[firegurl979]

but if done up to tight the horse is not using him/herself properly..

[XxLiveToRidexX]

The only time I EVER use side reins is while lungeing. My horse is fine walk/trot but in the canter he needs the little extra balance that the side reins support him with.

BTW, I lunge maybe twice a year (when I am to lazy to ride)

[Rhythm 'n Blues]

Originally Posted by IIIBarsV

The ones I was complaining about with the hard-mouthed horse who killed my shoulders were done up waaaaaay tighter than that- and are commonly done up too tightly if that is the comparison we use.

Seen that, dealt with the after mass! While the horse I'm thinking of was NO WHERE near "side-reined-up" as much as you are describing, they were too short and caused him to be breaking at the 3/4th vertibrat that required some time & attentive hands on my part.

Sadly I don't have photos of when I 1st started with the above mentioned horse, but here is about 2-3months into my working with him, acutally a pretty hefty improvement from where we started:


You can see that while his head is on the verticle he's just NOT engaging the hinney as he should and he's not searching for the bit like the other 2 horses pictured. In the photo on the right, you can acutally get a good look that he is breaking at the 3/4th vertibrat a little bit.

BUT he has since improved greatly! The above photos were taken April 2009, here he is Aug 2009 -- just 3months later:

I know, not the best of angles, but you can still see a big improvement in his overall shape & willing ness to follow the contact.

I really need to get updated photos of this boy, as in the last 2months he has just comes LEAPS & BOUNDS from the above photos

[Rhythm 'n Blues]

Originally Posted by XxLiveToRidexX

The only time I EVER use side reins is while lungeing. My horse is fine walk/trot but in the canter he needs the little extra balance that the side reins support him with.

BTW, I lunge maybe twice a year (when I am to lazy to ride)

Not to pick in any way shape or form, but the horse should NEVER be balancing on the side rein. They are there to act as the light, soft, elastic contact that the rider would have.....does your horse balance on your hands in canter??? To use the side-reins for balance, is to have them too short, or the horse on the forehand WAY too much.