Running Reins / Draw Reins.

I've been reading about different peices of tack lately, I'm not to sure about draw reins. I'm actually confused about what the use for them is, I understand what people use them for. But what was the created use for and what does everyone think of them.

Alot of people hate them, they're used to help get the horse on the bit and help the horse achieve the proper head set. Personally, I hate all those gadgets.


Gunther is wearing a running martingale in my avatar, I do not agree with it. When he went though this training I didn't know much about these items, but now I do. I feel as if my old trainer (yes, I said old) was cheating and trying to rush his natural training (not to mention it was too small). Most of the people who say they "have" to use these items simply don't understand how to achieve what they want without it or don't want to take the time and train the horse properly. But hey! Whatever floats your boat.

Thanks fo your reply White Foot It was really informative, I agree with your last sentence it is every person for themselves. The only peices of equitment I've used on my boy are a martingale (he use to throw it to that level of no control) and he had side reins loosely on him once. That I really liked.

Draw reins, in my personal opinion, are one of the most useless pieces of "tack" out there on the market. It forces the horse to adopt a "head-set" that more than not, is not physically fit enough to adopt and thus you'll find many horse that have been trained with draw reins (among other gadgets and just poor training) are heavy on the forehand and most physically notable is they will be broken at the second and third vertebrae.

I enjoy reading through this website about gadgets (and other things), but I have to read with a spoon of salt because the author is VERY opinionated and bias--so, while it does have good information, it can be misleading.
::: Sustainable Dressage - Tack & Auxillary Equipment - Gadgets & Auxiliary Equpiment :::

Draw reins do not put the horse on the bit, or teach it a correct frame. They teach the horse to break at the third vertebrae and go behind the bit. When used especially vigourously they can cause severe inflammation of the spine that requires a course of joint injections to fix.

Thanks guys, I do not plan on using them, I was just interested in them

There are a couple of threads on this forum about them; with some folks intelligenting arguing that they can be used non-coercively and non-abusively in certain limited situations, that they are a tool like any other and whose severity depends on the skill of the user.

AND I will confess, that while I am usually anti gadget and pro slow, systemic training, I did use them once, briefly and fairly successfully, on a very difficult OTTB for whom all the traditional training techniques I tried did not work. I lunged it them to help us get past the horse's initial resistance to contact and working on the aids.

However, they are most often misused, for all the reasons stated above. There's a catch to them, like most training gadgets: If you're tactful enough to use them without being abusive, ie, to release pressure as soon as the horse gives, then you're tactful enough to do the job without them. If you *need* them to get the horse to give; you're probably abusing them.

Make sense?

Exactly!

Maura says it very well, sparing you guys my six page explanation : )

If used properly they can be useful and helpful. But they are not for everyone.