Can ALL western horses direct rein?

[winterbalto]

I don't know if this is a stupid question or not but I was wondering if all horses can be riden by direct reining (using two hands instead of one). I wanted to know because i'm not very good at neck reining and wanted to make sure that if I rented some western trail horses from someone that I would be able to direct rein them with no problems. Is this something all horses are able to do naturally or are all horses taught to do both? I know the horses at the barn I ride at can all do both but wasn't sure if some western horses only know neck reining.

~Nicole

[Grace O'Malley]

As far as I know, the answer is yes. Western horses are taught direct reining first, and then taught to neck rein. The last time I was traveling and took a group trail ride, I noticed the horses were all in snaffles and asked about riding with 2 hands and direct reining. Was told it was no problem, but to be sure to keep the reins fairly loose. We got on just fine :) If the horses are accustomed to being ridden in curb bits and neck reined, the outfit may want them ridden that way. But it's really not that hard to pick up the basics. So probably the thing to do is just ask when you call to book.

Hope this helps,

Grace

[Bacharel]

Definitly. I almost never neck rein my horse. The main group of western riders who neck rein most commonly are pleasure riders. If a horse knows how to neck rein it surely can be ridden with two hands. Especially when schooling many western riders use both hands.

[PridesAngel03]

ALL horses regardless of style are, when trained properly, initially trained to direct rein, especially when being taught to "give to the bit." Neck reining comes later in training for such things as Western Pleasure Show or Reining Classes. The horses don't forget their initial training, so YES you can direct rein ALL "western trained" horses, especially trail horses. Neck reining doesn't always work out on a trail. For example, if the horse refuses to walk throught a stream, guess what? neck reining him/her ain't gonna get him/her across it, you'll have to direct rein to counter each move it makes to avoid that stream until it realizes it's only choice is to CROSS THE STREAM. :rolleyes: Horses can be so silly. ;)