# Side-reins, Draw reins and Chambons



## jaydee (May 10, 2012)

I will use side reins when lungeing a breaker or a problem horse when need calls for them and nothing else has worked - I often use them on a fully trained horse when lungeing because they keep it focused - but never to hold the head in place
Other gadgets - on horse that's developed bad habits that aren't getting worked through using good basic schooling then I might consider using either of the above you've mentioned but honestly I'd rather not because ultimately they're shortcuts and can end up being more of a negative than a positive in the long term


----------



## ApuetsoT (Aug 22, 2014)

Imo, Side reins adjusted correctly are fine along with Vienna reins(draw reins for lunging) when the person knows what they're doing. 
Neck stretchers are junk. I ride at a barn that used them all the time. Made their horses look like hunters... If hunters went with their hind legs 20miles out behind them. Pessoas are junk. Attaches the mouth to the hind legs and makes the horse duck.


----------



## Dreamcatcher Arabians (Nov 14, 2010)

I use side reins a lot. Draw reins once in a great while, there's a lot of room for error there and the horse is the one who pays if you don't use them right. A chambon can be useful in the right circumstances, but most of the time, time and miles will fix most things and obviate the necessity of a Chambon or Draw Reins. They all have their places, they just are not for inexperienced or impatient.


----------



## greentree (Feb 27, 2013)

Never any of it.... the only way to train a horse to stretch from the hand is to USE the hand. For this reason, I only use long lines. 

If you are wanting to "set the head" , that is different.


----------



## Smilie (Oct 4, 2010)

All of these artificial aids, have a place, short term, used correctly, and by someone who knows how to use them in the right circumstances
In the end, the sooner you can 'wean off of them, be able to ride that horse with 'feel', and the correct balance between legs and hands, the better, esp if you ride in disciplines where none of those devises are allowed
I don't use side reins, but western, having split reins, using them to check a horse while lunging, once broke,also teaching a horse in the beginning, how to carry himself in frame, bitting him up gradually , works, making sure to drive the hrose up correctly from behind, at the same time.
I do not use these devises to 'build topline, \ as that is best done riding, with feel, getting that correct movement from behind.
Draw reins can dump a horse on his front end, like nothing else, creating ahead set, but false frame. They have their use, short term, to fix a particular problem, then go back to riding without them, asp
For instance,, I have used them short term, on a horse, that wants to elevate head, versus shoulders, in a stop to lope transition
Many people school in draw reins, and that will bite you in the rear, when you go to show, and when you can't ride with them
If the horse has keep that topline, only because he was held there with draw reins, rated speed, only because of draw reins.then when he gets in the show pen, he thinks'whee, I can now motor, and you have nothing on him otherwise, that can help you rate speed, keep topline, purely off of seat and legs
Long time ago, I showed up at a reining clinic, on a three year old, riding with a snaffle bit and a running martingale. The instructor, a very successful reining, working cowhorse and cutting trainer, asked why I had that martingale on.
He told me to take it off, and develop true feel. Best advise I ever got.
Yes, a running martingale, adjusted correctly, only comes into play when a horse elevates his head above desired level, but it still becomes a crutch many people start to rely on
There are also problem horses, never trained correctly, and many of these devises will help to retrain them
However, if you are training a hrose from the beginning, without any 'baggage, the less of these devises that you use, the better end product, JMO
I do now bit horse sup, while lunging, so the western version of side reins work well, as does lunging a broke horse at a show, to warm up, having him move while lunged, as you expect him to move when ridden
I don't agree , with using them , just lunging,to build topline , nor just with circle work which lunging dictates.
The more you can do riding, with just feel, the right balance between legs and hands, the better horse you produce. I have a set of draw reins, but have not used them in over ten years, and ditto to a running martingale
Forced frame will never give you the same results as a frame developed through feel.


----------



## SorrelHorse (Apr 9, 2009)

Agreed.

I use a lot of things people would call "gadgets" - But I also train on a lot of horses, and have had a lot of experience using these things, and when I was learning to use them had the eyes of another person on me. So my feel for them is not lacking. 

Just like when I'm teaching kids, they ride in a side pull. Not because a bit is cruel or doesn't work, but because kids don't know how to use a bit and can cause damage. Same things with aids, if you don't know how to use it, they will cause damage.


----------



## Redcitylights (Mar 21, 2015)

I generally hate 'gadgets' however me and my sister are currently expirementing with a chambone to maintain condition by lunging.
The chambone works by not only pulling on the bit, but by putting pressure on the poll as well. The one we use tugs a little with every stride of the front feet. While I think it is probably one of the best tools to build topline, I don't like it. I won't use it on any horses that I can ride as I feel I can do a better job than it. So while it seems to work for some folks, I think ours is going in the tack barn for a long time.


----------



## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

why would it help to have the chambon tug with each step? I've seen systems where it looks like each time the horse's back leg reaches out, say, in an extended trot, it would make the line bop them in the mouth. how would that encourage anything but evasion on the horse's part? 

like, wouldn't they just slow down, curl behind the vertical trying to avoid the bit, and move cautiously?


----------

