Riding in side reins...?

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sionnach

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A friend of mine rides with side-reins whenever she schools her horse, and she swears it helps...
HOWEVER I have noticed that in fact it just seems to be destroying the horse's natural outline - instead of flowing forward, it just sort of coils up, and it was obvious in a dressage test a couple of weeks ago when she couldn't get it to stretch down and out at all in free walk.
I was just wondering if it is even considered acceptable to ride in side reins - I have lunged on a few occasions with them when I feel they will actually help and I know that a lot of people swear by them lunging-wise, but apart from this friend, I have never known anyone actually ride in them. I know it's not really my business, but I'm worried she is going to spoil a good horse that she's worked so hard on and done so well with so far!
 
I personally do not agree that any training aid helps a horse, the side reins will essentially put the horse on the forehand but many horses are on the forehand these days.

Everyone knows that is the wrong end to work on, you will never improve the hind end by manipulating the front but you will improve the front end by manipulating the hind.

The only time where i think they are acceptable is for teaching a novice rider on the lunge.
 
Daughter rode her pony with elasticated side reins for a little while - this was at the stage where every time pony would grab reins forward and disappear off at a canter with a swerve to the left to try to dislodge the rider, daughter being 9 wasn't quite strong enough then to resist her.

We used them for 1 lesson, next lesson we showed her the reins 1st time she was naughty and put them on 2nd time (and oh did she pull a face!). 3rd lesson we got to over half an hour before she was shown the reins, and we stopped needing them by about 5th or 6th lesson.

Then pony tried the stick head on floor so rider sails over disappearing neck which is a whole another story = added daisy rein, this progressed to pulling rider + saddle forward so we added a crupper to put paid to that one.... removed all gadgets after a further few weeks with the reinforced messages if she does as she's told = pat and ease up on the work, disobey = keep going till you have obeyed, and she seems to have learnt now that it's not worth the bother.

Don't think as an adult I'd want to ride in side reins though, on a bigger horse I'd worry if they tripped they'd not be able to use their neck properly to recover balance as easily with a rider on top and it's sooo far to the ground. I always thought they were primarily used for lunging, although in our case they certainly did what our instructor wanted to achieve, she's a good girl now
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I have a strong dislike for the use of fixed side reins at all. I wouldn't use elasticated ones myself even for lunging as i think they give a false outline and do not get the horse working properly, but i suppose i don't mind other people using elasticated ones correctly.

I would never ever ride in them. I don't like gadgets in general though, there's no substitute for correct schooling. If i absolutely had to recommend a similar gadget for when being ridden it would be a bungie on a low setting, so that it just encourage the bend but has plenty of give in it. Anything in fixed position on the head is bad, the head should be able to move naturally along with the movement of the body and the horse should hold it's own shape without having anything to lean on or become dependent on. Same goes for rider, which is usually who gadgets are actually to mask faults of anyway.
 
I always thought it was dangerous to ride in side reins...???

I have some but I'm not a big fan and have hardly ever used them. I definitely wouldn't ride in them - having gadgets attached to my horse whilst I was riding it would make me extremely nervous!
 
I know of someone novicey who used side reins to ride her horse in, i didn't agree but not my horse!
I think as above under instructors supervision they would be fine, as they obviously worked for Dubsies pony.
i dont and wouldn't ever ride in them, i use them when lunging with a roller.
 
No you should never ride in side reins or fixed reins of any sort, they are ok in experienced hands for lunging only.

Hope the other girl you are talking about doesn't have an accident, why don't you try to help her without it looking as though you're interfering if you can as you are friends.
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the only time i've ridden with them has been on youngsters being broken, they were lunged in them first and then they were loosened before i got on. I don't really like them on older horses at all unless i'm just lungeing to let off a bit of steam but i don't want the horse wildly going round and damaging itself and tbh they're not all that usefull then either, i definately wouldn't be riding a broken in horse in them
 
Thank you all very much, I'll have a chat with her about them. It just seems a shame that she could be ruining this lovely horse with them, and she has worked so hard on him, and done everything properly so far. It is all a bit odd, so i will try my very best to dissuade her from using them again!
 
I have been having lunging lessons in these.
I am concerned of the safety aspect....Anyone else have any strong safety concerns?
 
I think that in lunge lessons where the rider is not intended to be taking a contact/controlling the horse other than by weight/legs, side reins are used so that the horse has some kind of contact to work into. This helps the horse not get too long and strung out so it is easier to sit to. I remember the first lunge lesson where I finally managed not to bounce in sitting trot, and the horse finally relaxed down into the long side reins, it suddenly became much easier to sit to his big trot...
 
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