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Saddle Fit and Training Aids
Saddle Fit and Draw Reins
Training Equipment Gone Bad...
I was going to write something about how the recent breed changes resulting in shorter-backed horses impacts saddle design, but I am going to save that for another time. I had to share this very insightful and interesting commentary with you sent to me in a recent newsletter by my very good friend Dr. Joanna Robson, DVM. (For more information on Joanna and more information by Joanna, check out her website at www.inspirtusequine.com).
Joanna writes:
A very wise woman told me recently: "When training equipment is applied to an already well-trained horse, it has its proper use. But training equipment is NEVER a replacement for a well-trained horse." Well said.
Horse catalogs are filled with training equipment of all kinds - martingales, chambons, degogues, draw reins, whips, spurs, lungeing aids, etc. Today I saw a $200 pair of draw reins in a catalog, touting that their soft cotton would not get caught on the reins, and the leather attachment would quickly attach to the horse's breastplate ( a breastplate that will prevent slipping of the saddle, which wouldn't slip in the first place if the saddle fit!).
Draw reins are extra reins that traditionally attach at the girth, but also can attach at the breastplate over the chest. They loop through the bit rings into the rider's hands, and work to draw down the horse's head and neck into the "desired frame." But there's a problem with this concept, one that requires education about the functional anatomy of the horse. The nuchal ligament, which attaches at the neck bones, then continues as the dorsal spinous ligament atop the vertebrae, acts as a suspension bridge for the horse. It lifts and rounds the horse through the back and neck. Draw reins only effective "crunch" the neck down, with little to zero lifting and engagement of the horse's back and hind-quarters. Though the young horse's legs above may appear parallel, evaluate that the low back is wrought with tension behind the saddle and is hollow, and the head and neck are "breaking over" at C2-C3 (the weakest part). If this horse could lift at the withers and slightly extend his nose and head forward, there would be an engagement through the topline that is absent here. Using devices to force a desired outcome usually ends in only the artificial appearance of what is desired, while underneath damage is done to anatomic structures.
Do I have tolerance for training equipment? Yes - when used correctly, though not for all devices. Seek to educate yourself about how the horse works correctly, then you can understand when and how to use different training aids for the benefit of your horse rather than the detriment of his physical soundness.
Hear, hear Joanna! Thanks for sharing!
Till next time, happy riding! And PS I’m in Capetown and will be cheering on Germany in the quarter finals this weekend!!
Jochen Schleese, CMS, CSFT, CEE
Comment
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Comment by 4XChestnut on July 1, 2010 at 7:02pm -
I think the real problem with training aids is the near universal lack of understanding of how to use them in a beneficial way. By beneficial I mean used in a fashion to improve the horse's training without causing harm to the horse. Draw reins are easy to use incorrectly, are nearly universally used incorrectly, and are one of the "go to" tools of the largest discipline going in North America. All of which leads to the villification of the tool instead of the hands that use the tool.
We don't blame the smooth french link snaffle bit for bruising a horse's mouth, do we? We blame the rider for hanging or yanking on the bit.
I don't know the purpose of many of the commercially available training aids, and I don't use them either. I have on rare occasion used draw reins, and managed to do so without forcing the horse into a set shape with them. The method I used was to set the length of the rein so they'd have no effect until the horse came a good bit above where he could carry himself (at his current level of training). The draw reins simply provided a limit on how far away from the self carriage position the horse could go. The horse figured it out very quickly and I spent most of the rest of the ride being annoyed by the loopy draw reins. I wanted to shorten them up and have some contact with them - it was almost an automatic reaction, but I didn't want to hold the horse's head down, I wanted him to come over his back and stretch forward into the snaffle rein contact.
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Comment by Ashley on July 1, 2010 at 2:48pm -
I agree with Jackie. Training devices like draw reins are only a temporary substitute that will teach your horse really nothing but artificial movement. When something goes awry and you can't fix it because your horse is trained to move artificially or rely on these training devices, it can become a bad situation very quickly. Great post; thanks Jochen.
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Comment by Jackie Cochran on June 30, 2010 at 1:49pm -
Thank you Jochen for passing this on.
I consider the vast majority of "training reins" to be dangerous for the horse's well being and for the rider's safety while riding. Even if you never use one when you ride, if you train with these devices your horse will not know how to move properly when something starts going wrong (as so often happens.)
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