Daisy reins.

Does anyone use daisy reins? My horse pulls her head down a lot which kinda scares me so I was wondering do daisy reins work or would they just irritate her?

She is pretty sensitive with things and has been behaving badly when ridden.

Was not sure what it was, I had to look it up. An anti grazing device or an overhead check of sorts.

I have never used one, no. I do know some small munchkins that have used them on their ponies when hacking out on grass.

What exactly did you want it to do?

The ones I am talking about are used when riding so the horse does not pull his head down.

Rather than using something to pull his head down, why not use a sheepskin noseband cover? I've had success in getting horse's to bring their heads down that way.

Sheepskin Noseband Cover, Cottage Craft Sheepskin Noseband Cover

I have used them on children's mounts before, but wouldn't really be inclined to with an adult rider. Is there a reason you are unable to prevent the behavior yourself? Checks can, in theory, (if the horse has a habit of putting her head down suddenly and forcefully) be a bit harsher than a rider simply making it a practice to keep the horse's head up - if she is as sensitive as you say I don't know that it would be the best option.

She is not trying to pull the horses head down, at least not with this device. It keeps the head from being pulled down.

I dunno why she does it. She just stops and dives into the bit. Maybe it is the bit. But she only ever does it in walk.

I suppose this would work and it would be self correcting.

Are you not able to yank her head up and make her go forward?


Have you had her teeth checked recently?

So what you are saying is your horse roots? When she roots, she pulls you out of your tack?

What do you do in response when your horse roots? Do you yank back?

There could be a number of reasons as to why your horse is rooting - poor saddle fit, mouth hurts, too much hands in her face, not enough leg and too much rein, etc, etc, etc - can you eliminate the reasons as to why she is doing this?

I do not believe any gadget is going to "mend" the problem, but instead just mute it.

It is hard to decipher the situation on a forum, without being there in person.

Nelson used to root quite often - and my Coach told me to not yank back, because that's just fighting against the issue, instead of trying to correct it. Instead, make sure I ride with a strong base of support, and hold myself strong in my tack, so when he does root, he does not jeapordize my position, and he just pulls against himself. When he pulls his head down, to not allow him to find the end of the reins, but instead by holding myself strong, I didn't allow him to find the "release" but let the bit catch him in the mouth. It was hard to not pull back, and it took practice, but eventually I got it.

When he did root, I also had to engage him forward and get him moving forward.

Sometimes he still Roots, and when I feel him about to, I drive inside leg into outside rein, tighten my core and hold myself so he cannot jeapordize my position - and I make him work.

Of course, I elminated issues, like saddle fit and teeth and bit and yadda yadda.

I hope that makes sense.

When you try to pull her head back up do you pull with one rein or two? If you are pulling with two she can brace against it, one of our boarders has trouble with her pony who will duck her head down to eat grass or to try and get the bit. I am assuming with your horse she is trying to grab the bit when she pulls her head down. Does she try to buck at all? That is the other reason they pull their head down, they can't buck when their head is up. I would suggest when she pulls her head down next time, just pull her head up to one side with one rein, it is harder to brace against, and make her go in a tight circle if you have to. Without more details as to what she is doing I really don't know what more advice to give.