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THE USE OF SIDE REINS

by
John O'Leary
Horseman
© 2003

THE BASIS OF MY ARGUMENT

I read Equestrian Forums a lot. They often argue the for and against of the use of side reins and other artificial aids. They never agree and they will never agree. Depends on which side of the Industry you come from. I have never really got into these debates as it would be rare to find anyone who has ridden the cross section of horses and felt their mouths.  They are therefore not qualified to debate the matter imho. I am simply sounding the warning that side reins damage the mouths of young, green, inexperienced and newly broken in horses. They do not however, affect horses that are established in collection. My wife uses them on all of her established Dressage horses and I have never witnessed any harm. I have however, just this week, had a feel of the mouths of her two younger ones (Novice Dressage Level) and have found diminished mouths and an increased ignorance and resistance, caused once again, by Side Reins.

The use of side reins as an artificial aid in training is a widely accepted thing. I have no problems with that but I do have some warnings, based upon the twenty or so ruined horses that are sent to me each year, caused directly by the use of side reins.

 I rate the mouth on a horse on a scale of zero to ten. Zero being an untouched, unbroken horse. Some of those horses had mouths that were minus zero. Over the years, as with everything, I have observed and experimented. I have arrived at the following 'Golden Rule' when it comes to the use of them.

That the use of side reins, when used on horses below established Elementary Dressage, causes varying degrees of damage to their mouths, diminishes the possible rating of the finished mouth and totally destroys others. Above Elementary Dressage level, I have no quarrel with their use but would still carefully observe how the horse is using them, their adjustment at all times and the adjustment of them.

For the newly broken in horse, the green horse or the inexperienced owner, I strongly warn against them. Here are some reasons:

• As a horse goes around, one rarely has a complete idea of just how hard a horse is baring down upon them or pulling against them.
   

• They are too fixed, allow a horse very little room to maneuver and to possibly find any real relief, which after all is that training gem that we are looking for during the training of the young horse.
   

• They do not allow a young horse enough freedom, enough relief, enough flexion each way and above all, the room to travel 'long and low' should the horse so wish. If they do, because of the lack of Dressage foundation that horses of this level have, they don't know how to travel low without going drastically behind the bit. A dangerous thing for them to learn early on.
   

• Young horses should be prepared and assisted in the un-natural task of carrying an un-balanced rider. To do this, especially at the young or 'green' age, surely horses should be worked 'long and low'? Side reins do not allow or promote this and inevitably, no matter how hard the horse tries to search for the low contact, it runs into a brick wall.

Every week, I meet new horses that have been played around with by their owners who could just not wait for the Breaker. They put side reins on......real loose or with big rubber bands in them so there is no damage as they attempt to do the right thing. I can tell you that 100% of them have reduced mouths and can never end as good as the un-touched mouth.

Long side reins and side reins with rubber bands in them commence the first teaching of a young horse how to resist and evade or worse, begin to be a 'head bobber'. Just like when there is a rider on them who 'jiggles'

Damage can be done quickly. I once worked on  a 17 hand high 3 year old Warmblood named "Davidson", who was impossible to stop for a seasoned professional rider. This damage had been done in around 7 days with a Show Jumping Trainer who had been attempting to stop a buck jumping problem with the horse. The horse went on to be a successful Eventer at high level and was ridden by Scott Keach.

So, if the horse is young or 'Green', stay right away from side reins. What are the alternatives then?

RUNNING REINS

I have never had a problem caused by the use of running reins and I have used them thousands of times. On young horses and particularly old seasoned horses with worn out mouths or giant upside down necks. Typical of 95% of Pony Club Horses in Australia

Running reins are reins made from anything from leather to twine that run from the centre of the girth between the front legs of a horse, between the front legs or outside of them to and through the ring on each side of the bit and then to a fixed point on the top of the wither, roller or saddle.    

Running Reins

Side Reins

THE DANGERS OF INCORRECT ADJUSTMENT

When introducing artificial aids of any description, there is a high risk of injury or death to the horse. Each year in Australia, a horse somewhere, dies due to instillation of incorrectly fitted equipment on horses. The rule is therefore, that we must start with such equipment being loose and gradually tightening the adjustments when and only if you see the horse completely understanding what you want and that the horse is giving to the pressure applied. Both of these points are interconnected and highly important. You must be sure that the horse has got the message what is required, such as bobbing it's head and breaking at the poll, before ever adjusting reins up tighter.

Prior to rearing because of tight equipment, a horse will slow, come to a halt and start to step back. These are the signs that the handler must recognize and do so at the speed of light, for the safety and well being of your horse depends upon your re-action. To protect your horse under such circumstances, you must leap to a position where you are behind your horse and quite simply, cane, whack or what ever other description you want use, the horse's rump. It must be sent forward and any force is reasonable under these circumstances. The horse that goes forward does not rear and is therefore safe from injury. If this has happened once, they rarely do it again, only if the owner is a 'super goose' and adjusts up too soon again.

I hear the argument that "We only have them done up loose. Well that is a waste of time for a start and teaching the horse a little bit of resistance and a little bit of contact but not enough of anything. This builds the 'upside down neck'

THE CRUX OF MY ARGUMENT

I have found that side reins put on young or inexperienced horses, below about Elementary Dressage level, damaged every horse that I have ever ridden. No exceptions. That damage has been in varying degrees and on some of them, many other people would not identify damage. I do and the reason is that I often feel good mouths and have always got that benchmark to test against. Most people have not. I have never experienced or felt damage done by the use of Running Reins.

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