# How to use a sircingle



## equiniphile (Aug 16, 2009)

Figured it out


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## O So (Aug 21, 2010)

equiniphile said:


> Figured it out


Can you elaborate? LOL

I was kind of curious on this topic. I don't have one, but have seen them for sale online and was wondering if I should get one? Do they work better then just putting the lunge line on the halter?

I too can lunge with no line at home, but need a line when I am out and about with no pen!


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## equiniphile (Aug 16, 2009)

Okay I put a form-fit saddle pad underneath it and girthed it up right behind the withers. I put her in an eggbutt without the reins and attached the donut thingies to each side of the bit, so that there was slack when her head was in the right place. She took to it really well! Seemed to actually like it .


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## O So (Aug 21, 2010)

equiniphile said:


> Okay I put a form-fit saddle pad underneath it and girthed it up right behind the withers. I put her in an eggbutt without the reins and attached the donut thingies to each side of the bit, so that there was slack when her head was in the right place. She took to it really well! Seemed to actually like it .


OHhh. I thought you were talking about one that goes around their nose area! LOL I guess that would be called something else though, huh? My bad!

I have a surcingle for my mini, the kind that goes around the body. I bought it to start to teach him to drive! 


I am very new to horse terms. Tack terms too. I had horses when I was a teenager, but my parents took care of them. I just rode them! LOL I now own a mini. So I am trying to learn as much as I can!

If I understand your explanation right. You used yours to make her go in the direction you wanted in a circle, right? 

An eggbutt is the style of bit, right? I am just now bit training my guy.

Here is a pic of O So in his surcingle.










That was the first time he had it on! 

Here is the bit I am training him with. ( I know the bridle buckle was done wrong in this pic. I have since fixed it!)


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## equiniphile (Aug 16, 2009)

O So said:


> If I understand your explanation right. You used yours to make her go in the direction you wanted in a circle, right?
> No, I used it to encourage her to accept the bit and "come up" to it for collection.
> 
> An eggbutt is the style of bit, right? Yep, it's a bit type. I am just now bit training my guy.


 Hope this helps


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## O So (Aug 21, 2010)

equiniphile said:


> Hope this helps


Well, actually I am really lost now! LOL 

Next time you do it, can you take a pic?


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## equiniphile (Aug 16, 2009)

Haha oops!
No problem. I didn't use sidereins, I just put the surcingle and donut reins on and free lunged her.


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## O So (Aug 21, 2010)

equiniphile said:


> Haha oops!
> No problem. I didn't use sidereins, I just put the surcingle and donut reins on and free lunged her.



What are donut reins?

I am not even to the rein stage. I have a set of rains that came with the bridle but being a mini, I can't ride him anyway! LOL I bought a set of "driving reins" that I will be eventually using. I am going to start out using them with the halter first though! Eventually we will move up to the reins!


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

Equiniphile,

Aren't your donut reins the same thing as side reins? If I understand you, the rein you attached to the bit has a rubbery donut in the middle of it, or not exactly the middle, but closer to the bit end. YOu clip one end to the bit and the other end to the Surcingle. That is a side rein.

Also, never lead your horse around with the side reins connected. You take them t the place where you will lunge them and only then do you connect the side rein to the bit. Really correct lunging with side reins (donut reins) utilizes a lunge caveson . It is like a halter but is sturdier and has several rings on the front of the nose area where you hook the lunge line to. Lunge line does NOT connect to the bit, only the side reins do.


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## Saskia (Aug 26, 2009)

Be careful using side reins - if the horse hasn't been trained to seek a contact they can actually do more harm than good.


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## mbender (Jul 22, 2009)

I would like a full picture of a horse in the full training outfit. I bought one and have never used one. It seems simple enough but would like to see a close up of how the set up goes. I will be using a D-ring. In the pic with the mini, that's a driving bit, correct?
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Saskia (Aug 26, 2009)

What set up are you referring to Mbender? There are many lunging aids.


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## mbender (Jul 22, 2009)

The suricingle all set up complete with driving reins. I think that's the answer your looking for.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## equiniphile (Aug 16, 2009)

tinyliny said:


> Equiniphile,
> 
> Aren't your donut reins the same thing as side reins? If I understand you, the rein you attached to the bit has a rubbery donut in the middle of it, or not exactly the middle, but closer to the bit end. YOu clip one end to the bit and the other end to the Surcingle. That is a side rein.
> 
> Also, never lead your horse around with the side reins connected. You take them t the place where you will lunge them and only then do you connect the side rein to the bit. Really correct lunging with side reins (donut reins) utilizes a lunge caveson . It is like a halter but is sturdier and has several rings on the front of the nose area where you hook the lunge line to. Lunge line does NOT connect to the bit, only the side reins do.


My bad, I thought side reins were reins that went around the horse and you held....guess not! There's "reins" with donuts on them that I connected to the bit and I didn't hold on to anything while I lunged her. Is this correct? She knows how to seek contact, she spent the first year of her non-racing life at a dressage trainer's. I didn't connect everything or put the bridle on until we were in the round pen, and then I connected everything and sent her off into a trot, and she was doing very well.


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## Ray MacDonald (Dec 27, 2009)

I'm very curious about this, I have heard about doing this but never seen it myself. Could you post pics?


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## equiniphile (Aug 16, 2009)

I'll lunge her today when she finishes her breakfast and try to take some pics/vids


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## O So (Aug 21, 2010)

mbender said:


> In the pic with the mini, that's a driving bit, correct?
> _Posted via Mobile Device_



Yes, it is a driving bit. I am very new to all this, so I am not sure what the name of it was!


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## CessBee (Dec 6, 2008)

If im not mistaken thats tecnically a half cheek snaffle.








this is a liverpool bit, also commonly used for driving,


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## O So (Aug 21, 2010)

CessBee said:


> If im not mistaken thats tecnically a half cheek snaffle.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



My driving bit looks like the top pic, but mine is linked in the middle, not solid! I have been told it is one of the most severe bits for driving , so I will be looking for a more forgiving bit when I get to the point I need to start using the reins on him. Right now we are just getting used to a bit in the mouth!

Sorry, kind of got off topic a bit! Looking forward to seeing pics of the surcingle in action!


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## CessBee (Dec 6, 2008)

I wouldnt put a jointed half cheek snaffle as very severe to be honest  
I have a few pictures of a home-made surcingle I made being used, though I am using a chambon instead of side reins.
















exuse the long grass and the lack of an actual lunge rein and lunge caveson, im on a bit of budget, hence the homemade surcingle lol


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## Saskia (Aug 26, 2009)

I prefer to use vienna reins/running reins. They encourage a horse to reach down more if that is your aim. 

They look like this:










I made my own out of rope though, but I am having much more success with them than I ever had with side reins. This horse is wearing a reasonably standard cavesson and bridle.


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## equiniphile (Aug 16, 2009)

Sorry guys, no pics yet! It snowed 2 feet overnight and we're trying to get hay and get the driveway cleared


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## Ray MacDonald (Dec 27, 2009)

No prob


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## smrobs (Jul 30, 2008)

CessBee said:


> If im not mistaken thats tecnically a half cheek snaffle.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Wow, we've always just used simple ringed snaffles for driving.


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## TheLastUnicorn (Jun 11, 2010)

I think it depends on what type of driving you plan to do. 

Our Clyde has a straight bar snaffle (just a loose ring snaffle with no joint) for logging, but uses a half-cheek when he's in cart. 

Some photos for those interested :

Long-Lining my Saddlebred mare









Double-Longing my Saddlebred colt (it was both his and this handler's first time giving it a go)








This is my Clydesdale mare warming up - she's just wearing the surcingle, but I haven't put any attachments on it.








Same mare long-lining out in the field









I thought I had some shots with side reins too - I don't use them all the time, I far prefer double-longing to using them, but I do use them on occasion.


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## Piaffe (Jan 11, 2010)

Unicorn...it is SO pretty where you live! That last pics background is awesome!

....sorry....very off topic


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## mbender (Jul 22, 2009)

Thanks for the pics. In one of your pics you said you were double longing. What does that mean? When you use a suricingle, do you have to have a blanket under it?
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## TheLastUnicorn (Jun 11, 2010)

It depends on which type of surcingle you're using. The ones I'm using in these photos have a padded "roller", and I've found the horses appreciate having a pad under it. The roller can create some pressure points, which some horses really don't like. 

I also have a flat neoprene, and a flat fleece - they don't require a pad, but I do use one anyhow most of the time... I just like how it looks better.

Double longing is basically longing with two lines instead of one. The reason for it is so I can better control the straightness of my horse and the contact I'm asking it to work under. It's a "live" contact for the horse which, I think, helps it to prepare for riding work (all these photos were taken in the early stages of training) better than side reins, running reins, or draw reins might. It allows me to more easily change pattern while longing (one should never longe only on a circle... but add some straight lines, some figure eights and actual patterns - it helps the horse with flexibility, obedience, and fitness).


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## Ray MacDonald (Dec 27, 2009)

What are draw reins?


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## Kayty (Sep 8, 2009)

Draw reins are essentially an extra long set of normal reins, which run from the girth between the horse's front legs, pass through the bit and up to the riders hands. This creates a 'pulley system' with which if the riders takes up some contact on the draw reins, the reins will run through the bit encouraging the horse to lower it's head. 
In the wrong hands draw reins can be extremely detrimental to the horse's development and training, and should be used very sparingly and only on horses that really need it. I make my living out of training and coaching and have only used draw reins on 2 horses, both for less than 4 rides each. Both of these horses had the tendency to brace their back, lock their jaw and poll and run through the bridle. The draw reins gave them the confidence to be able to release the tension in the neck, jaw and poll and become more submissive through the bridle, which then allowed me to start working the hind end and developing a connection and swing through their back. It took only a couple of rides in draw reins, and the only time the reins were in use was when the horse threw it's head to an uncontrollable level and braced solidly, then it hit the draw rein and came back down. 
Draw reins are all about timing and feel, I would NEVER, not in a million years put them in the hands of someone who was either a beginner, or had little sense of timing and feel on a horse, and had little idea of how to ride the hind legs forward and through. The user must also understand the purpose of draw reins, not to pull the horse's head in to make it go 'on the bit' a term used far too loosely, but to give it the idea of giving the poll/neck/jaw which in turn will give the rider a better chance of riding the hind quarters and back.


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## TheLastUnicorn (Jun 11, 2010)

Kayty - a great explanation of the Draw Reins!


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## Ray MacDonald (Dec 27, 2009)

Thank you very much!


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