Potentially explosive question – Draw Reins

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Natch

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Has anyone had any experience of using them? What is the correct purpose of use and way to use them? My instructor suggested using them to help F to canter right, because he always hollows and evades in a panic during the transition, and apparently they would help to stop him sticking his head up and make him realize that he can make the transition without hollowing. I have never used them or heard much about them, so googled them and have found several very negative articles on the internet about them, saying the only encourage hollowing and that they have no place ever. Is it just that like any training aid, its only as good as the hands it is used by (would be mine but always under instructor’s supervision) and best used as a well thought out schooling aid just for this one problem until he gets over it. I’d hate to use them if its going to contribute to the problem or cause a new problem.

If Draw Reins are not the answer, does anyone have any suggestions as to how to help stop him panicking and rushing off sticking his head in the air at the very thought of canter right – he has an old hock injury which is not causing him any bother but I do think contributes to the problems he has in right canter.

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If your instructor has recomended it i would suggest that you use them for the first time in a lesson so that you have a clear understanding of how they work and what you are looking to achieve.
In capable hands they are a useful tool
 
Draw reins do have their place in controlling sometimes i think, and should never be used as a permanent solution to anything when more schooling would suffice. I have used them on a nappy horse to help me out, as it seemed to help me control his rearing a bit.

You could always try a market harbrough? Think they are a little less harsh, but still, aren't a permanent solution. Have you tried lunging him in a chambon?
 
Draw reins are an excellent schooling aid if used sparingly and correctly. They can be used to maintain an outline and concentration but never to create one. If any other physical problems have been ruled out then they are very good for helping in the problem you describe. Make sure they are just loose (not flapping as that is a bit dangerous!) during the normal canter and trot work, then just ride the transition quietly and calmly keeping the aid very light. If you have not used them before you will need to practise riding in 2 reins and keeping the draw rein at the correct length before using them for the problem transition. I suggest you use them initially only with your instructor present as to use them incorrectly can cause a lot of problems.

Hope that helps,

Burtie
 
I have used draw reins, wth success, in the exact situation you describe. Yes they are a short cut, but so what? If it helps the horse understand what is required in 10 minutes rather than 10 weeks then great! I always use a breast plate and fix the draw reins to the ring in the middle of the chest, so there is less leverage, and less 'drawing' effect (you will need to put a knot in them). Also done this way you can remove them wthout getting off the horse, so I only have the draw reins on for part of the session, usually about 15 - 20 minutes , while I work on the problem.

Obviously you need to make sure that there are no physical reasons for your horse's evasion first (teeth, back, saddle etc). As to how to use them - perhaps your instructor could demonstrate? The key thing is that they are slways slightly looser than your real rein, so only come in action if your horse's head comes above the angle of control.

Draw reins in the wrong hands are said to be 'like a razor in a monkey's paw', but then so, quite frankly, is a carrot stick.....
 
If your horse has an old hock injury, it is very likely that he still thinks it is going to hurt him and hollows etc.

Draw reins tend to pull a horse onto his/her forehand particularly a lazy one. Its good that you will be using them with the supervision of your instructor.

Its worth a try I suppose, but it is not something to use constantly and would start off using for 5 minutes then 10 then 15 etc.

My friend tried these on her horse as he was hollowing and putting his nose in the air, turned out he had previously fractured his withers and was expecting the pain again. She doesnt use them anymore.
 
I have used draw reins twice , both under immediate instruction. My instructor felt I was good enough to use them and it did sort our problem out, but I wouldn't dream of using them unsupervised tbh.

My horse's problem was that when I bought her she had been forced into an outline with a Dr Bristol. It took a long time to persuade her that she didn't have to endure that and the draw reins helped at the beginning of a couple of lessons to remind her that contact with the bit was fine and wasn't going to hurt.
 
I use draw reins on the lad sometimes, as he's such a long, big horse that is difficult to get together. I warm up and then use them, the first time was under supervision and the next few times I just used them anyway. I find they really helped to get him just listening a bit, and then as soon as he was going nicely I took them off and carried on with the session without them. i do just find that some horses tend to work a bit downhill though.
 
Drawreins are used by an awful lot of professionals so in the right hands I assume they can't be that bad! They helped my horse a lot in the winter when control was an issue and he didn't understand how to hold himself together. I went to the Sunshine Tour earlier this year and I would say more than 50% of the riders there warmed up or schooled in draw reins. Just watch for them getting heavy on the forehand and leaning on them. Good luck!
 
I think it's ok to use draw reins occasionally if you are very experienced or under instruction.
However I know someone who lets her children (13 and 14) ride there TB in them whilst schooling and hacking to teach him that he needs to go in an outline. The horse BE'd before they got him and goes in a outline when ridden properly. (rolls eyes)
I think too many people use artifical aids in place of good riding and schooling and personally hate them.
 
I have always used draw reins on my dressage horses that have been big chunky types that struggle to carry themselves on the bit & over their back in canter transitions until their muscles are developed in such a way that the draw reins are then redundant.

As you said they are only as good or bad as the hands that hold them. People go on about how you can see in the way a horse carries himself that he has been trained with draw reins but I can honestly say that I have never had a comment suggesting this on my dressage sheets nor from other trainers that I have attended clinics with, infact my sheets usually say in self carriage, light in the hand and through! The most important thing with draw reins are that you use them a little like a double bridle in that the normal bit reins or bridoon in a double is the most used and that fine tuning is done with the curb or draw in this case, you never ride your horse with the draw rein being the tightest rein in your hands, it must only come in to play when your horse leans or tries to go on the forehand. The draw reins don't put a horse on the forehand - the rider does!!! make sure he is using his back end underneath him by driving him with your seat and legs and hold him slightly with the reins keeping his shoulders & wither up hill then the draw rein will come in to doing its job if he tries to raise his head in canter transition and hollow his back thus the draw rein keeping him basculeing over his topline and holding his canter for you to ride him on forwards.

The thing to make sure of at all times is that the draw reins are swinging loose until he acts in such a way that they then naturally block him and then once his head drops the reins naturally go loose again just leaving your own bit rein to do the job.
 
QR to all

Thanks for contributing. Just to reiterate what I said in the first post - I would ONLY use them under my instructor's supervision, and do not intend it to be anything more than a temporary aid to helping him to understand, only to be used during that part of the schooling and definately not a permanent solution. Have to check with his owner that she's ok with me trying it too.

WCCHIC - I totally agree I hate using articifical aids full stop, jesus it took me long enough to agree with a previous instructor that a flash was a good idea! I would only be considering this if I genuinely thought it was an aid to correct schooling, not in place of.

armchair_anarchist - you sound so much like my instructor!

I am a bit worried about the people saying it can put a horse onto the forehand though - he is very front heavy anyway and I think another part of the problem with the transition is that he doesn't sit up and strike off from behind properly, whereas he does on the other rein. Having worked so hard and overcome the on the forehand thing I'd hate to encourage that again! <rolls eyes>

Hmm I will have to think about this one. He is the world's most strong minded horse, sometimes much to the detriment of his schooling, and has gone through so many different evasions including several that my instructor has never seen before!
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And yes, I did go through a stage having a complete complex that it was my riding and I must have really harsh hands etc but both instructors have assured me that it is his headstrongness not poor hands on my part that causes it
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Little darling, still wouldn't be without him though. As his owner says, it makes the achievements even more worthwhile when we get them!
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For this particular problem I would think they'd mask the problem, not solve it.

How old is the horse? The best thing you can do imho is hundreds of canter transitions on a light contact and with a light seat so that he has nothing to react to in his mouth or on his back
 
i have used them during a lesson to encourage my baby to bring her head down, but I would never use them without my instructor there, and I only used them sparingly and let her stretch every few minutes. I think as with bits etc, they are only as severe as the person who is using them
 
I haven't used them myself, but it sounds like your horse has a similar prob to mine, re chucking the head into a canter transition on the right. I had everything checked and no cause there, my YO recommended lunging a few times a week with side reins loose but fairly low, this has helped us greatly when ridden, our canter transitions under saddle aren't quite there yet but they are definately a lot better than they were a few months ago. Hope this helps.
 
only time i've ever used draw reins was on a habitual rearer, worked brilliantly over time, he soon got the idea that it was harder than it was worth to throw his head up.
However in general i think too many people become reliant on them and ive been on yards where they are used by inexperienced riders to teach the horse to be 'on the bit' constantly instead of correct schooling.
They deffinately have thier place tho IMO when used correctly for short periods but not like some people ive seen who use them over many months even hacking and ive even seen some fools jumping with them!
 
re-reading that reminded me, i also rode a horse in a market harborough. She was often very hollow and unballanced, and had similar problems with the hollowing in transitions. It really helped her to realise that she could ballance beter when her neck wasn't set or hollow. So maybe that is an option, as has been mentioned earlier. There are different settings to find one most suitable for your horse. In my experiance i used to just keep it on the slackest and it worked great.
 
1 of the other liveries (just qualified as a BSJA instructor) was advising me to use draw reins again tonight.
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My mare was terrible for throwing her head around when she was being ridden, I rode her in draw reins on a lesson one evening - the instant I picked them up she dropped onto the bit and went in an outline, when I left them loose she kept the outline ... it was the only time I got her to go on the bit in an outline!
 
Naturally: I can only repeat myself and say that it isn't the draw reins that put a horse on the forehand - its the rider! If you ride with your seat and legs then you prevent a horse from dropping onto his forehand by driving them UP to your hands but if you just hang on to the mouth and sit as a passenger just using a kicking leg then you drive them DOWN to your hands. I would give them ago whilst your instructor is with you and see if it helps with your problem.
 
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