Daisy Reins

charliejonny

New Member
Oct 8, 2006
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mid wales
hi guys do dasiy reins help with horses that like to buck?
Our girl tends to buck when she goes into a canter:eek: ,her teeth and back are,shes an ex pacer who we are training at the moment (and having alot of fun doing it),just thought if anyone has used them for that purpose before and if they have worked.:D
 
A pony at our RS had daisy reins because he kept putting his head down and because he had all the little 'uns they wouldn't be able to hold on so he got what he wanted:mad: but as soon as the daisy reins was on he started raising his head instead:rolleyes: I don't think you're meant to put it on horses who buck as it can hurt their back or something could be wrong though:confused:
 
I thought that that was what they're for, was stoppinghorses being able to do big buck as they can't get their heads down :confused:

Friend got on for her mare who bucked when asked to do anything but walk trot and it stopped her bucking and she was able to ride without it eventually!!

Nikki xxxx
 
The old pony i used to ride for someone got put in a daisy rein for a while..She immiedatly started doing half rears instead, so if your girl can be quite highly strung, I'd be careful..My Bambi was a bit of a nutter and she just started going up when she felt restricted.
 
i would never eecommend the sue of a daisy rein with a horse who has not been physically checked: to eliminate pain (the most common factor) her saddle, back, teeth, bit fit and physiology all need to be checked before anything.
what do you feed ehr? how much excerssie is she getting? when did this problem start? you need to find out why she buckes, rather than just treating the symptoms; she is trying to tell you something in the only way she can, and if you don't listen then she'll feel that she has to go to more extreme measures to get you to.
has anything changed in her routine/life when the bucking began? or has it always eben there?
i would enevr forcefully, physically restrict your horse from bucking: if she is unable to she may well use other bad behaviours to show her feelings instead. plus, most importantly, you will not be removing her feel for the need to buck, and theefore you want to stop her wanting to do it, ratehr than forcing ehr to which will not solve the issue.
you need to consider all of these options: does she do it during the transition from trot to canter, for example?
and also, a few bucks to let off steam afetr being stabled all day/night, or at the start is acceptable, especially during training: try lunging her for a few mins to allow her to let off steam forst, before riding.
eliminating the cause will eliminate the reaction, so find out what it/they are!
good luck
x
 
Hi she only seems to buck in the school,she has never bucked out on the hack apart from one time which was my own fault but shes allways doing it in the school but only in between the trott and canter never any other time,what could this mean?is she just board with being in the school?her teeth and back have been checked out and are fine.
 
As far as I know daisy reins are meant to stop small ponies eating grass when ridden by children. I would think they could cause immense problems if used to avoid a buck, almost encouraging a dropped shoulder twist.

If your horse is a pacer canter will have been 'trained out' to avoid her breaking. It is a bit like taking a pony who has done LR where canter is not allowed and then struggling to get a transition. Several factors may apply. Look at your aids, it may be you have to keep your leg forward and use your seat as a cue as a leg to far back may cause the buck reaction . It may well be that the horse has been punished for cantering so you have to praise every small step even if you get it by running into canter. You probably get canter when riding out without conciously using canter aids, try to replicate this in the school.
 
Thanks eml you made some good points iv decided not to go with daisy reins at the mo as you say i dont want to make it worse by restricting her.
Thanks again eml iv give it a go :D
 
A pony I ride (who 12.1hh) wears a daisy rein and a crupper (to stop his saddle coming forward when the daisy rein is in use). But he doesn't buck, only puts his head down on a regular basis if he doesn't have a daisy rein on.

However, they have been used for ponies likely to buck, but I would never use them on any horse or pony as an aid to stop them bucking, it just will get them frustrated and cause the horse to feel resricted.
Like others have advised, get your horse cheacked over first and if there prooves to be nothing wrong I still wouldn't use a daisy rein (in my opinion) because it will just result in other problems (rearing, a dislike for being ridden etc).
I think you should solve a problem and not avoid it by ristricting her with a daisy rein.
Good luck and tell us what you plan to do!
 
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Hi everyone,just a quick update,we had the vet out last week and her teeth are fine her back is fine and her feet are fine,we have the saddle fitter out next week but if thats ok then would anyone than use a daisy rein to help prev bucking?
As a standardbred she does jump into the trot and canter.
We have lunged her with and without tack and she still shakes her head and tries to buck when going into a canter,could she just be excited?
As other people have said as shes an ex pacer she was never allowed to canter,now she is allowed she may be really excited,the prob is it aint a small buck its a mega jump and a buck:eek:
Anyway be interested to see what you guys think.:D
 
The horse will find canter a trial at the moment, it will take a long time for the horse to be able to balance.

It will be a buck of frustration as she tries to sort out her balance and legs.
 
Daisy reins are designed to prevent ponies getting their heads down to graze when ridden by children too small to stop them alone.

A couple of teh ponies at the school wear them; both are ponies who will just yank the reins out of their riders' hands and munch grass given the chance - the rein makes that impossible, so the child is able to stay in control. But the rein should only be fitted tight enough to prevent them *reaching* teh grass - if it's tight enough to stop them lowering their heads at all, it's not properly fitted and will cause them to hollow and raise the head, and be fairly uncomfortable.

I can happily testify that a properly fitted daisy rein won't stop a buck! Yes, it would stop the horse getting it's head down between it's knees to bronc, but won't affect a 'normal' buck because the head isn't down enough for the properly fitted rein to come into effect.

Because they're not designed for use with buckers (and the fact that people now use them for that doesn't change the fact that it wwasn't the original purpose) they are best not used for that purpose. Having seen them used, and used them myself, I can't see how they wouldn't interfere with the horse's way of going if they were used for that. When the horse (or pony) is using itself properly, stretching into the bridle and lifting it's back, the daisy rein should have no effect whatsoever - and when it's fitted in that way, it's not tight enough to stop a buck at all. If it *is* tight enough to do that, then it's going to restrict forward movement, stop the horse stretching forward into the contact, encourage tension and hollowing and increase reistance.

It is something that annoys me in one way; people 'adapting' a piece of equipment designed with a specific purpose to do something else. Nine times out of ten it won't work *because* it's not designed for it.

My feeling is that using it might stop her bucking (might well not though) but it's extremely likely it'll cause far more problems than it can solve.
 
i hate them.
i have had to fit one on a lovely Welsh Sec. A pony already with a standing martingale, crupper and flash - no kidding! it put me off for life, i'm telling you.
i also ride a horse who bucks harmlessly into canter; in my experience it seems that once 'everything' has been checked, the owner can breathe a sign of relief and strap on some form of force to physically prevent the poor horse from doing something. it's criminal.
please, don't exclude pain once your horse's bqak and teeth has been checked; have her addle checked too, and her bit. it could be that her ribs are bruised, you are not asking her properly (have some lessons, even better on the lunge) . . . the list goes on.
ask your YO/RI/knowlegable and experienced friends what they all think.
a daisy rein will mask the problem, won't solve it - and with the pony i ride it doesn't work, and slips left or right causing his head to be pulled slightly one way or the other . . . oh, plus the minor drawback that id doesn't work.
the symtoms you describe are usually not the problem itself, but the symptoms: find and heal the cause, not just the symptoms.
 
we have "grass reins" (we have to use bailing twine because the dogs chew through proper grass reins) on the two oldies at the RS I go to, only because they know all the tricks in the book and realise that the littlest kiddies can't stop them snatching the reins and pottering about where they please :D But I dont think it'd work on a bucking horse, you'd have to do them far too tightly to have any effect at all.
 
My mare used to buck when going into the canter. She is an ex racer so not only got over excited, but found it hard to balance, especially when being ridden in a circle in the school.
I worked on her canter on the lunge (beginning with short periods) and long reining and have been working on transitions, transitions, transitions whilst riding her.... not only are all her paces more balanced now, but her canter transitions are smooth, and she finds going into canter much less of an effort, hence no more bucking when she goes into it.
That's not to say she doesn't put in a playful buck or two on a chilly day.:D But it's no longer a resistance to the transition into canter.
I don't beleive in training aids generally on a green horse- bit like putting a plaster on an open wound.
Good luck!
 
The canter is a really difficult thing for a lot of trotters and pacers anyway. Lots have a weak canter even without any other difficulties, but add to that any issues she's had with driven training in the past and canter is always going to be something you have to work at to get right to start with.

I know an ex-trotter, who had the exact same problems. The transition to canter was really difficult for him, he leapt into it (often with a buck) and often cantered disunited.

The answer for him was to encourage him to move forward freely into canter with lots of trot/canter/trot transitions, pole work (it really can help them sort their legs out going into canter) and when he got the hang of that, walk/canter transitions.

The bucking is a symptom of the problems she's having. Helping her solve those problems will bring far more benefits than just 'stopping the buck'. As she becomes better balanced and happier with canter transitions, the bucking will more than likely no longer be a problem.
 
I agree with chev here. I have re-trained several ex-trotracers and almost all of them struggle with the canter. Working on the transitions will help, but you have to remember that they will not be able to do it perfectly from the start so you'll have to cut her some slack, let her do the transitions with a bit more speed and not be too worried if fronts change before the back etc.

Also a good trick is to bend the horse outside during the transition. It opens up the inner shoulder and makes it easier for the horse to raise the canter, and then slowly start bringing the bend more towards the center and then finally to the middle.

I would try and avoid any extra aids, such as the daisy aid, they will bring more problems with them.

Good luck with her, hope it works out! Don't hesitate ask for help! :)

Nina x
 
Hi all thanks for you thoughts iv decided not to use the daisy rein aid im going to do alot of work with her in the school,its hard work but i love owning an ex pacer so it will be worth it.:D
 
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