Side reins?

S

shockblue

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Oct 8, 2009
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What are they for?

I've owned horses nearly all my life, never used them but have seen lots of people use them when lunging and also when ridden, even on the roads!

I have my own thoughts about them from the observations I have made but genuinely would like to know if they do have some theory behind them and that the times I have seen them used they were being used incorrectly.
 
I have to confess to riding in them :unsure: but only a few times. I was recovering from a ripped muscle in my shoulder and wanted to ride. I knew if Rhia pulled, it would have been bad news, so I rode in loose side reins as support. She mainly rides from the seat anyway but I felt I needed them as support. Only for a week or so then I scrapped them.
 
I'm wondering how benificial they are? If anyone could answer that would be grateful, sorry can't really answewr the initial question :unsure:
 
I too have used them to stop pony unseating small rider by pulling and to reduce napping for said rider.

As an aid to a "correct outline" I don't see the use. But I also don't see any benefit in draw reins and I do t have enough knowledge about pessoas but I'm inclined to feel the same about them. An outline is developed through working from behind to generate power and self carriage, not held in at the front end.

My most frequent experience is side reins on green horse to "develop Te correct muscles". Which is all good but green horses should be long an low and I've never seen one with enough balance to manage In side reins without hollowing. A hrse that is capable of working In the outline would not need side reins to work in that way IMHO
 
are side reins the same as grass reins? if so, those are for headstrong horses and ponies to keep them from pulling the reins out of your hands to eat grass or just avoid the bit. I was going to get some because my pony is very bad about pulling, but my instructor told me to try not to and be firm from the beginning and not let him pull, and after just a couple of lessons of me not letting him pull (holding my hands as tightly as I could and not letting him pull) he stopped the pulling. BUT grass season is around the corner, so if he's terrible I might still opt for them. I'm a sis and find it hard being brave and tough enough for my little pony. I am surprised to the more advanced riders using them on horses though.

so, I can't tell you if they are beneficial, but some people swear by them for their kids and yanking ponies.
 
Grass reins are similar to side reins, BUT they cross over the withers before attaching to the saddle, and are fitted fairly loose. When greedy pony puts his head down to eat, they press on the withers and physically stop the head going too low, but are loose enough that he can canter etc comfortably.

iMHO they are life savers for children with strong greedy ponies! Nothing more demoralising than continually being yanked over the ponies head when you just learning to stay on!

ETA daisy reins are different, personally don't like them. They go from the head piece, down the neck, and split to attach to the d rings. I don't think they give enough head movement.
 
I have never ridden a horse in side reins for schooling, but I usually lunge in side reins so that the horses have a contact to work into. When they are going forwards nicely and working through from behind, there needs to be some sort of contact at the front end to control the energy that's being created by the back end - otherwise the energy is lost through the front and you find that the horse rushes and / or falls onto the forehand.

I use stretchy rubber side reins, running directly from the bit (eggbutt snaffle) to a roller. From the saddle the aim is to have the horse's head more or less on the vertical, so I want the same when they're working on the lunge. The aim is to encourage the horse to carry its head on the vertical and work into the contact, but not to force anything. With ridden work I want to have giving hands and an elastic contact that encourage correct head carriage by pressure and release. I try to replicate this in some way whilst lunging.

I set the side reins long enough that there's only a light contact when the horse is on the vertical, and short enough that when they go above the vertical the pressure increases. When they feel the contact strengthen they lower their head to escape that pressure, and as they do this the pressure eases off again. This is why I prefer to use the stretchy rubber ones - the horse does have the ability to resist them, and because they expand and contract according to the amount of resistance, they are closer to replicating the elastic contact that you are aiming to have from the saddle. As I'm lunging it's clearly visible when the horse is resisting the contact and when they are accepting it.

Everybody has their own way of using side reins. Mostly it depends on what you're doing and what you're hoping to achieve. As with any training aid, they do have their place if used correctly.
 
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Not always Whitby as they can lower their head still! Daisy rein would be better at that.

Actually I've remembered why I would lung in side reins - often horses curve the opposite direction to the circle when lunging, so I might use them then and have the inside slightly shorter but I'd prefer to lunge on two lines
 
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