# Riding in Side Reins?



## Lilah (Jan 24, 2017)

I was off riding for 8 weeks due to surgery, then back on my 16'3 lesson horse for a very productive lesson last weekend. This weekend was my first ride on my Clyde. Things working against her: first time out without a buddy, first time out at home (she's been at boarding facility while I was off for surgery), neighbours' idiotic horses (basically wild) ran up and down and screamed and made a fuss for the duration of the ride. I did take her to the far corner of the property, so those distractions were minimal, but still audible. She was quite spooky (for her, normally she's pretty chill), and refused to walk - trotted nervously everywhere. I kept stopping her, then restarting into a walk. Whenever she trotted, I halted her - but it wasn't easy. Once I thought, ok, you want to trot? Let's trot. and began posting, but her energy seemed to rise, and then she wasn't trotting in a straight line, more all over the place, reacting to seemingly nothing. As was to be expected, every time we turned towards 'home', and her companion, she sped up. Walking away from that 'safe place' was the only time she'd slow, as she was reluctant to go. I had to ask, then tell, then demand that she go straight away, using reins, legs and seat, and when I pushed harder with my right leg to straighten her out (not even a kick, just a jab) I actually got a little buck out of her (NOT her style). We ended on a good note - walking (quickly) away from home, stopping at the far end of the 'scary part', and then I dismounted as her reward and we walked back. She's in a simple snaffle, and while I hesitate to use more than that on her, I wonder if other equipment might be beneficial? Side reins? (Not sure if I'm using that phrase right, but my trainer attached second reins to her head, and attached them to D rings on my saddle for more focus, back when she was at boarding school. Any suggestions? Daylight is so short this time of year, it's dark when I get home and I only have light during the weekends to work on this.


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## cbar (Nov 27, 2015)

I was also taught to not ride in side reins....but only use them as a lunging tool. Since side reins go from the bit right to the d-ring of the saddle, you have no control of how much pressure they give on the bit. And they can be very dangerous if your horse lost its balance. 

The similar thing that you can ride with are draw reins - I have never used them and I would think only a super experienced person should use them. I always thought they were a tool to use for collection - this is not your problem and I doubt they would assist you with your situation. 

Have you tried just handwalking her away from her buddy and schooling her on the ground to begin with? She is herd bound and any of tools such as side reins/draw reins/martingles,etc are not going to cure this.


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## Lilah (Jan 24, 2017)

*Photo for reference*

Sorry, unable to post photo OR delete this post


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## Golden Horse (Feb 20, 2010)

No to any gadgets of any type!

You had it right asking her to trot, so hard to get them to settle to a walk, if Fergie is 'UP' we always get into trot as soon as we can, then get her brain working, trotting circles, voltes, serpentines, anything that keeps her bending and thinking, that is the best way I find to get the focus back on you...then when they settle you can give a loose rein and let her walk, if she heats up again, back to trotting and bending.


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## Lilah (Jan 24, 2017)

cbar said:


> I was also taught to not ride in side reins....but only use them as a lunging tool. Since side reins go from the bit right to the d-ring of the saddle, you have no control of how much pressure they give on the bit. And they can be very dangerous if your horse lost its balance.
> 
> The similar thing that you can ride with are draw reins - I have never used them and I would think only a super experienced person should use them. I always thought they were a tool to use for collection - this is not your problem and I doubt they would assist you with your situation.
> 
> Have you tried just handwalking her away from her buddy and schooling her on the ground to begin with? She is herd bound and any of tools such as side reins/draw reins/martingles,etc are not going to cure this.


Thanks for your response! I appreciate your feedback. Yes, I actually walked her out of sight, probably a 1/4 mile away from them. She is not herd-bound - she did not answer their calls nor call out to them, it just created a slight rise in energy around us, keeping her from focus. The horses losing their minds aren't even in with her - her companion Clydesdale was calmly watching from their field. My description obviously failed - she is not anxious to get back into her field, she's just hyper and I'd like to tone that down a bit. My trainer suggested a stronger bit, but I'd like to save that for 'last resort'. I ran out of daylight yesterday, but my next step is to take her back out to the same area, lunge her to get her focused on me and the nervous energy out of her, and then go for another round. I absolutely will not use side reins now, thanks to your input


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## Lilah (Jan 24, 2017)

Golden Horse said:


> No to any gadgets of any type!
> 
> You had it right asking her to trot, so hard to get them to settle to a walk, if Fergie is 'UP' we always get into trot as soon as we can, then get her brain working, trotting circles, voltes, serpentines, anything that keeps her bending and thinking, that is the best way I find to get the focus back on you...then when they settle you can give a loose rein and let her walk, if she heats up again, back to trotting and bending.


Great! Thanks! Makes sense


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

if you know your horse is high, and hasn't been ridden for awhile, and is distracted, then you lunge her first. with or without side reins. but, get her moving and focussed on you, before you get up in the saddle.

if you can't lunge, then do as Golden suggested and get her moving promptly with no pausing for her to admire anything, nor to balk at moving away from friends. 

I , too, was taught to not ride in side reins, but use only for lunging. If you are not familiar with their use, then just lunge horse with bit , and line run through near side bit ring, up and over the head collar/halter, clipped to off side halter ring.
redo this arrangement when you change directions.


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## Lilah (Jan 24, 2017)

tinyliny said:


> if you know your horse is high, and hasn't been ridden for awhile, and is distracted, then you lunge her first. with or without side reins. but, get her moving and focussed on you, before you get up in the saddle.
> 
> if you can't lunge, then do as Golden suggested and get her moving promptly with no pausing for her to admire anything, nor to balk at moving away from friends.
> 
> ...


Thank you. First time she's been "high" - usually handles stuff with nonchalance (wasn't even terrible this time, just unexpected.) I will definitely lunge her prior to next ride, get her focus on me. I appreciate your input - thanks!


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## RockyMountainBaroque (Jun 7, 2017)

I wouldn't use side reins to ride in, if you have a good understanding of their use and applications I would opt for draw reins for this horse... Otherwise, if you're not comfortable with that route I'd try a leverage type bit such as a kimberwick until she's got her brains back in her head enough to listen with your snaffle and not blow through your aids entirely... I'd totally start with lunging her in side reins before riding her. Personally, I like draw reins especially for the drafty type horses who try to over power/blow through the aids. They're nice IMO because you can use them when you need them, then just drop them when you aren't using them.


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## cbar (Nov 27, 2015)

Ok...I misunderstood and thought she was being herd bound. I agree with some of the others' advise - work in her lots of circles & lots of transitions to get her brain back on you. If she's not sure what you'll ask her next, then she will start to pay more attention to you. 


If she is 'up' b/c she hasn't been worked in awhile, I also think a quick lunging session might get her into the right frame of mind as well. Again, lots of transitions so she's forced to pay attention - the lunge line shouldn't be used for her to blow off steam though. 

I feel your frustration - it is tough to have the time to work the horses when the days are so short!


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

horse can be mighty energetic when it gets cold! I love that bit of spark they get.


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## ApuetsoT (Aug 22, 2014)

No to side reins, no to draw reins with this horse and rider. If she's tossing her head, a running martingale may be helpful, but this is a schooling issue. Can your instructor come out for a few lessons?


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## SketchyHorse (May 14, 2012)

Golden Horse said:


> You had it right asking her to trot, so hard to get them to settle to a walk, if Fergie is 'UP' we always get into trot as soon as we can, then get her brain working, trotting circles, voltes, serpentines, anything that keeps her bending and thinking, that is the best way I find to get the focus back on you...then when they settle you can give a loose rein and let her walk, if she heats up again, back to trotting and bending.


Completely agree with this. My OTTB was the type who easily got frustrated or 'up' when she didn't know the answer or wasn't comfortable where she was. We might walk 10 steps then immediately start trotting. Just trotting around the arena though would only cause her to go more 'up' - so lots of circles, serpentines, change of direction in different corners. Slowly adding leg as she became more settled. Eventually she'd come back down where I could start half-halting.

Your mare's mind was on everything _except_ for you. You needed to get her mind with you. Agree lunging beforehand could have helped. I'm not big on lunging personally - I might use it as a quick 'check' & if my horse is in a distracted mindset start doing some groundwork. That always managed to bring my OTTB back to me as well. She could run for hours on the lunge & it typically just made her hotter. Groundwork made her think. 

Also agree no aids are necessary. Side reins wouldn't have helped - they actually might have gotten you into trouble. If you haven't worked in draw reins before I wouldn't just randomly throw them on. It doesn't sound like you need a bigger, stronger bit either. She just sounds distracted.


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## Lilah (Jan 24, 2017)

ApuetsoT said:


> No to side reins, no to draw reins with this horse and rider. If she's tossing her head, a running martingale may be helpful, but this is a schooling issue. Can your instructor come out for a few lessons?


First thing I did was ask my trainer for an at-home lesson, alas she is too busy with these short daylight hours. So I turned to this forum  I agree with everyone - no gadgets, side reins, etc - some lunging to get her attention on me, and enjoy the "spark" of energy this cold weather brings! She is not dirty or willful at all, simply excited and slightly distracted. This weekend I'll start earlier in the day, do some ground work, have some fun, and when I feel she's 'listening', I'll take her to the mounting block (which I dragged about half a mile from the offending neighbour horses....) Thanks again for all your advice!


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## jaydee (May 10, 2012)

I wouldn't worry about using a running martingale on a horse that gets a bit high headed when its excited or fresh, they're a safety net rather than a fixed aid, they only come into effect when the horse raises its head so high it could be a danger to the rider and the bit isn't acting on the right part of the mouth.
The rest of the time (provided they're correctly adjusted) they're going to be sitting there doing nothing at all to interfere with or alter the horses head/neck carriage


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