# Do any of you use draw reins?



## dressagebelle (May 13, 2009)

If used correctly I have no problem with them. The issue comes when instead of relying on pushing the horse forward and into the bit the correct way, the draw reins are used to "force" them into a false head set. It should be used as an aid, not as a solution to a problem. You push them forward correctly and just use the draw reins as kind of a guide to help them figure out what you want, but then you release, the ultimate goal being the horse softening correctly without needing "tools" like draw reins, or neck stretchers. If used incorrectly, it can cause them to strain their neck, cause improper muscle development, and in some cases cause the horse to go the extreme opposite when ridden without them, and by that I mean sticking their nose way out, throwing their head up to evade the bit ect. If you use them, make sure that you have a lesson with the trainer on the proper way to use them, and what it is that you are wanting to accomplish in using them, before you just throw them on, and go riding with them.


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## Cobble Hill Jumpers (Nov 16, 2010)

Draw reins are a tool and have there purpose. They should not be over used, yet they should still be used when necessary.. they are part of the building blocks.. if you can achieve something with draw reins you feel what the correct feeling is for with out.. it gives you a taste of the right feeling so you know what to feel for!


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## Kayty (Sep 8, 2009)

They have their place, they were designed with the right intention in mind. Unfortunately they fall into inexperienced or impatient hands desiring a 'quick fix' to give their horse a 'pretty head set' and there fore get a bad name. The biggest negative effect of them is that they very easily teach a horse to back off the contact by ducking behind the vertical and not taking the rein. If you just want your horse to 'look pretty' with a tucked in head to show your non-horsey friends, then by all means, haul on a pair of draw reins and you'll have your desired result. But if you want a horse that is travelling correctly with a connection from hind to front, teaching them to suck back is going to set your training back hugely, it is much harder to teach a horse that sucks back to step forward and take the contact, than it is to teach a horse that braces and leans on the bit to soften and accept the contact. 

I have used draw reins on only a select few horses. One an ottb that was so nervous about relaxing his neck that through 'traditional' training it would have taken me months to build his confidence that he did not need to be held up by the rider, that using draw reins for 2 rides gave him the added encouragement to release his neck and lower it. Two rides only, so that I knew he'd worked out for himself that he wasn't going to fall over if he relaxed and lowered his neck, and I was able to continue training as usual. 
I would only ever use them on a horse like this one, that wasn't sure that it COULD reach down and had little likelihood of avoiding the contact by sucking back. At the first signs that the horse is ducking off the contact, I remove the draw reins and ride them 'pony club style' allowing them to stretch forward and out making them take a contact, until they can start to come back into a more appropriate frame without coming behind the vertical. 

I don't believe it is fair to completely disregard draw reins as a training tool, as I mentioned initially, they have their purpose and are simply meant to assist in training, not be the main training tool. In the wrong hands they cause more harm than good, and should be left to only experienced riders who have a very good understanding of a correct contact in the bridle and great knowledge in how to employ the use of draw reins only when absolutely needed - otherwise they should hang slack and not have any influence on the horse what so ever.


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## faye (Oct 13, 2010)

No, never and I wont have them on my yard or anywhere near my horses.

All too easy to abuse and the damage they can do to a horses schooling in one session can take years of reschooling to sort out.

They are OK in Expert hands but I dont believe the vast majority of riders should be using them.


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## MyBoyPuck (Mar 27, 2009)

As a clinician recently noted, if the horse is not supple at the poll, no true on the bit work can happen. Since gadgets keep the horse's head in a position by forcing them to supple their jaw, not their poll, it can only create a false headset if the poll remains locked. I see no place for their use.


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## faye (Oct 13, 2010)

MyBoyPuck said:


> As a clinician recently noted, if the horse is not supple at the poll, no true on the bit work can happen. Since gadgets keep the horse's head in a position by forcing them to supple their jaw, not their poll, it can only create a false headset if the poll remains locked. I see no place for their use.


They don't go supple in the jaw, they drop behind the bit and break at the 3rd vertibra in compensation.


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## faye (Oct 13, 2010)

Jordan S said:


> Without draw reins I can get him on the bridle about 75% of the time(getting him on the bit during the posting trot is our biggest obstacle).


I think here that you might have a problem with relying on your hands for balance. Mind you it is only a thought (having not seen you ride) but it is normaly what I find the problem is when this sort of thing only manifests in rising (posting) trot.

As for getting him on the bridle, you should concentrate more on the back end rather then what the head is doing. It is a very rare horse that wont come into an outline when ridden from back to front, leg to hand. There are a few but they are few and far between.


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## MyBoyPuck (Mar 27, 2009)

faye said:


> They don't go supple in the jaw, they drop behind the bit and break at the 3rd vertibra in compensation.


So even worse. Yep, no use for them at all.


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## VanillaBean (Oct 19, 2008)

I use them, but not regularly, they help my mare stretch...


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## Strange (Jan 11, 2009)

I've only used them once. 
They're a tool and can be bad or good, depending on the hands utilizing them. 
On the horse that I used them on for the most part they remained slack with a loop, however he has issues where he gets EXTREMELY stiff and locked in his jaw due to the way he is ridden by his owner sometimes (she does not ride him in draw reins, thank god). For the most part, he doesn't need them. When he realizes the rider on him has a soft connection he'll work beautifully and they're pretty much just there to remind him to relax in the jaw. A little twitch on the draw reins and he's right as rein (pun intended). In the hour I rode him I used them only once or twice.

I don't condone them in the hands of an inexperienced rider, at all, and I've seen far too much of that. Of the many, many horses I've ever ridden, this is the only time I've found the use of draw reins beneficial, and the next time I ride this horse I probably will just leave them off entirely. It'll be more work on my part, but once he gets going and realizes I won't haul on his face he'll move along quite well.


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## Valentina (Jul 27, 2009)

As my GP trainer told me - draw reins should only be used by someone who has been trained in how to properly use them, knows when NOT to use them, knows when to use them, and selectively trains other in their use.

I have ridden dressage about 20 years and have used them for the first time this year. I show third level dressage and we're schooling PSG. 

I do not use them lightly - mostly I use them when the mare wants to invert and I don't want to spend the entire ride getting her into the proper TL frame. And when I do use them I use them then stop using them - I never ride just on the draw reins nor use them constantly during the ride. Since I started using them I may never touch the draw rein during most rides (but they're good practice for handling double reins) but when I need it they're there for a quick use/release. 

As others have stated - too many "trainers" use them when they shouldn't and get their students to use them who are less prepared.

You should be VERY cautious using draw reins - they can "cut" the edges of the horse mouth besides teach the horses bad habits like coming behind the vertical.


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## kpptt2001 (Sep 28, 2010)

I personally don't have experience with them, but I have made myself knowledgable on them, and I am going to agree with everyone here. They should only be used by experienced individuals who have had the proper taining and education on them. My mother has been riding for 40+ years and has only had to use them a handful of times. I have only been riding for a year, and I would not touch them with a 10' pole. I feel confident that I understand how and when to use them, but I am still developing my seat, driving the horse from it's hind end and being soft, so I would never attempt to use them at this stage in my riding.


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## ~*~anebel~*~ (Aug 21, 2008)

I've never been able to find an actual use for them beyond tying down a load of hay.... Nothing a few dressage lessons can't fix anyways.


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## masatisan (Jan 12, 2009)

There is only one horse I have ever ridden with drawreins. Her name was Lacey, she was a lesson horse at a residential riding camp. She was a large round pony with a strong will, a sway back and a trot as smooth as silk. The camp owner told me to "hold the reins like that, and pretend they aren't there." When I asked why she had them she said "that's how she was trained before we bought her, so we use them." She had them for everything, I have pictures of me learning to jump with her, drawreins and all. At this camp they used her for everything, western games, english flat, over fences, trails, every day 5-6 hours a day, never without those reins. I was about 14 when I rode her...possibly younger, I was totally ignorant about the negative effects of those reins. She was a good pony and I hope she found a good home after the camp closed down.

Here you can see, learning to jump, the reins are slack for my release, but the drawreins are pulled tight (please try to ignore my deplorable position, It was my first time ever jumping):


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## xXHorseFreakXx (Jan 14, 2011)

On one of my trainer's new horses we use them. He was a pasture horse, but competed in Arab hunters. His original owner would always drop her hands really low when she rode which is what kept his head down. We are now trying to teach him to collect, but to have your hands at a normal position. So while teaching to get him on the bit we use them. 

I have no problem with them unless they are used as a crutch or used too severely.


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## Kennedy (Jan 4, 2011)

Well I've used draw reins only a select amount of times; mostly to get green horses on the bit. I like them and at the same time don't like them. I find they do get a young horse used to the feeling of his head being in a frame and to develop those muscles. But draw reins can do some damage if not used properly and they can become a crutch for the rider in that some riders will use more hand then leg in getting a horse round and supple. So, I think it is good to use them sparingly.


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## faye (Oct 13, 2010)

Kennedy said:


> Well I've used draw reins only a select amount of times;* mostly to get green horses on the bit.*


Well then you are using them wrong and your horses are being forced into false outlines.


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## Kayty (Sep 8, 2009)

*chuckles* Oh I love it..


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## corporate pride (Feb 23, 2010)

faye said:


> Well then you are using them wrong and your horses are being forced into false outlines.


^^ agree with this.

i don't use draw reins and i never will. i can't find a reason to use them. if my horse is green i sure wouldn't be using them, if my horse doesn't go on the bit i use exercises to supple my horse to get him on the bit.

IMO draw reins have a place, it's called the bin...:lol:


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## brookebum (Oct 1, 2010)

I use them sometimes if she has time off working in a frame for whatever reason, i mostly used them when i began working her in a frame, because she didnt get the idea at all. now i only use them when practicing working in a snaffle. brooke is reaaallly strong so i use them first, to get her used to being round iin snaffle. helps with the transition.. 
but i find with too much use it can lead to over bending.. so i only use them occasionally.


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