I have a pony who pulls on one of my riders…the web reins help, but knots are great! Is there anything in the rule book prohibiting this in dressage?
[This message was edited by FlightCheck on Jan. 13, 2003 at 06:51 PM.]
I have a pony who pulls on one of my riders…the web reins help, but knots are great! Is there anything in the rule book prohibiting this in dressage?
[This message was edited by FlightCheck on Jan. 13, 2003 at 06:51 PM.]
If this pony is anything like normal ponies I agree with Flight Check. Ponies get away with what they can, its why anti-grazing reins exist. Ponies can outmuscle any kid and usually aren’t interested in listening to weight and seat aids.
It took until I was 13 or 14 to really effectively ride my 13.1hh pony. Sure when I was younger I could get him around, but by then I was 5’3 and 115lbs and could push him from my seat into my hand.
Laura
Heehee – this topic inspired me. I went and looked up the digital camera topic from before Christmas, read up, studied, chose and bought a new camera at lunchtime!!
So, there may be a pic before tomorrow if I can get my butt to the barn in daylight – if not, tomorrow afternoon for that and for feet pics 
Well, Mr. Bensmom and I didn’t give each other Christmas presents, so I deserved the camera, right? Who wants to pay bills anyway . . . 
Libby
Bensmom-
Very neat idea, and how did you manage to take the pictures w/ the reins in your hands??
So, Basically it’s a long bucking strap, great idea.
I think, therefore I am single
Poor pony,nothing in the rules that I know of.
Kid could use a LOT of no stirrups on the lunge.
Should make pony’s life a lot happier.
fernie fox
“I have lived my life-it is nearly done-.I have played the game all round;But I freely admit that the best of my fun I owe it to Horse and Hound”.
I don’t know of anything in the rules either, FC, but I do have a suggestion that you might use in addition to the knot.
Did you see the “magic rope” that I had on my saddle this summer? It is about 30 inches long, and ties to the d-rings. If you hold the reins normally, and hook your thumbs under the rope, you then close your fingers around the rope and the reins and the horse can pull until next week, and can’t pull you forward. It has worked wonders for my sense of balance.
We’ve used it to work on sitting trot – take the rope, put elbows by sides and sit – and wow, my body actually followed my horse and we got great sitting trot!
I had a death grip on my rope when I first rode T3 and T4 and Cody even asked me about it before I did my test and the judge never mentioned it to me – our dressage clincian swears that it is legal. I now only grab it when I need a reminder to follow, or when the just-coming-back-to-work child has a bucking fit
Good luck,
Libby (I’ll be happy to show off my magic rope if I ever get to come show again <sigh>
<BLOCKQUOTE class=“ip-ubbcode-quote”><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR> started him in hand over poles and x’s and it appears that may pay off – we were trotting single poles by the end of day Saturday <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
This definitely works!
When I bought my horse, the woman I bought him from told me that she had sent him off to a jumper trainer who got into a big beef with him, and the then-four-year-old horse decided that he was never going to jump again. I mean, he wouldn’t trot over a pole on the ground.
I bought him anyway, and did the same thing you did. I led him over poles, I trotted with him on the ground over poles, jumped cross rails next to him, etc. This horse has refused to jump exactly one time, and that was early on, when I kind of lost it coming downhill to a vertical. I think he knew better than to jump the fence.
It makes me wonder what this “trainer” did to turn the horse off to jumping. 
SillyHorse
~ I do whatever my Rice Krispies tell me to.
and being held in the hand
Thanks Bensmom,that was exactly what I was thinking of,
Havent seen it for years.
fernie fox
“I have lived my life-it is nearly done-.I have played the game all round;But I freely admit that the best of my fun I owe it to Horse and Hound”.
This is where I really hate that my mom stole the digital camera back from me, because the best thing would be to take a picture, because my description skills are lousy.
But, basically it looks like a bucking strap tied to your d-rings (we use some 1/2 nylon rope from lowes, put electrical tape around the ends and melt the cut portion to prevent fraying – if you get the black, you almost don’t see it against the black saddle) but it is longer than the usual bucking strap.
You get your reins to the correct length, and then take up the rope in your hands as well. If you “hug” your sides with your elbows, it allows your upper body to be very strong, and seems to transfer the pull from the horse down into the stronger part of your trunk versus your upper body and arms.
My horse quickly learned that he was pulling against himself (much as they do if you sink your knuckles into their neck and keep your hands steady, but this is easier) and he got better. I don’t understand why the physics of it means that all of a sudden you sit and follow your horse properly at sitting trot, but it does.
In canter, I only hold the strap with the outside hand, to allow for more following/proper bend.
I have a bad habit of crossing the neck with my hands (old neck reining western habit) and my horse takes that opportunity to happily fall in, and this rope also helps in that circumstance. I was stunned that I could turn, actually using my seat bones and legs, while still holding the rope.
I am a rider with almost no natural “feel” at all – this method has allowed me to feel what correct is and therefore it really wasn’t that long before I could do all of these things without the rope.
It is definitely a good learning tool – and, I put one on my jumping saddle too and if I hold it off of banks and into water, I am not afraid to let my reins slip and give Ben his head. That’s been a Good Thing 
I will try to get some pictures taken so it will make more sense . . .
Libby (boy, you sure do get dependant on that digital camera!)
Hey!! After I read about your “Magic Rope” trick I went and tried it w/ my greeny TB.
It worked wonders!!! No more head tossing, pulling reins out of my hands, and it was much eaier to sit her very bouncey trot!! She felt much more balanced b/c she was more consistantly on the bit!!!
Kudos to you Bensmom!!
Are you sure this thing’s safe to play with?? I mean, it has big teeth, 4 legs, and a mind of its own!! (said to me by a non-horsey friend)
Dont know if there is a rule or not, but since Dressage is the “thinking” rider’s sport, you can bet the judge will instantly realize what they’re for. Good for you, many’s the hot head jumper or boisterous greenie in the hunt field I’ve had. On the first check on a rainy day in Owen Co. this fall, my catch ride of the day decided that head down and heels up was a good thing. Now, I weigh a good deal more than 68 lbs, and put up with nothing. But new gloves, and new leather reins with a bit more oil that should have been left on them… those knots went in about a foot back from his bit. No more bad horsey! And no champagne to buy that day.
I’ve got several pics now – I’ll start with two that just show the rope on my saddle, and then two that show how I hold the reins and the rope.
And then I’ll go off and see if the photo software that came with the new camera allows one to put all of these pics into one file
Libby
I tried to make this one smaller
thanks - I think I got it now.
<BLOCKQUOTE class=“ip-ubbcode-quote”><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Bensmom:
I have a bad habit of crossing the neck with my hands (old neck reining western habit)
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
me too! 
BarbB
…virtue shall be bound into the hair of thy forelock… I have given thee the power of flight without wings
thanks for posting the pictures…very cool…helps with the sitting trot…eh??
BarbB
…virtue shall be bound into the hair of thy forelock… I have given thee the power of flight without wings
you can use them.
I asked the TD first (Sam Dack, I believe). He laughed, said “Ponies!” and understood Completely why we would use them.
At his suggestion we also checked with the President of the Ground Jury (Karen Winn) who, after laughing, thanked us for asking and said they were fine.
another view
Yay! But, I have to pass along the credit to my trainer, and the dressage clinician she has us ride regularly with – I just wish it had been my idea!
I am going to put a rope on my friend’s saddle that I am using on the green TB monster and we’ll see how it goes – I found out that I can’t grab mane on him and so I need something to grip if necessary – of course, when I took him over ground poles this weekend, I was all prepared and tried to grab mane (which is how I found out that he feels the same way about that as he does about pulling his mane!) to steady myself in case he hopped over the pole and he could have cared less!
I started him in hand over poles and x’s and it appears that may pay off – we were trotting single poles by the end of day Saturday
Funny what can really make your day
Libby
