This horse has had some wonderful training. Very relaxed, beautiful frame, slack on the inside rein showing he's flexing. Well rounded all while not fighting the bit. Clearly a schoolmaster. I'm waiting for a video that shows the progress of a horse going from Day 1 - first time using side reins to say... 4 months down the track. If I had the equipment I would do the video myself. But there needs to be correct technique shown. It all starts with the back end and not the front. Have the horse lengthening their stride and bringing their stomach up towards their spine, really stretching underneath themselves, then moving onto working on the bit. There are so many different styles however it can get really confusing.
Actually, I think that the woman shows great skill at lunging in side reins. The side reins are not too tight; in fact, the horse isn't even on the verticle, And, since side reins give the horse the 'feel' of a rider's hands, it's a good way to prepare a horse for a rider. The horse shows no signs of discomfort or irritation; it's not flipping it's tail, trying to misbehave, putting it's ears back, trying to open it's mouth, etc.
wow some people apparently don't understand how to properly train your horse, they are saying that side reigns are harmful or cruel well if you use them wrong they would be but side reigns are great tools to use when your are trying to teach your horse to move forward and down into the contact without having to worry about the person on their back, of course you shouldn't use side reigns every single time you lunge your horse because you gotta let them play too. I lunge my horse in a round pen with nothing on him and no lunge line all the time but sometimes if I'm not going to ride him I will use side reigns to work on him using his back and driving forward.
@Zanthoraz you should start of loose and lunge him. then gradually make them tighter over a few weeks until you have the head in the desired position. If the horse is rearing and flipping over then he feels stuck and unable to get away from what he feels is a scary situation. By doing it slowly tighter your horse learns that it isn't scary at all.Remember to go at a speed that your horses feels comfortable at. If he doesn't look comfortable go a little looser again and build up
Here's the thing, there are only so many things you can do when you lunge with very basic equipment. For example, a bridle and the rope or a halter and the rope. The horse has nothing there to do with a contact beside the rope and even then that's not replicating the rider's hands. Ive lunged my horse without side reins for a long time now and ive taught him voice commands but he's just running around warming up all hollow. Now i'm introducing side reins and my isntructor will teach me.
will this help a horse lean not to be so pushy? I have a colt that is way to pushy, and will run over you, and will try to bite the side.. hes getting to the point where he's dangerous as he will be a big horse having Belgian in him. I cannot afford a trainer.. so please let me know if this will teach him to have more respect. I really need help with him. (he is gelded.)
@drover92 Contraption of torture? Do you not know about longing tack? this is NOT torture. Torture is a horse in the hands of someone with no clue, or someone who believes they think like humans. A longing cavesson is a great training aid.
Oh my gosh. No no no no NO. Side Reins are NEVER a good idea. Yuck. Should really take this down, don't encourage such a disastrous training method please.
