[Lindsayanne]

I overheard my trainer the other day telling a rider not to be afraid of yanking on the reins! Not as a general practice, or anything, but he said that rein yanking should be something a horse is desensitized to! He said every rider will at some point clutch reins to save themselves from falling- and in that event, the last thing you want is your horse to react to the yank by thinking that means the sky is falling and bolting. I thought that was really interesting.



I taught Regal to get above the bit when we were both quite a bit greener than we are now. So when he puts his head up there, as he still occassionally tries , he gets see-sawed downwards till he puts it back in a place where I have control.

[EquineJessie]

Like others have said, I would never yank on a curb bit unless it was a really really really drastic situation.

Often, with the colts, once they understand to give to pressure, I'll pull their heads around if they're not listening. They understand to give to the bit. And, I hate nagging -- I want to ride on a loose rein all the time and for the horse to respond to the slightest cue. So, I give my cue and if the horse doesn't listen, I'll pull the head around -- double it.

If I ask a horse to stop and it doesn't stop... I've set my hands and the horse is going through them, I'll pick up one rein and pull the head around "making" the horse stop. The horses don't like it at all and they'll generally 'learn their lesson' and stop when asked the next time.

Also, if I'm on the rail and all of a sudden, the horse ducks into the center of the arena, I'll pull the horses head around the other direction and drive him out of it so he doesn't learn to cheat.

I do beleive it is much kinder to make a big deal out of small disobediences as soon as they occur rather than constantly correcting or nagging. The horse learns to perform correctly without relying on your hands for direction and you soon won't need a bridle to ride the horse.

[kvmt10]

I will only pull on the reins If Viktor is bolting or bucking. When he bucks, he gets a quick pull upwards with the rein, in an attempt to get his head high enough to be unable to buck.

Pulling, as such is not warranted unless you are in an extreme situation, at least thats what I think.

I must admit, as I'm sure many of us have been in the same boat, that when I was a beginner, I thought pulling, was the only way to stop a horse.

So many times do I see little kids constantly yanking their horses heads around.

What I think is equal or worse than, is seesawing! seesawing is terrible. What kind of horse wants a big piece of metal constantly being pulled through their mouth? see saw, see saw. Not cool

I know some horses, who the only way to get them under control is to seesaw. But that does not mean I have to like it.
I guess its all the different training methods. Each to their own.

[SJgirl]

I will if the horse bolts, that is when i kick with the inside leg and swing them around in a circle. Or if they do any thing that is dangerous like that.
With my last few horses they have all had extremely soft mouths, i thought my hands where soft already when i got them but nope. Now with Abbey if I start doing some thing with my hands (ie, sea sawing on mouth etc) boy she will tell me bye throwing her head up or just plain stopping dead.
So I have learnt very well now to ride very very soft in the hands and back everything up with leg and a bit of seat (only for movements etc as i still ride with a light seat). So if i need to pull, for example the other week when i did our first canter since she had been out for 2 months and she then didn't want to trot and leaped in the air (we flew long and high!) and than tried to bolt. I sung her ride, yes sorry i did have to pull abit and a whack with the whip (sorry if that sounds harsh, but she gets habits very quickly!) and she did not try it again.
But the other day I was riding back home along the road. I stood up in my stirrups to stretch and a duck flew up underneath Abbey's hoof! She jumped sideways and I was just about left behind! Sadly I didn't have my butt in the saddle so had no real balance and I was not falling off on the road with a truck coming!! So i had to use the reins to stay on and the same time get Abbey off the middle of the road with the truck coming. Thankfully Abbey didn't want to get ran over so corporate perfectly
But it is rare for Abbey to misbehave that much! lol so than it is rare for me to use that much hand and pull on a horse.

Things I really disagree on is kids yanking ponies mouth, and this is not because they are being naughty but just to turn, and sea sawing the mouth is horrible especially if not backed up with the leg.

The horse learns to perform correctly without relying on your hands for direction and you soon won't need a bridle to ride the horse.

EquineJessie I can ride Abbey on the buckle of the reins, have her rounded up, engaged and changing rein when my body tells her to (like changing weight etc), does that count? lol

[crazy4horses205]

As a last resort I will, like if Tobey is just taking off with me and is running through my aids and being a jerk I will pull him in a tight circle to get him under control again and if he's just being an *** and ducking out on the jumps almost leaving me on the ground I will jerk to let him know thats NOT ok to do. I always feel bad afterwords but its a necessary evil.