The use of draw reins!

[LegOn]

I have never been a big fan of draw reins but recently I've seen an older horse be retrained from going upside down to the right way around - mainly because he needed the muscles across his back built up to keep him fitter & healthier & he refused all other methods & now I see him ridden in draw reins going around really happy with his ears all floppy & working nicely from behind!

Its nice to see a method that is contraversial being used in the correct way - so I suppose they do have their uses right? Or I am being naive that this is the right way to help this horse??

 

[SavingGrace]

I find them a useful tool when used for the right reasons and correctly Not just to jam their heads into their chests

 

[IDxTB1990]

They are good tool when used correctly but so many people just abuse these sorts of training gadgets it just not fair for the horse!

 

[cm2581]

I often use them more like a market harbourgh - I knot them at the best legnth and pick up and put down as required. Either this or mark them with tape at the shortest or ideal length so as not to make them too short.

 

[kirstie]

I think that they can be useful- but only in the right hands.

I use them on my young mare when schooling. She had always been tricky in the contact and very very forward going, to the point that she couldn't balance herself due to such huge paces, she would panic and then rush more.
She became absolutley fixated on the contact, no matter how soft and elastic I tried to be. She would almost 'forget' her back end and trip over her own back feet because she was so focused on the bit. I tried a few different bits and she was the same in all of them.
It's hard to describe what she was doing, but just too much focus on my hand and trying to argue with me. It was like riding two different horses in front and behind!

I'm not a novice, been riding a long time and ride to a high level. My instructor wanted me to give the draw reins a go, just to see if they helped. I was adament that I didn't want a quick fix and would work through it myself.
Six weeks later I decided to give them a go. I can honestly say that I can count on one hand the number of times that I've taken a contact up on them.
The transformation was amazing. The only way I can describe it is that she was looking for a little more discipline. She stopped trying to battle my hands and settled into a nice even and light contact. Now when I half halt she listens instead of rudely trying to run through my hands.

When I ride they are swinging in the breeze but she knows they are there.
I never haul her into an outline, that is not what they are there for. If I ever do need to use them it is brief and as soon as she softens they are slack again immediately.
She now concentrates on her work rather than her mouth, is softer, more over her back, engaged and balanced.

That said, I hate to see them mis used and that is where they get their bad name from. They are there as a guide, not to force.

 

[melxvengeance]

i did a bit of research into them and tried them on my horse and he really didn't like them, he refused to move forward with the tiniest bit of contact onto the draw rein and even tried to rear. but he's very stubborn, he understands and knows what i'm asking for when i ask him to go in an outline, he just won't do it!

 

[Kokopelli]

I would only ever use them to lunge in (the way Laura B does)
Even in good experienced hands they don't do anything but wrench the horses head into his chest encouraging them to work behind the vertical and breaking at the third veterbrae (SP?) and horses don't tend to use their hindquarters when in them unless ridden correctly.