Cambon and side reins

[Waikato Valuta]

What do you think of the chambon. Is it just another tie down or is it useful sometimes.

I got this description of the web:
Leather head piece and martingale with cord to attach headpiece to martingale. Fully adjustable, encourages the horse to relax neck and back muscles and promotes self carriage.

Also how useful are side reins for lounging. i have hurd some people condem them and some use them all the time.

Just wondering i've never used either.

[Claire Louise]

the chambon is ok as schooling aids go. it can be trickey to get it set correctly for your horse though if you've never seen them used before. As for side reins, well any schooling aid is a disaster when used by inexperienced hands. The desire to correct our horses and ponies is in all of us but if you have someone who can go through the use of any schooling aids you intend to use then when you get a feel for what you like using, what gets the best results and what your horse responds to the most.

[Piaffe]

If you use side reins, make sure you lunge your horse first for a few minutes on each rein before attaching them, so he has a chance to warm up. Then don't use them for too long to start with, or have them too short. Use side reins that have elastic or rubber 'donut' in them so they have more give.

[cvb]

I've used a chambon before and found it helped to show the right way as it rewards the horse by letting off the pressure when they go long and low.

However, a much cheaper, and in my view more useful, 'gadget' is a bungee rein - which is like a simple, stretchy version of a chambon. Gives a softer, more giving feel to the horse when in use and is easy to adjust.

Side reins - better if they have a bit of elastic in them, but don't do an awful lot in terms of 'educating' the horse as they just give quite a fixed contact - and are often attached too low to mimic the rider.