We were taught to use the strap this way 20+ years ago by a very respected BNT / Olympic medallist. Sometimes with both hands as described, sometimes just the outside hand to create a steadier connection with be outside rein. I still use it this way several times a week. Unfortunately I can never remember to grab the darn thing in time when my horse spooks or bucks though :lol:
Well, my guy is 13 and STILL spooky and tense at shows. I blame it on his half-Arabian breeding (just kidding!!). But… FWIW, I do not use and have never used a grab strap. IT’s not that I’m such a wonderful rider, it’s just that when he does do something, I want BOTH hands free to handle the situation! He is quick and can spin faster than most reining horses even if he is 16.2 h.h. Just my take on it for ME. A lot of my friends do have the grab strap, and if it helps them, then great. Now, at my horse’s first show (and my ride was the 1st of the day at Intro!), at a very spooky venue, I wore my eventing vest. I did check with the judge saying “I’m old and the horse is young,” and he just laughed and said “No problem. Wear it!” (We got a 60% for a ride including two violent spooks and a leap from E to X and back.)
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This, 100 times this.
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My horse is about as quiet as they come, 85% of the time. 13% of the time he’s a normal horse who will scoot or jump sideways a little if something startles him. 2% of the time he’s a fire-breathing dragon who loses his mind out of nowhere.
Bottom line: he’s a horse and shit happens. I’m not the world’s most confident or competent rider. In the 3 years I’ve owned him he’s presented me with 4 or 5 really good, hard, spook-spin-bolt, spook-buck-buck, or spook-spin-bolt-trip-fall-on-his-nose scenarios.
Only one of those ended up with me on the ground, plus a nice concussion and a lateral tibial plateau fracture that keep me off work and out of the saddle for the next three months.
As a fairly timid rider to begin with, do I think about the spooks I successfully sat, or the thousands of rides where there were no spooks at all? Wish I could say yes but…nope. Having that strap and slipping a finger under it when my horse feels looky or tense stops me from getting tense and communicating to him that he should be afraid. I keep my balance and move him onto something where he has to focus and we both forget about feeling worried.
I wouldn’t hesitate to do it in the show ring if I felt it was needed, and have used the strap with my outside rein in shows where he needed a little firmer, steadier contact. Shows to me are just training opportunities in a different location. With the exception of using my voice or patting to reward, I ride at shows the same way I do at home.
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I am glad I found this thread. I used to have a grab strap on the saddle way back when I taught beginners. It never occurred to me to put one on my dressage saddle. However in retrospect if I had had one on my saddle it may have prevented a broken ankle. I was schooling cross country, not my horse, when after a tense ride I returned to the home field. The horse was now perfectly relaxed and I proceeded to ride the last few feet to the barn on the buckle patting the horse. Just then a cat ran out, horse bolted and bucked. Because he was very wide I couldn’t grip to stay on and started to slide to the side. Perhaps if there had been a grap strap I would have stayed on. Instead my foot was caught in the stirrup and I finally landed with my leg twisted under me.
I am going to put this strap on my saddle today.
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DR 121
7. Martingales, bit guards, any kind of gadgets (such as bearing, side, running, balancing reins, neck straps, nasal strips, tongue tied down, etc.), any kind of boots (including “easy-boots”) or bandages (including tail bandages) and any form of blinkers, earmuffs or plugs, nose covers, seat covers, hoods are, under penalty of elimination, strictly forbidden. One small identification tag, no larger than 1.5" diameter, such as the Ver Tag, may be attached to the horse’s mane. The use of equine body tape or bands (equi-taping, Kinesio tape) is prohibited. Shoes (with or without cuffs) that are attached with nails or glue, or wraps that do not extend past the hair line of the hoof are permitted. Fly hoods (ear covers) are permitted for all classes in order to protect horses from insects. The fly hoods should be discreet in color and design and should not cover the horse’s eyes. After completion of the test, the rider or his representative is responsible for removing the fly hood to present to the designated ring steward for inspec- tion to ensure that nothing prohibited has been added (for example, ear plugs). Logos in complaince with DR121.1 and manufacturer’s logos are permitted. However, per DR121.9, ring stewards are only required to inspect fly hoods and other equipment in one-third of the horses in a class. When an inspection is conducted, all equipment including including fly hoods, whips, etc. must be inspected. In championship classes, saddlery inspections are required for each horse. Leg bandages are allowed in Pas de Deux and Quadrille classes. A breastplate and/or crupper may be used, except that a breastplate is not permitted in USEF High Performance Championships, USEF High Performance Qualifying and Selection Trials. A rein is a continuous, uninterrupted strap or line from the bridle bit to the hand. Rein additions or attachments are not permitted. Each bit must be attached to a separate rein and reins may only be attached to bits. Any decoration of the horse with extravagant items, such as ribbons or flowers, etc. in the mane, tail, etc., is strictly forbidden. Braiding of the horse’s mane and tail, however, is permitted. False tails are permitted and if used may not contain any metal parts. BOD 1/14/17 Effective 4/1/17
Grab straps have their place. I’m now wishing I had one on when I became very nausious pregnant showing a client’s horse. I grabbed the pommel to sit the medium across the diagonal and let me tell you, it was that or retire. I finished the test and we still broke 60 but someone had called the medic and was there to meet me at the out gate. If I had known how sick I would be I probably wouldn’t have ridden but I was ok in the warmup as long as I could post. A grab strap would have been easier. Not the way I am wanted to announce my pregnancy to the horse world but such is life.
Safe is is always better than attractive and I think show organizers would prefer people stay on their horses regardless of how they do it.
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To my knowledge a grab strap attached to the saddle is a different piece of equipment than a nexk
strap, which is a piece of leather or rope around the horse’s neck.
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I’ve shown for years with a grab strap and have never had. Judge or TDcommrnt. It never comes off of my saddle and I’m glad it’s there
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Grab strap & neck strap are two very different pieces of tack. Now whether or not a grab strap is a gadget or not is up for discussion. That said, I’ve ridden just dozens of tests at recognized shows with my grab strap attached to my saddle and no one has ever said “boo” about it. But then again, it’s not like I’m riding with my hands doing a death grip on it. It’s just there for when Ms. Mare decides to exit, stage left, with enthusiasm.
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Yes I know that.This is the only place in the rules where anything similar is mentioned as “not being allowed”, so if it was not allowed it would be in this paragraph.
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I’ve shown with my grab strap for years. I’ve seen other people at ALL levels show with them as well. Never seen anyone flagged for one.
The gadgets all listed above can have an effect on the horse. A grab strap on the saddle has no effect on the horse. For me, and for many riders I know, the grab strap is there for emergency situations, which can happen to any rider at any time.
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Having scribed for many years, there has been many times, especially in AA classes, where a judge has commented when a rider was struggling to sit a movement, that they should have a grab strap.
I’ve just startedstarted using one. A nod to growing old gracefully LOL
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I always give a shout-out to the RS-tor in these threads. I love them. Read about them on COTH and I still use the first one I ordered over five years ago and ordered another for my other saddle. Complete mobility of your hands, feels like holding onto a crop. Instructors and trainers never notice it. It will not help you sit a big trot, but it does allow for a more forgiving hand than the grab strap. I know it looks like it is too long to keep you in the saddle in a spontaneous lateral teleportation, but it does. I am sure it is not show legal so I take it off before going in the ring. Oh, and I find them to be ridiculously expensive – but well worth it. http://www.rstor.co.uk/fitting-sizing
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They ARE legal. I asked a TD years ago. Neck straps are not grab straps. One thing to remember - you must keep both hands on the reins, even if you use the grab strap to stabilize your seat. I always ride with one - very seldom need it, but it is nice to know it is there in an SOS moment - I’ve spent most of my riding life on green horses and retraining projects, so those SOS moments do occur.
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I have used it in the extended trot in recognized shows. I have been told to use it by a friend who is an S judge. I showed with it this weekend - did not use it - but it was on the saddle. No problem.
Huh - I assumed they were legal to have on the saddle but illegal to actually hold during a test.
Seems like there is a fundamental issue in the riding if you are using a grab strap to sit a medium. If you are showing a movement, you shouldn’t have to hold on, right?
And if you are in danger without holding onto it, you need to be retiring from the test.
I’m not saying that to be mean, it just seems sort of obvious. If you can’t sit the movement, shouldn’t you get that fixed before showing it?
Don’t get me wrong, if all heck breaks loose and you grab on, and it keeps you safe, more power to you.
JMHO, but now I’m going off to research the rule book in more detail!
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have never seen any of them, looks interesting. And those are legal in shows??
Yes, but if all hell breaks loose, it is nice to have something to grab onto, even if “all hell” is a brief moment. I know several really good trainers who ride young horses, and they always have an SOS strap for those “just in case” moments. That is why they ARE allowed - it really is a potential safety issue.
Personally, I’ve never had to use one IN a test, but a few times in the warm up - was glad to have the extra security. Usually starts with another young horse misbehaving, and all of a sudden, the warm up becomes - exciting for all the babies. It becomes group participation!
Read all of this thread and am so glad many posters added a grab strap after reading all this. Adding some degree of safety and confidence is worth it.
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