rstor or neck strap?

The mane does not give you anything to brace against , you have to train yourself to use the neck strap when the balance is disrupted .
 
pippixox said:
i prefer to just put a leather strap on the saddle- you can loop one through the little d-rings above the horses withers: do this for my dad so he can hold on when going fast for a more secure seat! not sure exactly where i got the strap from though...
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this ^ the flash part of a bridle should slot nicely through the D rings in the front of the saddle
 
I always - no matter what I'm riding, young or older or whatever - use a neck strap. You just never know. My students always say they feel silly riding with a neck strap when I insist they do for lessons but many have said later that they were thankful for it. When riding a young horse I often slip a hand under it for some confidence of security. You can't do this with the RStor which is why I'm not a fan. You have to hold it the whole time which is a bit distracting especially when you also have to carry a whip or ride with double reins which I usually do with my big horse. Of course there's always mane to grab when you're in a sticky situation which has saved me countless times :D
 
Goldenstar said:
A neck strap .
I teach my horses to stop when it's pulled .
It's saved my bacon many times .
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This.
I don't like a strap at the front of the saddle as I find it tips me forwards and is not beneficial. My mare knows if I touch the neck strap she stops.
 
Having read this am also going to teach the 'neck strap stop!' - i always do fast work/xc amd sometimes jumping and more recently hacking in a neck strap and attach it to my d-ring on the saddle using an old spur strap, slightly more discrete and smaller than a flash and works brilliantly! didnt have my neck strap on last week when my horse decided today was the day i was going to be ditched and tried every trick in the book to get me off, just held the mane but it wasnt as effective and the mane came off worse and i stayed on but i then had to pull the rest of her mane so that it matched! Ooops!
 
Tiddlypom said:
I would be worried that I could get a foot caught in a balance strap if I fell off. Never used one for that reason.
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I think you'd be pretty hard pushed to get your foot stuck in it...they sit pretty snugly

Edit - you'd be more likely to get your foot stuck in a neck strap
 
The rs-tor attaches to the stirrup bars which are meant to withstand a lot of pressure. D rings are not intended to withstand much pressure and are just held on with a bit of stitching. I would not like to rely on a balance strap for this reason. I do like a neck strap, and although I think it is an excellent idea to teach a horse to stop with it, I would not personally do it because I like to hook my thumb in it if jumping a large ditch and if not sure exactly when the horse may suddenly take off. If I am holding onto it and the horse had been trained to stop with any pressure on the strap, I would never get over the ditch! Also, the neck strap does not prevent you falling forwards off the horse. The rs-tor does.
 
Ha ha! I've had a couple of speed machine who would speed up as soon as I picked up the neck strap! I have no idea what an rstor is, but I use a neck strap a lot, when cantering/galloping out hacking, going up hill, when I'm feeling wussy over a jump. If you can't reach it, it's too tight, I have mine loose enough so it doesn't pull my hand forward or down. I don't like holding onto a breastplate 'cause they're too fixed and pull my hand down. For my children I thread a flash strap through the dee rings, these stand up slightly so are easier to grab than something with clips which flops down as soon as it's let go.
 
Probably not the right place, but I made an RStor a few months ago and recently decided to see if they'll sell.

Please PM me for information as I don't think I'm allowed to link to it as it's something I'm selling.
 
Hello, just a comment on the replies that you 'hold on' to the RS-tor, you don't notice the strap in your hand, as it is a piece of thin webbing, around half a CM in thickness. You have your thumb touching it, as it sits on top of your rein, and the 'handle', if you can call it that, which is a square bit around the size of a horse's eye, just 'waits' to come into use, if the reins are snatched, or you are unseated. Somebody posted that "you have to hold it the whole time - it's very hard to focus on contact and communication down the rein, when you've got a handful of something else to contend with" - although in my experience, you aren't really holding it, it is just floating in your hand in case it is needed. You certainly forget it is there! Plus you can just drop it at the shoulder if you like, and just pick it up when you want to.
 
L&M said:
or a hunting breastplate? I always find a neck strap 'too far away' to grab in an emergency, but with a hunting breastplate the handle is easier to grab.

No views on rstor but imagine a breastplate would work out cheaper....!
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we had to use a hunting breast strap on my horse, coz he neck was too fat for a neck strap! luckily I sent him with one when he went away for breaking!
 
Vickijay said:
I love my neckstrap. I have been backing baby horses and wobbling around on baby horses consistently for the last couple of years and my neck strap has saved me many times from exciting moments.

I do ride some in a breastplate but don't think its as helpful to grab it as it's not as tight as I like the neckstrap
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No but the neck strap can spin laterally if you are off balance sideways whereas breast plate doesn't. Until I heard a instructor discuss the use of a neck strap on a young horse, I never even considered that as always used a neck strap on my youngsters up to then.

Think it depends on your personal choice tbh but easier to put together an impromptu neckstrap than finding a breastplate I suppose
 
I've used a restor. I felt safer and more relaxed. It wasn't a problem holding it but the one time I needed it the horse ended up spinning in circles! She spooked, I instinctively pulled my hands up to find the balance through the restor strap, relaxed the other side but by this time she had turned and I was holding on effectively, with one hand and one rein!
So now I use a neck strap with a handle that stands proud and is highlighted to make it stand out. I also like the idea of teaching them to stop with it.
 
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