Rhythm beads

[Emilieu]

Does anyone use these? Betty has a set, but for purely sentimental reasons. They were a gift from the girls at the yard, and the resin heart contains some of my previous horse’s hair, so that he is always with us. I’ve had a look on their Facebook page and some of the claims of what they can help with are astonishing - spooking, napping, rearing etc. Has anyone used them to help with a problem and did they help?

 

[planete]

Not me, but I heard of one horse who was totally spooked by his! I would introduce carefully and see what happens. IF anything does happen please let us know?

 

[dogatemysalad]

Yes, I had some many years ago. Like all training aids, they are not a magic solution to all problems, but I liked to use them occasionally for schooling as an aid to regulate the trot and transitions for a young horse. I used them as another tool to keep the horse thinking and enjoying schooling.
I did use them sometimes for hacking, but anything more than a brief hack made me want to take them off and stamp on them. The jingling was just too loud. My horses have always been good to hack, so I can't say if they make any difference for a spooky horse.

 

[Emilieu]

Not me, but I heard of one horse who was totally spooked by his! I would introduce carefully and see what happens. IF anything does happen please let us know?

Betty has been wearing them for a while. She is not phased by them but then she is not phased by much so it’s hard to tell if they make any difference at all.

 

[Emilieu]

Yes, I had some many years ago. Like all training aids, they are not a magic solution to all problems, but I liked to use them occasionally for schooling as an aid to regulate the trot and transitions for a young horse. I used them as another tool to keep the horse thinking and enjoying schooling.
I did use them sometimes for hacking, but anything more than a brief hack made me want to take them off and stamp on them. The jingling was just too loud. My horses have always been good to hack, so I can't say if they make any difference for a spooky horse.

I actually don’t even hear them anymore but I think they annoy other people when I wear them in the school so I’ve stopped and save them for hacking.

 

[Rowreach]

I used them a good few years ago on a horse who was very highly strung, and they did seem to settle him in the arena. They are a bit like wind chimes though, they can be incredibly irritating.

More recently, the woman who was secretly feeding my horse alfalfa and supplements suggested I used rhythm beads to settle her headshaking and tenseness. Turns out I just needed to move yards

 

[Emilieu]

This is interesting. I sort of expected a unanimous verdict of ‘woo hoo’ ?