# Riding western...reining english?



## bsms (Dec 31, 2010)

Well, I ride western but rein...not English, but using two hands much of the time.

To me, reining English means riding with constant contact. I don't do that. However, I do use both hands and a snaffle bit. I own no cattle, don't plan on roping anytime soon, and both horses are a bit spooky. One knows how to neck rein, the other doesn't. I could train the second, but why?


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## orangetictac (Nov 4, 2008)

When I was first learning to ride I found it easier to not hold onto the saddle horn if both hands were engaged on the reins. Now I prefer to ride with two hands (my dad always called it plow reining), but he neck reins beautifully as well which for me is useful on the trail if I'm putzing around in my saddle bags for something. We're well on our way to being able to drop the reins for extended periods of time and simply using leg and seat communication. I think a horse than can plow rein or neck rein and is comfortable and pleasant with both is pretty handy.


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## gigem88 (May 10, 2011)

The only time I ride in a curb and one hand is at the WP shows! The rest of the time I ride with a snaffle and two hands.


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## MHFoundation Quarters (Feb 23, 2011)

Not having seen it myself, I would wonder if he\they were on green horses. If they were training youngsters that would explain riding 2 handed western. Have to start with 2 to teach neck reining.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## mls (Nov 28, 2006)

Farleyv said:


> Who wants both their hands tied up while riding? Honestly, these shows are getting silly. He had one gal riding with her hands on the reins almost up to the horses ears.:?


What do you mean 'hands tied up while riding?'

I ride two handed all the time. Much easier to pick up a shoulder or isolate the hip.


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## iridehorses (Oct 22, 2007)

mls said:


> What do you mean 'hands tied up while riding?'


I take it to mean that she prefers to have one hand free rather then both hands on the reins.


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## Farleyv (May 17, 2011)

mls said:


> What do you mean 'hands tied up while riding?'
> 
> I ride two handed all the time. Much easier to pick up a shoulder or isolate the hip.


 Well, to swat a sweat fly on the horses neck, to grab a drink, adjust my helmet, scratch an itch, point to something.... to do a multitude of things. I don't fancy having to keep putting the reins back into one hand that much. Find it unnecessary at least in our style of riding. In fact, we turned down a mare that did not neck rein. 

I guess I am of the old way then. It just looks funny to me. We are not that worried about picking up a shoulder or isolate a hip? Our horse goes fine and we just ride the fields and woods. We are not showers. We just enjoy riding.


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## MacabreMikolaj (May 9, 2009)

You cannot train a horse to neckrein without straight reining, so your disdain of it seems a little silly and naive. Passed a horse because she couldn't neckrein? You can't train her yourself?

Horses aren't born finished, someone has to put the work into them. To have a finished horse that TRULY neckreins with nothing but a touch of the reins takes a lot of work. And until that point, attempting to teach complicated maneuvers by neckreining just isn't going to happen.

Just because you don't have a need to teach your horses anything higher, doesn't mean you need to trash or get so het up about trainers who DO need their horses to know more then walking in a straight line.


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## VelvetsAB (Aug 11, 2010)

Farleyv said:


> Find it unnecessary at least in our style of riding.


_Exactly. In *YOUR* style of riding. Other people ride different styles. Reining is not trail riding._

_I believe (although not 100% certain) that most of the Green classes in Western, be it Pleasure or Reining, call for two hands on the reins. _


_And I most definitely agree with MM's post._


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## Farleyv (May 17, 2011)

Im not trashing anyone. It's just not the way I was taught. We worked at a stable where they were always telling the riders, put your reins together. The way I was brought up.

Being away from horses for over 40 years and to see what I was taught as English riding is now used western, its different.

And yes, we did pass on a horse that did not neck reign. But not just for that, there were other issues as well. Would not take a bit, and had a problematic hoof problem.

At the age we are at, we wanted and did find a finished horse that suits our needs.


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## RATHER BE RIDING (Dec 7, 2010)

Why does everything have to pigeon holed? Unless you are being judged at a show, why can't you ride the way that you are comfortable? I ride western in jeans and half chaps, english paddock boots and a snaffle bit. I do teach my horses to neck rein, but on the young ones I like two hands on the reins.

As for Craig Cameron, he often over-exaggerates things to make a point. He is big on teaching a horse through release, so when showing or teaching that point, he rides two handed with reins further up the neck, so that you can clearly see the contact vs the release. He also is usually working with green horses. He is not for everyone, but I try to take from him things that might work for me.


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

I ride direct reining (one rein in each hand) in a western saddle. Most of the time, I hold the rein in one hand and only pick up one rein at a time with which ever hand is handy. If I don't need to use the rein, I drop it and just hold the rein in the middle , with slack. No need to keep both hands on all the time.


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## bubba13 (Jan 6, 2007)

It's not "English reining." It's direct/plow reining. And every horse should know how to do it. It's the fundamentals of breaking and teaching a horse to direct under saddle. 

Watch any good trainer in any discipline, and I guarantee they will have moments where they need to switch to two hands to guide the horse. You have far more finesse with direct reining than neck reining.


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## beau159 (Oct 4, 2010)

> So I am sitting here watching Craig Cameron. More often than I would like to see he reins english and has his demonstrators doing the same.
> 
> Is neck reining out of style or something??? Is he trying to make western riding more appealing to the english riding group?
> 
> ...





> Im not trashing anyone. It's just not the way I was taught. We worked at a stable where they were always telling the riders, put your reins together. The way I was brought up.
> 
> Being away from horses for over 40 years and to see what I was taught as English riding is now used western, its different.


I would most certainly call your original post "trashing". You didn't ask any constructive questions nor was the tone of your original post of a learning nature. And every one of your responses has been defensive and closed-minded. If you don't want to learn anything new, why do you bother to watch horse TV or come on this forum?

Instead you could have asked:
Why are more people using the English-style of reining? Am I calling that the correct term? (Which you aren't.....)
Is there a purpose to over-exagerating a direct rein? Is it different with a younger horse versus an older horse?
What is the benefit to direct reining? 

ANY of these questions about what you saw on TV would have been fine, but instead you just rant about how you had to turn the TV off. Again --> _trashing._

You say you follow the "old style of riding". So I assume you know of Tom and Bill Dorrance, Ray Hunt, Al Dunning, and more? I guarantee every single one of these great horseman train all of their horses to *direct rein* (it is not the same as English reining). It the fundamentals of horse training and it is crucial to train a horse to neck rein flawlessly. Direct reining WAS around 40 years ago. Just beause you didn't know about it then, doesn't mean it didn't exist. And you are basically saying what you learned 40 years ago riding one-handed is the God-given only truth. 

Neck reining is not "out of style" but for 95% of things you want to train your horse to do and/or ask them to do something correctly, you need to show them how to do it with a direct rein first. Neck reining is a more advanced move for finished riding when the horse already understand the manuevars asked of them. 

That's perfectly fine if you just want to go on trail rides and never ask your horse to do anything but walk in a straight line. I always enjoy a good relaxing trail ride too. But don't you dare criticize those who wish to train their horses to do things and do them well, just because you don't understand it, don't want to try to understand it, and frankly may just be lazy (because age ain't got nothing to do with it ... ask my grandmother). 

As always MacabreMikolaj, you hit the nail on the head!


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