Why and when – or never – would you personally use draw reins on a horse you had in training at the track?
If never, why not?
These are not loaded questions. Please elabortate. Opinions needed.
Always Dreaming wore them after winning the Derby, but not before, I think. It certainly did not help him.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xd4YGBjE3Z0&feature=youtu.be
I can’t stand the way a horse gallops in them. I have no use for them myself. It’s one think to ask a horse to bend and soften at the poll, but to hold a horse’s chin to it’s chest for a prolonged period of time - otherwise known as hyperflexion - is damaging when there is no period of rest.
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Always Dreaming did used draw reins while training at Churchill prior to the derby and it did help him in that capacity:
https://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-rac…-in-draw-reins
Off the top of my head, Funny Cide frequently galloped in them. Chad Brown, Larry Jones, etc. train in them a lot.
Draw reins are helpful for horses who gallop with their heads up in the air like flagpoles. Also a useful leverage tool for the “too strong” type.
I have no problem with them when used as a tool; but like any tool, people often misuse them or come to solely depend on them.
I’m not a huge fan of how they get used as the sole rein when galloping; I’d much rather see riders using them as a double rein or at least a running rein attachment. But that’s a pretty uncommon sight in the morning.
There are others far more educated than myself re: tack preferences, though.
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I wouldn’t, racehorses aren’t as “supple” with their neck. Can and does cause neck issues. With sport horses also. MUCH bigger fan of the German Martingale for the purpose. My horses don’t “live” in them. Use for X days, or until I think they understand the drill, what is being asked.Then switch back to their regular bridle. If they “forget” put it back on.
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[I]I don’t like how the racehorse-world uses them on their own and remove the regular reins off the bridle. This is not how draw reins are intended to be used and I would think that it only encourages incorrect head carriage, hard mouths, stress and heavy forehand/pulling when changed back to normal reins, disengaged hind ends, shallow backs, rollkur, etc This creates an unimaginable amount of pressure on the mouth with the rider putting all of the pressure on the draw reins as if they were the rein themselves. They are meant to be used in partnership with regular reins so that the regular rein is receiving the majority use and the draw rein is being used as a tool to encourage suppleness when needed with the majority of the suppleness being encouraged by use of the normal side reins.
Using the draw reins as the sole and only rein on a racehorse (or any horse) is just encouraging further resistance, hard mouth, heavy forehand, overflexed, flat back and disengaged hind ends.
I wish there were roundpens at the track because I believe proper light work with side reins would be more beneficial to these horses learning to properly use themselves and encourage proper carriage would be much more useful to the horse in the longrun. [/I]
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I too prefer a German martingale but have used draw reins in the past. The biggest problem is not all riders know how to use them properly. What I did not and would not ever do is use them as the only reins. That is insanely dangerous, bordering on negligence not to mention being ineffective.
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I prefer draw reins over a German martingale, because the rider can loosen the draw reins if necessary with draw reins, whereas they are set and unchanging with a German martingale. With draw reins, the draw rein and the direct rein can be used independently when correctly used by a skilled rider.
Yes, draw reins at the track are often used incorrectly, as the only rein, with the direct reins removed. Huge mistake, but not all exercise riders are well educated, and not all trainers understand the use of this tool. To remove the regular reins means that there is no direct contact to the bit, and steering is lost, as is the correct action and use of the draw rein. The draw rein is correctly used to avoid pressure from the bit on the corners of the mouth, they put pressure on the bars only. With a horse who has missed the basic schooling where he understands relaxation and stretching his head down, reaching for contact and being relaxed, he may have developed an inverted and tense carriage. This means that he is not using himself correctly, and is likely to injure himself. His back is inverted, his hocks are out behind him, very weak carriage. Correct use of draw reins mean that they are there, if the rider needs to put pressure on the bars of the mouth ONLY, to encourage the horse to lower his frame. When the horse does this, the rider drops contact with the draw rein- the “release”. The horse relaxes, and the feel is soft. So the draw reins are only actually in USE 5% of the time, the rest of the time they are loose, and not in play. This is why you need to use two sets of reins, not just the draw rein. With a horse who has been badly started, and badly trained previously, he simply does not know that there is a different way to carry himself. He thinks he is carrying himself the way he has been taught to do (incorrectly)- inverted. Draw reins, correctly fitted and correctly used, CAN help with showing the horse that there is another option, lowering his neck (which helps to raise his back) and finding release doing that. Once he is no longer fully inverted, then he can start to learn to use his hind end correctly and effectively. He can’t do that when inverted.
So if you have a horse who has this training problem, draw reins can be useful in skilled hands to show the horse another way, to reduce chance of injury and increase power as his carriage improves. They are usually a short term training aide, and considered a “short cut” in training. Some people consider a “short cut” to be a sin, however, if it is effective, and keeps a horse safer and makes him into a better athlete sooner, it’s not a bad thing IMO. Unfortunately, a lot of riders and trainers do not understand the correct use of this tool, and it is often misused, resulting in an overbent “chin on the chest” scenario, which is often seen in racehorse training. This also is damaging to horses, called “rollkur” by dressage folks(and used for the same reason, pulling on the reins to increase strength and fitness) . It is incorrect and damaging carriage in all equine disciplines, no matter what rider or trainer is using it. If a rider is “pulling” with draw reins, or trying to put the horse’s chin on it’s chest, they are using the tool incorrectly, and doing damage to the horse.
Thanks all for your opinions/explanations. I will pass them along (with my own input) to the person for whom I posted the questions (not a COH’er). They are interested in getting a particular OTTB (very recently retired) that had been galloped in draw reins for quite a while.
Maybe I’m in no place to comment as I don’t have much of any experience on the track, but I do not understand why you wouldn’t want a race horse to “have their head” so they can learn how to stretch out to run.
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Some horses are very inverted and pull themselves along on their front end while basically dragging their hind end behind them. If you are at a farm or training center you can teach them to use their hind end by doing transitions and suppling exercises i.e. very basic dressage. At the track there is no time or place for that so sometimes you need draw reins or a German martingale to get them using their hind end and building correct muscling. They have plenty of time to have their head and learn how to stretch out when you do your timed works, those generally don’t have any extra equipment.
In addition to what @Laurierace mentioned, draw reins at the track can be used similar to draw reins on jumpers during Victory gallops and awards presentations. They give you additional leverage so the horse can’t “get their head” and take off or start any funny business.
I’m surprised that so many on the track use them as the sole rein though. I can’t imagine the steering would be very good, and draw reins can indeed teach a horse to tuck their nose and pull down on the forehand, without a second rein directly to the bit it’s nearly impossible to get their heads back up if you need too.
Not on the track but I’ve used draw reins with polo ponies many a time.
If you have a horse that wants to run with its head up in the air, either as a fitness issue or as a means to avoid the bit, draw reins will encourage the horse to hold its head in a better position. If the draw rein is held so that it only “engages” if the horse tries to raise its head, I’ve found that it gets the point across quite well.
They are also useful training aids for dealing with horses who will run through a bit, either because they’re being buttholes or because they’re super-excited. Had one jackass of a gelding try to run through bits as an evasion technique. Rather than start an arms race with increasingly severe bits, I added draw reins to a garden variety low-port pelham snaffle ring. He tried to run off on me, I said no, he hit that draw rein and stopped like he’d run into a brick wall and that was the first time and the last time we ever had THAT particular argument. In chukkers, I played him in a draw rein after that. Interestingly enough, he was a horse who responded very well to being ridden in a sidepull – I had a fat braided rope sidepull with two sets of rings and would ride one with direct reins and one with draw reins and we would do stick-and-ball work on him with that…direct reins to steer, draw reins to remind him of his manners.
If your friend is still interested/hasn’t gotten the horse yet, can you watch the horse running at liberty or get a video of the horse running at liberty? If it’s running with its head up in the air and its back inverted, that will tell you whether the draw reins were for that purpose. Or was it like my gelding, the draw reins were a reminder to “be nice”.
Hopefully your friend is going to completely restart this horse so it won’t matter what equipment was used on him prior. Your friend will teach him correctly from the start, so the prior use of draw reins won’t be an issue.
Horse was bought by someone else. My friend isn’t that disappointed – probably for the best.
I think that most folks would agree that putting a horse’s head into a “false frame” does not suddenly make a horse use their hind end correctly. Collection comes back-to-front … not from putting the head into a certain spot.
In my mind, if the horse has a proper foundation and proper training, there should be no “getting their head and taking off”. I may not have experience on the track, but my primary discipline is barrel racing. I can easily control my horses in a basic snaffle, whether we are breezing on a straightaway (I don’t have access to a racetrack, so we just find the safest flat stretch we can) or whether we are coming down the alley to run a set.
Anywho, not meant to start a debate on training, but I just don’t see much of a benefit of the draw reins, unless trying to skirt around proper training. JMO.
I’ve been there…and it’s no fun.
Video of Always Dreaming – tough gallop:
https://www.google.com/search?q=always+dreaming+draw+reins&tbm=isch&source=iu&ictx=1&fir=aEEPM44BvVdVJM%253A%252CesX3ez1gQsjzFM%252C_&usg=__SvNkqcpJ07fD3nOxfHXeYpRTdRU%3D&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiP8OD4y9_XAhUDhOAKHUU7COgQ9QEINTAD&biw=1031&bih=1184#imgrc=rQ9B3fMglY2LfM:
Ah yes, all the Olympic level show jumpers who choose to put draw reins on their grand prix horses for a victory gallop must not have proper training.
There’s no shame in using draw reins as a safety measure.
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I agree with you that collection comes from front to back but that is about all I agree with from your post. You just don’t know how much you don’t know. I assure you that you have never even come remotely close to galloping a race horse on your barrel horse. Not to mention a race horse’s job is to win races not putting in a dressage test in the morning. The beauty of training horses is you are free to do whatever you want to with yours.
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All the good, early training of Tbred babies back at the farm, can go right out the window at pretty much any stage of the game at the track – and for a multitude of reasons. And there is nothing worse for a horse than daily gallops that turn into gallops at speed – habitually – and/or fights with a rider who’s feet are in the dashboard.
Change of rider or a change of equipment can slow things down. Even a change of time as when the horse goes out in the morning can make a difference – or the addition of a pony. You do your best to figure out what works.
But I’ve never heard a trainer or exercise rider (myself included) say that a particular horse is now tough to gallop because it ‘didn’t have a proper foundation’. There comes a point when it’s just not applicable anymore.
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