Draw reins

From: Kristin

Jessica, I have some questions for you about draw reins. I ride dressage, and I don't use them. Partially because I've always been taught to push the horse into the bridle correctly, and partially because I just don't think that I have enough experience and education to use them properly. So, I would like to ask:

1. What type of situation would you recommend using draw reins?
2. What is the correct use of draw reins?
3. Why do people use draw reins so much?
4. Why don't some people ever "get off their dependence" on draw reins?
5. What can you do with a horse that hasn't been worked WITHOUT draw reins in a long, long time?
6. What is the difference in riding with draw reins, and lunging with side reins?

Thank you, Kristin

1. There is no situation in which I would recommend using draw reins.
2. I don't think that there IS a correct use, that is, a use that is compatible with correct, systematic, progressive training. The only acceptable - and I mean MARGINALLY acceptable - use correct use of draw reins is completely hypothetical. It would be the brief (no more than a few minutes) deployment of draw reins on a sound, comfortable, sensible but poorly-trained horse, after a full warm-up, by an extremely light-handed rider, to show the horse that it COULD carry its head and neck in a different position than the one it habitually adopted. The draw reins would be used in this way for no more than a few minutes, and then removed. This would be repeated on the following day, and again on the following day - after which the draw reins would be put back into the "useless equipment" box for the NEXT fifty years or more. ;-)

   I say that this is completely hypothetical, because I have never yet met a truly good rider or trainer who used draw reins, ever, for any purpose, and I have never yet met any horse that could not be taught what the rider wanted WITHOUT the use of additional force and leverage. On the other hand, I have met hundreds of riders and trainers who use draw reins in an attempt to substitute force for understanding, or as an attempt to achieve a "look" that needs to be acquired by the actual development of the horse's body and understanding, or as a way to dominate a horse they believe to be "challenging them". I do not agree with or accept any of this, and I can honestly say that I've never seen a situation in which a horse was HELPED by draw reins (although I've seen thousands of instances of horses being harmed by them). The example of possible acceptable use that I've given above is not something you are likely to see, because any rider/trainer who could meet the above conditions would also be entirely capable of achieving his or her goal correctly and without force, and so would not have any reason to put on a set of draw reins.

3. Some people believe that it's the horse's job to submit to the rider's demands, no matter how inept the rider, and no matter how physically impossible a particular demand may be for a horse to meet. Draw reins are popular with those humans who get a thrill out of domination.

   Some people are lazy, and although they want their horse to look like a highly-trained, upper-level horse, they are unwilling to put in the necessary work to develop the animal's body and mind. They see draw reins as a way to achieve the "look" they want, without understanding that although they can force the horse's head down and pull its neck into a tight curve, they haven't achieved anything useful, and the "look" they create won't fool a real horseman, or a horse, for a single second.

   Some people are simply uneducated, and allow themselves to be fooled by fast-talking, self-styled "trainers" who promote the use of such gadgetry. Others lack an understanding of leverage, and imagine that adding draw reins and/or a more severe bit allows them to be "lighter" or "softer" with their hands! They truly don't understand that all this does is allow them to cause a much larger amount of pain to the horse with much less effort.

4. People who are dependent on draw reins stay that way for a number of reasons. Some feel that this is the only way they have "control" over their horses, and are unwilling to allow a horse more freedom with its head and neck in case it does something they might not be able to handle. It's also very difficult for people - in any context, not just draw reins, and not just riding - to face up to the fact that they've been badly taught and have learned to do something the wrong way, and it's even more difficult for people in that situation to resolve to stop doing whatever it is the wrong way and start doing it the right way. And if they've been badly taught, they probably don't have any idea of how to start over. If they do have an idea of what's involved in starting over, they may be daunted by the amount of work and time it will take... there are a lot of reasons that people cling to their gadgets.

5. A horse that has been worked in draw reins for a long time is probably extremely sore, if not actually lame, and will require a great deal of remedial work before it can be put back on a more reasonable training "track". A good trainer can take one look at a horse and tell you whether it's been worked in draw reins - the horse's musculature develops incorrectly through the neck and back. It takes a long time, a lot of slow, patient, correct work, and usually quite a lot of help from trigger-point massage and passive stretching before such a horse can be helped back to a point from which correct training will ALLOW it to develop properly. I've worked with horses like this and found 50 or more trigger-points in their necks alone - each one of which requires attention and regular massage over a period of months, before the horse can be put into proper work. Fortunately, some good-hearted, patient riders are willing to learn the skills and put in the time and effort necessary to salvage their horses. It takes infinite patience, and can be heartbreaking, to spend months coaxing a horse to begin to uncurl its neck, use its back and hindquarters again, and develop the ability to reach toward the bit. It's even more heartbreaking to reach this point at last, only to realize that the long-term effect of the draw reins damaged not only the horse's mind and jaw and neck and back, but its hocks as well, and that it will never be really sound again.

6. Side reins are almost as abused as draw reins; the difference is that side reins can actually serve a useful purpose if used correctly. Side reins, loosely adjusted, can help a horse learn to move forward whilst accepting light contact from the bit, but again, they must be used correctly - at a trot ONLY, because the horse's head and neck remain steady at that gait, not at walk or at canter, when a horse in training will need to make balancing gestures with its head and neck. Too-loose, flapping side reins will only annoy the horse; too-tight side reins will restrict the horse's head and neck movement, and set the horse up for lameness by causing tension in the horse's jaw, neck, and back.

Although side reins can be used in ways that don't cause harm - you can teach a young horse to trot confidently, in balance on the longeline, in contact with the bit, without the weight of a rider - they are usually NOT correctly used or even correctly adjusted. Both side reins and draw reins create a great deal of work for equine chiropractors and massage therapists. If you want to use side reins, familiarize yourself with their correct use and adjustment, be SURE that you know how to longe really well (take lessons!), and use sliding sidereins - either the Lauffer reins or the so-called Vienna-style (the former are attached at two points on the surcingle, the latter are attached to the girth and the surcingle.

I'm glad that you don't use draw reins. You are right on both counts - they have no place in dressage, and you probably don't have the experience and education to use them. Over the years, if you meet and work with enough truly good trainers, you will probably find, as I did, that those few individuals who DO have enough experience and education to be able to use draw reins without causing harm to the horse NEVER USE DRAW REINS AT ALL. In fact, they tend to regard draw reins with the same horror that they would regard a bit with a razor-blade mouthpiece!

There's never a "right" time for draw reins, because if you're so good at riding and training that you can use them in a helpful way, you know many better, more legitimate and productive and effective ways of helping the horse, and if you aren't that good, you have no business using them at all. Interesting, isn't it? ;-)

Jessica

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