[rileyboy]

Note: I am not doing this yet with my filly, but if and when *we* do, my respected TRAINER will be doing it. I am just looking to hear about experiences!

How have you introduced a horse to side reins?
How did they react?
What steps did you take to prepare them?
How old were they?
Did you use the kind with or without donuts?
Any other comments or suggestions?

[imjustjoking22]

Horse should be comfortable in a bridle and know to give to rein pressure on each side. Start with the side reins quite loose, and you should be fine. Your trainer should be able to explain things specific to your situation in much better detail than us though

[Xiphias]

I start with a horse that has learned to wear a bridle, although you can use them on a halter or lunging cavason too....start out with them loosely...so the horse can find out that they are there, and restrict him/her from putting their head down to the ground...once they get used to that you can move them up a hole or so at a time, till you have them adjusted where you want them...I like the kind with elastic, infact I use amish made elastic leg straps, made for turn out blankets, they have more stretch to them...I started my 2 year olds in side reins, and then went to ground driving them....

Cathy

[Ajai01469]

we started all the horses we trained in side reins, once they were used to the bridle and lunging and or round penning we would first introduce one side rein very loosly (the side closest to the person lunging) after usually only a couple of days we would put on the other side rein again very loosely, after a couple of times if the horse didnt show any signs of being afraid or tossing there head ect we would slowly tighten the inside rein and continue to do so each time we lunged. Some horses we could do this to in a matter of weeks others took longer.

The old experianced horses could have the side reins fairly tight, the youngsters we kept on the long side. If two side reins were too much we would go back to using one until they got used to it. This is how we worked all our horses. If we only had time to lunge they "had" to be in side reins.

I have never had a horse freak out over side reins. Most seemed to except it without a problem

And i'm sure some people will critisize me about our way of doing things but i worked and managed a dressage farm and this is how the owner wanted things done.

[IIIBarsV]

I generally do not use side reins at all, and when I have, they were on w/t/c bridle-trained horses, on a snaffle bit, and they were made of fully-elastic winter blanket straps. For short periods of time, lunging only.

You see, traditional side reins give the horse something to lean on, even with the donuts. If the horse tries to give to the pressure, the side reins prevent it.... many horses figure out quickly that they can lean, and believe me, this is very obvious when you ride them- they frame up nice, but there is always weight on the reins. I prefer to ride without constant weight on the reins, it makes for a quicker-responding horse that is easier to train, as well as then I KNOW I am not pulling that horse into an uncomfortable situation. They learn to carry themselves where they are most comfortable, they don't learn to let me pull them into a position with physical strength.

Often, people adjust those reins too tightly anyway, and the horse has nowhere to go. You'll be able to tell easily if a horse has been lunged too much in too-tight side reins because of the muscle tone in the neck- often VERY developed behind the poll with noticeable muscle knots at the 3rd vertebra (sometimes easier to FEEL than see outright).

This is why I like my winter blanket straps, for the "once in a blue moon" times when I use them, generally on a horse who's been under saddle for a while. The horse won't feel "trapped" by them, they will feel lighter pressure, not solid pressure, and they are not forced into a set position by them. The horse learns to give to lighter pressure correctly, and if they try to lean on it, the reins will stretch and the horse feels an "annoying" light pressure, and MUST carry themselves. The reins won't hold up the weight of the head, whereas leather side reins, even with donuts, DO hold up the horse's head weight.

Generally, I don't do a lot of lunging, maybe once a month. And it is entirely possible to train a horse on the lunge to be balanced, frame up, collect, etc without side reins. I usually use a rope halter, and my advanced gelding has three speeds at all gaits with it.

I use lunging for assessing movement, checking back problems, quick warm-ups for Halter classes, in place of a light riding work out, for teaching a green horse how to jump small jumps, and for teaching w/t/c vocal cues... I never lunge to "work down" an energetic horse, I handwalk for that.

Lunging is an ART and you can do a TON of damage to a horse's body by overdoing it or not doing it correctly. I would rather see people teach the horse from the saddle or from slow, close ground work, than lunge.

Some examples of common lunging injuries are:

- Bruised mouth/bridge of face if someone tries to lunge in a bridle or with a chain over the nose/under the chin.

- Torn muscles in the poll and neck, sometimes one-sided and noticeable as hard knots in the muscle, especially in the middle of the neck. ***** EXTREMELY COMMON! *****

- Coronet injuries because somebody forgot to put bell boots on!

- Splint injuries because somebody forgot to put boots or polos on! (Also, you can exascerbate hoof imbalances and cause an injury to happen more quickly. Better learn what hoof balance is before you go doing too much lunging!)

- Hip, hock, stifle, and lower back injuries because the horse took off and slipped out in the hind end, or you did a "disengage the hip to Whoa" natural horsemanship move at a speed faster than a normal trot! *** VERY COMMON ***

- Shoulder and knee injuries because the horse took off and slipped out in the front end or fell down.


Some guidelines for safety:

- Always make sure the FOOTING of whatever you are lunging on provides lots of traction!

- Always wear gloves! I know what a nylon burn feels like, and it's not fun!

- Never roll up the lungeline- lay it back and forth across your hand, folding it.

- Don't ask the horse for more speed if you cannot control the current speed. Start small and slow.

- Don't use a whip if the horse is a "hot head" or spooky of it. Use something like a dressage whip, or nothing at all. And always keep your movements with the "whip hand" slow, low, and don't let it move unless you're cueing the horse (if you move around too much, you'll desensitize the horse and they may start ignoring the whip completely. When you whip comes up, you want a "Yes Ma'am!" response, not an "AHHHHHHHHHH It's gonna kill me!!!" or "Meh, whatever...."

- Handwalk the horse on a loose lead rope instead of lunging if the horse is nervous, young, or has a lot of energy.

- Never let the horse think he's going to get away with kicking out at you on the lunge, striking out, or charging. Depending on the horse, answer those with a hard smack of the lungewhip on their bum. Consistantly, and be aggressive with your voice. Respect on the lunge is the exact same thing as respect anywhere else.

- That said, don't lunge a horse who has aggressive behavior problems on the halter already; correct the behavioral problems on the halter before attempting to lunge.

- Wear a helmet when dealing with a horse who may rear at you, likes to kick out, etc. You can't be too careful. Also wear footwear that is NON SLIP in whatever footing you're in, and is easy to move in. And yes, as unsafe as it is, I do wear running shoes when I'm lunging *certain* horses... but getting sand in them can be very annoying.

- Wear clothing that is form-fitted but loose or stretchy, easy to move in, and won't make you over-heat, not baggy or too heavy. Lunging can be physical exercise sometimes.

- Tie your hair back. Nothing more annoying than trying to fix your windblown hair while managing a lungeline and whip. Also, wear a hat or sunglasses if it's bright out. And sunscreen!

- Put on deodorant if you know your horse might be a handful or require you to move fast to block them from changing directions, etc etc.... 'cause you never know when the next "Mr Right" might show up at your barn.

[ThePerfectFit]

How have you introduced a horse to side reins?
When the horse is comfortable w,t,c on the lunge line I added them loosely to both sides.

How did they react?
Fine. They did exactly what the side reins were asking them to do, as I tightened them, the affect was better. No horses freaked out.

What steps did you take to prepare them?
Simply making sure the horse is comfy without gadgets on the lunge line.

How old were they?
3 and up.

Did you use the kind with or without donuts?
I actually dont like the ones with the donuts, I feel that they dont have enough give. Half the side rein is made of elastic tubing, and other half of leather. They have an "automatic reward factor". I've had them for YEARS and refuse to use any other side rein.

http://www.sstack.com/shopping/produ...ord=side+reins

Any other comments or suggestions?

Dont use them on one horse for too too long. They are helpful in small doses. Also, dont ride in side reins. =)