# Split Reins vs. Not



## phantomhorse13

i ride with closed loop reins, with scissor snaps connecting them to the hackamore.

*knock on wood* i have never had a issue with the reins being caught on anything. 

i don't care for split reins, personally, because i tend to do a lot of shuffling of stuff (reins, water bottle, camera, food) and i can barely keep hold of a looped rein, forget split reins. its not unusual to see me riding with the reins in my teeth or looped around the saddle bag while i root remove a layer of clothing, etc.


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## SailorGriz

Right now I'm using bright red nylon reins that were split until I sewed the ends together. I no longer live in fear of dropping one of them and not being able to reach it. With Big's long nech and head there's no way I would be able to reach up and get the dropped rein.

I tried tying the ends together, which worked as far as it went, but then they were too short. So I just overlap sewed the two ends together about 2 inches and now they are looped and long enough.

So, what do you do if you drop a rein? You're in the saddle and the rein is hanging from your horse's mouth? Can you reach far enough to get it back?

No way I can with Mr. Big. I've tried, just to see if I could. I'm not long enough by a good foot or more. :-(


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## raywonk

I ride with split reins on my horses cause the ones conected are never long enuff.


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## Poseidon

I ride with long nylon split reins that I tied together. I don't like the single barrel racing-type reins much. So I can either have tied reins that I can drop so they're on Abby's neck if I need to do something with my hands or I can untie them and use them separately.


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## SailorGriz

Poseidon, you probably have the same situation I had. Except when I tied them they weren't long enough so I sewed the ends together.


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## Tennessee

I use barrel racing reins. Mainly because I'm a barrel racer and I'm just used to them. Plus, I am the type to set my reins on the horses neck anyways because my horses work mainly off of leg pressure. It would be hard to do that with split reins.


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## Poseidon

SailorGriz said:


> Poseidon, you probably have the same situation I had. Except when I tied them they weren't long enough so I sewed the ends together.


 Mine are like 7' so if I sewed the ends I would have 14' massive loop. Bahaha. With them being tied, I also have like a foot or so left over that I occasionally use to give Abby a smack on the shoulder or behind when she's being fresh and decides to have a "Who's the alpha mare" test when I'm on her back.


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## trailhorserider

I used to do what some of you guys did- tie my split reins together. 

Then a friend of mine introduced me to 8' leather roping reins (all one piece). It was love at first ride! But true 8' roping reins are kind of hard to find. Most of them seem to be shorter, and sometimes even the ones labeled 8' are shorter than 8'! I like to get true 8' reins when I can find them, the kind with the water loop ties on the ends, and then make bigger water loops and actually end up with reins *over* 8'. As a matter of fact, I think 8' is the bare minimum for trail riding (at least for me). 

One time I bought a pair of 8' split reins, made myself some extra water loops, and then made them into two sets of 8' roping reins. :lol:

I put snaps on each end. 

One bit of safety advice- if you are NOT using split reins, and you get off your horse, unsnap one end. My friend had her horse step through her reins and the horse panicked and the leather lacing that ties the water loops on, which you think would break, didn't. The poor horse backed in circles panicked for a couple of minutes before he calmed down enough to catch him. But other than that, we have never had a problem with them getting caught on anything. 

I think both types of reins have their pros and cons, so which ever ones you use are sort of personal preference. Personally, I am no co-ordinated enough not drop a split rein, so I like mine all one piece. :lol:


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## tinyliny

I ride in one loop reins. I learned English, so am used to this. In fact, English leather reins are usually of a very nice length and quality. YOu can easily buy them and put them on a western bridle.
Currently I used heavy rope reins that are one loop. They have nice slobber straps, too. This way, I pick up one rein at a time and the weight plus slobber strap means the horse feels the signal before any real bit pressure. I can also shorten and lengthen the rein in a split second, something I find hard to do in split reins. 
Howeve, for trail riding, I might prefer either split reins or a mecate setup.


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## usandpets

I use split reins that I tie together. I was riding my wife's horse once and she doesn't tie her reins together. I dropped one and as I reached for it, her horse stepped on the rein, which cause him to fling his head back. Needless to say, I got a big headbutt from him.

I also like to drop the reins on the horses neck when riding and use the excess after the knot if I need to reinforce a cue they are not listening to.

I've never liked the looped reins because they are too short. I think it is personal preference what you should use.


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## Wallaby

I bought (well, won actually) a pair of 10ft roping reins and I loooove them. I like my split reins too but I had them mainly for the added length. Now that I have some nice long roping reins, I'm addicted. I love being able to hop off in the middle of the trail, loop the reins on the saddle horn, and do whatever I need to without worrying about a rein dropping, or never having to worry about dropping a rein mid-ride and having to figure out how to pick it up without stopping (however, that makes for some great tests of balance... haha). I've found that 10ft is enough to be able to really give my mare her head when she needs it and still be able to have a small loop beyond my hand (I dislike having to hold the very edge of the rein to give her her head and praying that she doesn't trip and cause me to lose the reins completely).

If you're interested in long roping reins (I hate the look of tied together split reins, it reminds me of camp where all our horse tack is cheap junk), I got mine from Sunset Halters ( Roping Reins by Sunset Halters ). They're really comfortable in my hands, and they're mildly weighted so they're extra great for neck reining. 

To answer your question about why people dislike connected reins so much: I think it's the whole getting a leg through thing. It's happened before at my camp (we tie all the split reins together, usually in the spot where the kid should hold on, because the kids that ride the horses have a hard time keeping track of 2 reins at once) where a horse has gotten it's foot through the loop of reins and since the reins are only around 6/7ft, they freak out since they feel confined. I think if longer roping reins were commonly available people would have less of an issue, or if people took the time to loop those reins over the horn so they can't fall down the horse's neck. Now we use rubber bands to connect the reins at my camp, that way the horse can easily break the rubber band with a little struggle instead of terrifying itself because it has a rein tightly holding it's leg.
I think split reins are harder to step on that a connected rein (since they end up dragging off to the outside of the legs, usually, unlike a roping rein that hangs down directly under the jaw) and that's why people are less worried about them, or maybe people don't leave horses tied/loose with split reins because they see that that's a bad idea... I'm not entirely sure.


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## SailorGriz

My sewn together reins stretch out to almost 12 feet. They are six foot split reins fastened together. 10 foot reins would be too short--when Big puts his head down to feed (he isn't supposed to but still does sometimes) 10 foot reins would be pulled out of my hands--or I'd hang on and go right over his head/neck. Ouch. 

But, I do want to change to leather reins, maybe, and will figure out how to join them since I probably won't find a 12 foot leather rein. Then again, what I have works and is maintenance free. Hard to beat that combination!


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## bsms

I've been happy with the loop reins I've bought here:

Rope Reins

They come in 7, 8, 9 & 10 foot lengths. I find 10 just a little long, but want to order some 9 footers soon.


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## mbender

When I was younger, that is all we used were split reins. Never had a problem with them. Now I use barrel reins or rope reins. I find it easier and safer if I loose my grip. I know one rein won't fall.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Nokota

I use a Snaffle bit with slobber straps and a horse hair Mecate. You can make the rein portion any length you are comfortable with. The rule of thumb is to hang the bridle from the horn and adjust the rein length so the bottom of the loop is at the fetlock of the horse. That length has worked well for me.


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## jyuukai

When I used to ride western I used soft rope single-loop reins. I tried the whole split rein deal and it really didn't work out for me lol. I do alot with my hands, especialy on trail rides, and I could never keep hold of both split reins. I always ended up dropping one or two unless I bridged them!


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## mls

Tennessee said:


> Plus, I am the type to set my reins on the horses neck anyways because my horses work mainly off of leg pressure. It would be hard to do that with split reins.


Hard to work a horse off leg pressure when you have split reins?

I trail ride in either. I prefer gaming/roping reins for novices so that they don't drop a rein. But I view trails as another opportunity to school my horse. Open areas we may do some lope circles. Much easier to isolate his shoulders or hips if I can manually move them with my legs and reins.


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## SailorGriz

I'm sure that there are lots of reasons for using split reins--and equal numbers of reasons not to.

But the bottom line is NOT what kind of reins one uses--but whether or not one gets on a horse at all. Don't just feed it--RIDE it!


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## smrobs

I only use split reins unless I know that I am going to be doing a lot of roping. That's the only time I like roping reins.

I refuse to buy any that are shorter than 8' long and one of the reasons I like splits is because I can adjust them to the exact length that I want without having that loop behind my hand to get snagged on my saddle horn as I'm steering.

I also like the split reins because I ride a lot of youngsters and sometimes it comes in handy to have a built in whip attached right to your hand. Just use one of the rein ends to give a whop on the butt. Also, if I happen to come off of a youngster, the longer reins make it easier to hang on to them and keep them from getting away.

I think that one of the main reasons why I don't like using roping reins is because you have to keep a snap on one or both sides of the bit with them. If there is a snap on just one side, then the bit feels unbalanced in my hands and if I have a snap on both sides, I lose a lot of the feeling I get from the bit because there is too much motion down there to really feel the horse's mouth.

There are 2 different ways to hold your split reins.

1: hold them both in one hand with the ends hanging off the same side of your horse.









2: criss-cross them over the horse's neck, essentially giving you a roping type rein with all the benefits of a split rein as well.


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## Tennessee

mls said:


> Hard to work a horse off leg pressure when you have split reins?
> 
> I trail ride in either. I prefer gaming/roping reins for novices so that they don't drop a rein. But I view trails as another opportunity to school my horse. Open areas we may do some lope circles. Much easier to isolate his shoulders or hips if I can manually move them with my legs and reins.


 
No, but I usually set my reins on the horses neck, and my split reins always fall.


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## faye

I ride English so I always ride with reins that are joined together.

Just to give the rest of you a headache I used to normaly hack stan out in a double bridle and was absolutly fine despite haveing to fiddle with saddle bags, water, taking off or putting on waterproofs or jumpers.

this was normal attire for us when hacking out on short rides


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## Saddlebag

I was riding a colt which I had dismounted from to swing a big gate open. Each rein was attached to the bit with a scissor clip. As I went to gather my reins one clip let go. I gently reached for the other and it too let go. Colt saw the open gate and took off. He demonstrated his cutting skills with a half dozen heifers. When he tired of his game he came back to me. I have never ridden with scissor snaps since them.


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## AllThePrettyHorses

What are mecate reins?


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## smrobs

Mecate reins are the long rope reins that are usually attached to the bit via slobber straps.
Mecate Reins


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## AllThePrettyHorses

Ah...ok. They look so bulky..


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## smrobs

Lots of people like them. I thoroughly don't. IMHO, they make the bit feel unbalanced and if you leave the reins even a bit too long, there is too much motion in the reins. Most of my horses have a nice, head-bobbing walk and mecate reins get to swinging back and forth, so I have to pick them up shorter than I like just to keep them from swinging so much.


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## Nokota

Here are my Mecate reins. They are made of horse hair. The tail end is nice so you can lead...never tie....your horse when stopping for a gate, natures call, leg stretch...


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## Reiterin

raywonk said:


> I ride with split reins on my horses cause the ones conected are never long enuff.


^^ that, and because they're just easier for me. If I get off and want to lead my horse, I don't want to have to pull they reins up over my horses head. and equally (because I often get off and walk my horse on long trail rides to stretch my legs.) I want to be able to just grab the rein and jump back on without having to loop the reins up over my horses head again.
..and sometimes I use the end of the split rein to swat flies from my horse.


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