Side reins vs vienna reins

[Pink Gorilla]

What's your preference and why? Do vienna reins encourage a horse down onto the forehand because they attach between the legs? But then they can't be leant on like fixed side reins (with elastic inserts). Not sure which are best for my downhill horse.

 

[sbloom]

Neither as neither will help lift the thoracic sling which is a big part of the solution for a downhill horse to move in way that helps to carry a rider, and to help long term soundness. I would do closer in-hand work, a horse that's downhill is unlikely to be able to move on two tracks on a circle, a prerequisite for horses to be able to strengthen correctly on the lunge with or without auxiliary reins (which I'd not use on any horse personally).

https://www.facebook.com/whiterosevetphysio/posts/pfbid0aFUKidC2m7cBY3AizzttTYvzfYqm9wBZ5PTPD9ZLsVPgZNYDtp3v9qt3tU9hK99xl

If you were going to be properly correct you'd not want the foreleg so grounded, better diagonal pairs and in better horizontal balance, but it's a good argument in the text. You could even look into whether belly and bum bands leaving a horse moving on the forehand like this proves that they too can't lift the front of the horse, or even help them lift, and that the bow and string theory is nonsense...there are a couple of schools of thought that reject it, but this is one photo and not going to judge from it. I have met the poster and respect her work.

https://www.equitopiacenter.com/vid...-2-the-essential-components-of-self-carriage/ - a related free video, membership is cheap, can be for just a single month, and there's a ton of good stuff on there to help with posture, movement patterns and corrective/non-ridden work.