by Karen Briggs
Training horses has always been a controversial process. Each faction of the horse world has cultivated its own methods and beliefs, and when the camps face off, those methods and beliefs will often be defended to the death.
In any discipline, though, one of the most hotly disputed topics is the use of training aids, and one of the most popular of these aids is draw reins.
Draw reins are particularly popular with those schooling hunters and jumpers (for some show jumpers, they are almost standard equipment) but at some time they appear in nearly everyone’s barn from dressage to Western to saddle seat.
To use draw reins or not to use them? What are the advantages, and what are the dangers? How often and by whom should they be used? Two Canadian trainers debate the uses and misuses of draw reins.
The Pros
“I think draw reins are a very good training aid; I ride in them about 50 per cent of the time,” says Tom Gayford, who captained the Canadian jumping team’s gold medal effort at the 1968 Mexico Olympics, as well as at the 1970 World Championships, was chef d’equipe of the Canadian Jumping Team from 1972 to 1992, and course designer for the 1976 Montreal Olympics. “They’re a very useful tool if used in conjunction with legs to drive the horse forward into the bridle.”
He finds draw reins particularly useful in correcting horses that poke their noses up going through their corners, as well as those who hollow their backs in resistance.
Gayford says he uses them with a light touch so that the draw rein only comes into effect when the horse resists. “The nice thing about draw reins is that they release if the horse knuckles down and bends. The horse then learns to associate the good and bad effects of the draw rein.”
Gayford uses draw reins in two ways. Generally, he attaches draw reins to the billets of the saddle, which he feels gives them a milder effect, and encourages a bend in the neck. More rarely, he will attach them to the girth, between the front legs.
He points out that with the latter arrangement, a neck strap is needed, especially when jumping. Attaching the draw reins between the front legs seems to result in more of a longitudinal bend in the horse’s spine.
Gayford is quick to point out, however, that it is easy to abuse the power of draw reins, and that they are not a tool for a novice to use.
“I never let a student ride by himself in draw reins. They can cause far more pain than good (in inexperienced hands),” he says. “Draw reins have to be in a sensitive, understanding hand.”
He likens the use of the reins to the feeling of bringing in a sail: you should have just enough tension to let the wind fill the sail, or let the horse move forward freely in a frame.
“I ride with a very loose draw rein; it’s not a matter of controlling the horse. I use it as a varying factor. Sometimes I’ll put draw reins on but never use them, they just hang loose.”
Too many people, Gayford believes, use draw reins that are too tight. They try to force the horse into a frame right away, not letting him move his shoulders.
“You must let the horse move first (by starting work with no draw rein contact, on a long rein) and then gradually bring the frame shorter.”
Over fences, the fixed hand with draw reins can be particularly destructive. When the horse finds he is unable to use his head and neck freely over his fences, he becomes afraid to jump.
While a few of the masters of riding technique who have extraordinarily sensitive hands can effectively ride a horse in draw reins on contact over fences (Ian Millar, for example), Gayford emphasizes that the average rider should not try to emulate this. It is far better to give away the draw rein contact when jumping, or remove the draw reins altogether.
“When the horse’s head is in the correct position,” says Gayford, “the draw reins should be loose. As soon as the horse gives, the rider should give away the draw rein contact by moving the hands out (towards the ears) or down (along the slope of the shoulder), or let the draw rein slip through the fingers.”
Draw reins should never be used on a horse that gets behind the bridle, warns Gayford, as they will aggravate the tendency to overbend. A gag snaffle is usually a better tool for such a horse, but the most important thing to remember, he emphasizes, is “always use your leg before your hand”.
The Cons
In contrast, Martha Griggs, who has been associated with the Canadian Equestrian Team’s eventing squad since 1984 when she was named to the Olympic team, and who now has her own barn where she’s produced successful horse and rider competitors for international level eventing, says about draw reins: “I hate them.
“I think they’re a short cut, and any good schooling program can’t afford to use short cuts. Draw reins are the easy way out, and you pay for them later, because you’re masking the problem instead of solving it. Schooling is a slow process.”
Generally, Griggs dislikes training aids, saying, “A flash noseband is about as gadgety as I get.”
The problem, says Griggs, is that usually the horse learns to balance himself on tight draw reins instead of developing the ability to carry the rider in balance by himself.
“The head gets cranked in too much by draw reins. I’ve seen horses fall on their faces without their draw reins. The horse must learn to balance naturally; you don’t develop muscle by force.”
Griggs admits she has been tempted to use draw reins, but only in extreme cases, such as a horse who raises his head past the point of safety and tries to bolt; usually, such a horse, as a result of this habit, has highly overdeveloped muscle on the underside of his neck, giving him the advantage in a pulling match.
Draw reins, she says, might be used as a last resort for control in a case like this, but not as a routine training aid. She adds that she could also see resorting to draw reins when there’s a real time constraint on training. “They might have a use for older horses, for short periods of time.”
But a bad experience has made Griggs leery of draw reins. “I used them once on a young horse who bolted. I had them on him three days, and I thought they were great.
“But then the horse figured out that I could only keep his nose down–and keep him from bolting–with the draw reins on. The minute they came off, he was gone. It set him back months in his training. Very often the horses get wise to them.”
Griggs notes that most people who use draw reins in their training have to frequently change the position of the reins, from between the front legs to the sides of the saddle, in order to avoid the horse “getting wise.”
Instead of draw reins, Griggs recommends “just longeing, not even with side reins. Hill work will also help get the balance going.” She does admit, however, that “at least with draw reins, you can take them up and drop them. It’s better than riding in side reins.”
To retrain a horse that has been incorrectly schooled in draw reins, Griggs works a lot on long and low schooling, driving the horse from the legs into the hands, and doing very basic work with the emphasis on forward.
Such spoiled horses, she says, tend to evade their own self-carriage. Lots of transitions and suppling work will help, and she adds that she will often test the horse’s self-carriage by deliberately relinquishing the steady contact.
“I keep a soft hand, with a little bit of conversation there, and occasionally I will drop them completely (surrendering rein contact) so he learns not to lean on me.” She emphasizes that the gadget-less approach to schooling may take longer, but in her experience the results are far better.
