
If used correctly they will not force anything, but will help illustrate something to the horse.

Many people do not use them correctly but that is the fault of the person, not the aid.
Click to expand...

I agree with this and will add that I will not vote as I have used them both ways, depends on what you are wanting the horse to learn.
 
xspiralx said:
If used correctly they will not force anything, but will help illustrate something to the horse.

Many people do not use them correctly but that is the fault of the person, not the aid.
Click to expand...

This. I've recently used them on a big horse who needed a 'hand' explaining something. They were used for all of 3 days before he went "oh, got ya" and they can now go and gather dust again.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top