Does anyone else hate web reins? Why?

[faraway46]

UGH!!! Loath them!

[QUOTE=ParadoxFarm;6049916]
I don’t like them either. I prefer rubber. Also with the web reins that have those leather pieces every so many inches (not sure what they are called) they always tend to be in the wrong spot…and I tend to want to hold on to them. So I always feel like my reins are too short or too long.[/QUOTE]

This. Never the right length. Had to have a leather stop custom placed in the middle of the second and third stop because they were either too long or too short. Gave up on them a long time ago and now only ride in rubber ones. Also, they’re slippery (to say the least) on a rainy day! If you can’t live without web, the rubbery ones (anti-slip) are better.

[Credosporthorses]

I’ll be the odd one and say I don’t really mind them. Would I buy them for myself, well no. But I have ridden at barns that have had only or mostly web reins and never really minded them. What I hate most is wearing gloves! The stoppers on web reins tear my hands up.

[rockfordbuckeye]

I am a weirdo too. I like web reins. They have to be “just right” though and not too stretchy. I have small hands and I feel like the thinness of them allows me to feel the horses mouth better. So I like them for a horse with a very soft mouth.

[Outfxed]

HATE. THEM. They tear my hands up and I don’t like the feel. I have 5/8" pimple rubber reins that I LOVE.

[Dewey]

[QUOTE=BeeHoney;6050363]
Well, I’m not a fan of web reins, but I love plaited reins. I find it terribly difficult to find a quality pair nowadays, tho.[/QUOTE]

I have these and just love them. They are beautiful and are my favorite reins to ride with.

http://www.somersetsaddlery.com/m7/118--bobby-s-5-8-or-3-4-flat-braided-reins.html

[Beethoven]

Eh, they don’t bug me, but I was also a working student at a dressage barn, so lots of horses I rode had web reins! :lol:

I like the ones that came on my mare’s bride, so I kept them on there, but I wouldn’t go around changing to all web reins.

I don’t like jumping in them, but flatting is fine.

My favorite reins are my rubber ones for sure!

[BAC]

@BeeHoney;6050363

Well, I’m not a fan of web reins, but I love plaited reins. I find it terribly difficult to find a quality pair nowadays, tho.

If money is no object, Hadfields has gorgeous plaited reins, I would have bought a pair if I had the money.

Also, Wayne Rasmussen at the Country Saddler makes them, there are pictures on his website, and he is supposed to do beautiful work. Depending on whether or not you get them with fancy stitching, they are about $300 - $325 IIRC. http://www.thecountrysaddler.com/ABOUT_US.html

[see_u_at_x]

LOVE plaited, laced are OK (what I usually ride in, however, since my plaited reins ended up being too long), thin rubber ones are fine, but DESPISE webbed reins. So glad I’m not the only one, and I agree with what everyone else says about the stoppers. Really annoying how the placement is never right and I just hate the texture and feel of webbed reins in my hands.

[TheHorseProblem]

[QUOTE=rockfordbuckeye;6050582]
I am a weirdo too. I like web reins. They have to be “just right” though and not too stretchy. I have small hands and I feel like the thinness of them allows me to feel the horses mouth better. So I like them for a horse with a very soft mouth.[/QUOTE]

I come from Dressagelandia, so I like them too. When I first started using them, they served as rainbow reins for me, because I could never sustain the proper rein length, ever. So having the stops helped me resolve that. Also, they are grippier when you’re wearing gloves, so that also made it easier. They are much lighter, so they do give a better feel of the horse’s mouth. It’s just what you’re used to. I rode my friend’s mare in a pelham and double reins and I felt completely lost with these huge things in my hands and no feel for the mouth.

I chatted with a woman in the parking lot of the tack store the other week. She was a beginner who had bought rainbow reins for herself, and her trainer embarrassed her into returning them! It brought back so many memories of methods I have tried to “learn” feel and to keep the reins from slipping through my fingers, such as threading a piece of blue baling twine through the laces so I could tell where to hold the reins. It was painful even to recall how bad my hands used to be. So I told her there is NO shame in doing whatever you need to learn that essential skill, and I recommended she get dressage reins with stops if her trainer couldn’t bear the sight of a 50-something rider with rubber rainbow reins.

Like any tack, they have to be broken in and the pricier ones, like Stubbens, are better.

[KateKat]

@TheHorseProblem;6051059

I chatted with a woman in the parking lot of the tack store the other week. She was a beginner who had bought rainbow reins for herself, and her trainer embarrassed her into returning them! It brought back so many memories of methods I have tried to “learn” feel and to keep the reins from slipping through my fingers, such as threading a piece of blue baling twine through the laces so I could tell where to hold the reins. It was painful even to recall how bad my hands used to be. So I told her there is NO shame in doing whatever you need to learn that essential skill, and I recommended she get dressage reins with stops if her trainer couldn’t bear the sight of a 50-something rider with rubber rainbow reins.

Not to derail the thread, but thats kind of sad! Poor lady. I know plenty of people who ride with rainbow reins. One even does the 3’9" jumpers, lol. No shame in them.

[quietann]

Not fond of them either. Have two pair I’d gladly get rid of. Some people use them because they’re less expensive (most of the time) and less destructible than leather. I use leather with handstops.

[leilatigress]

DD and I both love these

[QUOTE=BeeHoney;6050363]
Well, I’m not a fan of web reins, but I love plaited reins. I find it terribly difficult to find a quality pair nowadays, tho.[/QUOTE]

DD hated braided reins, web reins (melt in the summer sun) and had issues with the smooth leather. Had a local leatherworker make her a set of custom plaited reins. Best investment EVER!

[meupatdoes]

Maybe I’m weird but I love mine.

I got tired of cleaning my Hadfields braided reins every day so I bought a pair of web reins with hand stops.

Have never looked back. The hand stops help me keep my rein length exactly even (and, you don’t have to hold the handstop, you can also hold in between them, but know exactly where you are on the rein).

I wear gloves all the time anyway and to me the feel is the same. Minus the cleaning. Hadfields reins only go back on the bridle for shows now (except for the one time when -GASP!- I forgot to pack them so in the hunter ring with the web reins we went.:eek: Still placed!)

[meupatdoes]

[QUOTE=quietann;6051241]
Not fond of them either. Have two pair I’d gladly get rid of. Some people use them because they’re less expensive (most of the time) and less destructible than leather. I use leather with handstops.[/QUOTE]

Send them to meeeeeeee!

[cadance]

If anyone wants a set of black Kieffer webbed reins…shoot me a PM

[enjoytheride]

I like smooth leather reins lined with rubber on the inside only for dressage. Stops or no stops. They look sharp, have grip on the inside, and fit in my tiny hands.

My jumping reins are Tekna reins which are fake leather. Love them.

[Gil_s_Girl]

Okay, so I’m glad I’m not crazy and oversensitive! They just feel dead in my hand, like I’m either pulling or have no contact at all - I just asked if I could change some horses to laced reins, so I’ll be happier now:)

I wonder - do any big jumper riders use web? I’ve never seen them, but I wonder if there’s people who really prefer them for some reason (dressage riders exempted of course!)

[jump4me]

I like web reins and rubber reins about the same. They are easier for me to hold, and if I’m having trouble keeping my reins even, the stops/grips help keep them where they should be. I don’t have any problem keeping them clean or soft, and mine are not expensive, nor do I do much to clean other than wipe with a soapy sponge and rinse occasionally.

I dislike laced reins, and cannot stand plaited. :dead::lol:

[cadance]

[QUOTE=Gil’s Girl;6052559]
Okay, so I’m glad I’m not crazy and oversensitive! They just feel dead in my hand, like I’m either pulling or have no contact at all - I just asked if I could change some horses to laced reins, so I’ll be happier now:)

I wonder - do any big jumper riders use web? I’ve never seen them, but I wonder if there’s people who really prefer them for some reason (dressage riders exempted of course!)[/QUOTE]

I’m from dressageland and we ALL use rubber reins…I always figured webbed reins were universally hated (due to lack of feel). by ‘we’ i mean everybody at my barn, haha.

[Flashy_Gray_VA]

I’m with meupatdoes, I love a big “hearty” rein for schooling - web reins with big stops and dimpled (not pimpled! :lol: ) rubber reins. The thicker the better.

Holding the webbed part of the rein with the stops resting around my hands gives such a nice, firm, secure, even feel.

And I can’t ride without gloves, period. I’m guessing they might be horribly passe or unstylish, but for schooling I’m a die hard fan of crochet-back gloves.