Tell me about draw reins

I predict I may buy some more (last ones have disintegrated) for when I have to get back on my boy after 10 weeks of box rest. Frankly for road walking a likely to be lively horse I've rather have control if it goes wrong than end up on the floor. I'll also be giving him a dose of valerian if needs be. Draw reins have saved me from disaster many of time - on my old rearing horse as control, and on my current horse who has had long periods of box rest then rehab over the last 3 years.

I don't use them for schooling.
 
Stencilface said:
I predict I may buy some more (last ones have disintegrated) for when I have to get back on my boy after 10 weeks of box rest. Frankly for road walking a likely to be lively horse I've rather have control if it goes wrong than end up on the floor. I'll also be giving him a dose of valerian if needs be. Draw reins have saved me from disaster many of time - on my old rearing horse as control, and on my current horse who has had long periods of box rest then rehab over the last 3 years.

I don't use them for schooling.
Click to expand...

Try a Market Harborough instead! :D
 
No, because I leave them knotted on his neck and only grab them when needed. I'm hoping that having 3 more weeks of longreining to go before I sit on will work in my favour, he is throwing his toys out a bit less doing that atm, voice aids don't always work when your horse is being a tit....

I did used to BS in a market harborough though, it did stop the horse rearing and ditching me! ;)
 
Stencilface said:
I predict I may buy some more (last ones have disintegrated) for when I have to get back on my boy after 10 weeks of box rest. Frankly for road walking a likely to be lively horse I've rather have control if it goes wrong than end up on the floor. I'll also be giving him a dose of valerian if needs be. Draw reins have saved me from disaster many of time - on my old rearing horse as control, and on my current horse who has had long periods of box rest then rehab over the last 3 years.

I don't use them for schooling.
Click to expand...


This is one of the very few times I think they can be useful. The mental satisfaction of the horse in terms of giving it the ability to get out and stretch legs without further hurting itself. Also helps ensure your safety as you do that.

I've used them in the same way for the same reasons. Didn't actually need them, but better to get quick and short term control than have a horse in a ditch with a broken leg. Not a long term solution and not for our personal wants.
 
I am not dead against gadgets completely - so much depends on the horse, rider and circumstances.

The thing I didn't like about draw reins is that I think they *can* encourage a too heavy focus on the horse than rather than the rider. In draw reins my horse wouldn't come above the bit on a transition - but I don't believe for a second this was because I was riding every transition properly.

Without draw reins he'll only stay on the bit through a transition if I set it up and ride it properly - otherwise he'll raise his head and I i think that feedback makes you a better a rider because they only do it if you are doing it right - there is no other gadget exerting an influence if you know what I mean.

I can totally understand why a sympathetic professional to whom time is money could use them with no ill effects at all or their use on rearers etc but as an amateur I had the time to school the long way.

Other gadgets I tried and dropped were running martingales as I found the horse could still raise his head as high as he wanted unless the martingale was adjusted to be really short - in which case it would drag downwards on the reins which interfered with my aids - not much use for dressage!

And chambons - horse didn't seem to understand the action and would trot round on the lunge with his head up high so the the bit was pulled right up in his mouth - looked incredibly uncomfortable but he would not drop his head even for a second so that ended up on ebay too.

Maybe I just don't use gadgets because they didn't work for us :p
 
Pongwiffy said:
I am not dead against gadgets completely - so much depends on the horse, rider and circumstances.

The thing I didn't like about draw reins is that I think they *can* encourage a too heavy focus on the horse than rather than the rider. In draw reins my horse wouldn't come above the bit on a transition - but I don't believe for a second this was because I was riding every transition properly.

Without draw reins he'll only stay on the bit through a transition if I set it up and ride it properly - otherwise he'll raise his head and I i think that feedback makes you a better a rider because they only do it if you are doing it right - there is no other gadget exerting an influence if you know what I mean.

I can totally understand why a sympathetic professional to whom time is money could use them with no ill effects at all or their use on rearers etc but as an amateur I had the time to school the long way.

Other gadgets I tried and dropped were running martingales as I found the horse could still raise his head as high as he wanted unless the martingale was adjusted to be really short - in which case it would drag downwards on the reins which interfered with my aids - not much use for dressage!

And chambons - horse didn't seem to understand the action and would trot round on the lunge with his head up high so the the bit was pulled right up in his mouth - looked incredibly uncomfortable but he would not drop his head even for a second so that ended up on ebay too.

Maybe I just don't use gadgets because they didn't work for us :p
Click to expand...

Very well put :)
 
Pongwiffy said:
I am not dead against gadgets completely - so much depends on the horse, rider and circumstances.

The thing I didn't like about draw reins is that I think they *can* encourage a too heavy focus on the horse than rather than the rider. In draw reins my horse wouldn't come above the bit on a transition - but I don't believe for a second this was because I was riding every transition properly.

Without draw reins he'll only stay on the bit through a transition if I set it up and ride it properly - otherwise he'll raise his head and I i think that feedback makes you a better a rider because they only do it if you are doing it right - there is no other gadget exerting an influence if you know what I mean.

I can totally understand why a sympathetic professional to whom time is money could use them with no ill effects at all or their use on rearers etc but as an amateur I had the time to school the long way.

Other gadgets I tried and dropped were running martingales as I found the horse could still raise his head as high as he wanted unless the martingale was adjusted to be really short - in which case it would drag downwards on the reins which interfered with my aids - not much use for dressage!

And chambons - horse didn't seem to understand the action and would trot round on the lunge with his head up high so the the bit was pulled right up in his mouth - looked incredibly uncomfortable but he would not drop his head even for a second so that ended up on ebay too.

Maybe I just don't use gadgets because they didn't work for us :p
Click to expand...

Excellent post. Very well reasoned. I love what you have said about the focus on horse rather than rider - this is very easily done and one of the biggest dangers of gadgets I think. But that is where the trick is - like you say, in your case using draw reins would have been a shortcut that allowed for poorer riding, and wouldn't do either of you any good in the long run. Really, draw reins shouldn't be used as part of a standard training regime - they are for the tricky cases, as a short term aid to training, not a means to an end.

Agree wholeheartedly about chambons, hate them. Also dislike bungees - once witnessed one snap, very scary to see that on a horse. Running martingales though have worked well for me when jumping, especially with my current exracer who will throw his head up in order to evade the aids so he can gallop flat at his fences. The martingale catches him before he gets to that beyond the aids point. And he knows when he has and hasnt got it on, the sod.
 
Stencilface said:
I predict I may buy some more (last ones have disintegrated) for when I have to get back on my boy after 10 weeks of box rest. Frankly for road walking a likely to be lively horse I've rather have control if it goes wrong than end up on the floor. I'll also be giving him a dose of valerian if needs be. Draw reins have saved me from disaster many of time - on my old rearing horse as control, and on my current horse who has had long periods of box rest then rehab over the last 3 years.

I don't use them for schooling.
Click to expand...

This is a situation when I do think draw reins can be very useful. As a safety device.
 
The worst (and sadly, extremely common) use of draw reins, is by instructors getting their students to ride in them, because they have reached a 'brick wall' in teaching them feel, or because they can't be bothered to invest the time in teaching them properly. One of my liveries arrived here and was having lessons with a well respected trainer and dressage judge who insisted she rode in draw reins. She was not a very balanced rider at the time she arrived and confessed herself that she felt awkward with the two reins and that it wasn't helping. When she started lessons with me, the draw reins went in the bin. She learnt to ride her horse correctly over her back and nicely onto the bridle without the help of draw reins. It took a long time as she was not the most natural of riders, but she got there in the end and all by her self.
 
I'm not a gadget person at all , I don't even use flashes or martingales but I wish I had read this thread a few years back when I decided to give up taking my ex racer to shows due to his over enthusiasm in the collecting ring. I never could get him to stay on 4 legs so he ended up as a field ornament.
 
Interesting views about using them as a safety device instead.

What is the difference between riding in draw reins and lunging on the low setting with a Pessoa? Similar action surely??
 
weebarney said:
I'm not a gadget person at all , I don't even use flashes or martingales but I wish I had read this thread a few years back when I decided to give up taking my ex racer to shows due to his over enthusiasm in the collecting ring. I never could get him to stay on 4 legs so he ended up as a field ornament.
Click to expand...

This is when you need to take up BS so you can wear a market harborough in the ring, or draw reins in the warm up. A couple of times in a market harborough and my horse started to unlearn his trick of only going over the first two, and ditching me at the 3rd - which always seemed to be positioned away from the entrance, he was so nappy it was unbelievable!

I'm not pleased when I have to use them, but if my horse being in rollkur effectively for 5 seconds stops me from being in a ditch, on the floor, or in front of a car then I think thats a fair swap :)
 
I don't like gadgets, but admit, they have their uses as a safety device. This was brought home to me when I was schooling a greenie for someone else and another livery was riding her horse in the arena. This horse was being a bit fizzy most of the ride. Then he flung his head in the air and bolted flat-out across the arena, passing within a foot or so of me and my terrified green horse. The rider had no hope of stopping him. The next time I was at that yard and saw her, she said that she had been working her horse in draw reins and he had learned that he couldn't do that. Not as a permanent thing -- just to get him over his little phase (it was a habit the horse had picked up with a previous owner, who would bail out after he bolted and walk him home --oops).

Like I said, I don't like gadgets for basic training, but if a pair of draw reins can stand between you and bolting into other people and fences, I'm all for it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top