Your thoughts on sidereins

[Alflover]

Ive started working on getting my pony to stretch his neck muscles and work on getting him on the bit. Now that im pretty much the only person rides him ie. hes barely used in the riding school it means i can teach him things and he wont get confused with being ridden by people who are concentrating only on improving themselves (which is fair enough lol). Going on the bit has never been something that ive worked at achieving with him but now he listens enough for me to be able to try more advanced things. He will do it naturally on his own for a few strides but thats it so far. Hes generally quite stiff one one side to begin with and needs to be worked in to ease that.

So basically im wondering what your thoughts on sidereins are. I can see the value of them but personally id rather achieve my goals without 'cheating' and to have him working properly rather then forcing him, but i wanted to know if people thought that they could be an option for me to use. I know he'll never be a grand prix dressage horse but i cant see that this is a completely impossible thing to aim for because he can do it..when he wants!!

 

[Est]

I've never seen side reins being used for riding, just lunging. That's not to say people don't use them - just that I've never come across it.

My personal feeling is that you're absolutely right: what he offers you at the moment, a few strides of being truly "on the bit", is as much as he can comfortably manage. If you keep going with suppling exercises (circles, serpentines, leg yield, shoulder-in, spirals on circles, curves off the track etc) and do consistent, regular schooling sessions, the length of time he can remain on the bit will increase too.

And that way it remains something freely offered and never something uncomfortable or to be fought against. Why rush something that's coming along nicely at its own pace?

 

[shirley]

Why not think about using side reins on the lunge to get him to stretch long and low and work from behind, track up under himself and build up the muscles along his back, his neck and under his belly. That way when you work him from leg into your hand and bringing him down onto the bit he will have enough strength in his muscles to sustain that self carriage for longer periods. As for getting him to be a little more supple on the one side, use stretches with carrot to entice him to stretch around to the effected side and then onto the other side.
No need to cheat as you put it, regular schooling will be the way to go, again make it fun and not get to boring doing the same thing day in and day out. Hacking out strengthens their tendons over different ground surfaces, walking and trotting will gradually increase his stamina and gradually become fitter. Overall have strength, stamina, suppleness and fitness.
Good luck

 

[jacstar]

Please dont ever use them while your riding

side reins should only be used under an experienced horse person ie-instructor's supervision

if he is stiff on one side i would advoid side reins as this could make him worse

side reins shouldnt be used to force the horses head done, but to assist with collection, what that means is the horse has to be moving forward all the time to get proper collection..

i would stay with the exercises that your doing and maybe even some trotting poles to encourage the head to go down while using his back.

lots of schooling is the best way even if you get some lessons and see what your instructor says

good luck

jac

 

[eventerbabe]

one of the instructors i had to help my with toby when he was younger used to ride him in side reins. i then spent the next 2 years working on stopping him going overbent, all caused by the use of side reins. so i say DON'T use them. your time would be better spent having a few lessons. and its pointless trying to get him on the bit unless he is working through from behind correctly. only when you have achieved that can you work on improving self carriage. good luck

 

[Kris R]

"He will do it naturally on his own for a few strides but thats it so far. Hes generally quite stiff one one side to begin with and needs to be worked in to ease that."

The fact that your horse will 'do it naturally on his own for a few strides' shows his muscles are slowly developing and he is getting there in his own time. the key word is TIME, training and developing muscles takes TIME

Why you would want to put these torturous side reins on him to force him to maintain the 'desired shape' beggars belief. If you had a daughter or son attending ballet classes what would you say if you came to watch a class one day and saw their legs had been tied up to a rope suspended from the ceiling because they needed to stretch their muscles to make sure they could attain the splits ! I don't think you would be very happy about it.

I have read so may justifications for these items but you should read Cavalletti by Ingrid & Reiner Klimke, this is the proper way to teach your horse to become gymnastic, elastic and tension free in his paces and shape.