Lesson barn has all horses in draw-reins/side reins—why?

[polkadotedpony]

@AZ TD

Lesson horses for beginners are rare in the US. I was in Germany and saw mostly group lessons (with many horses in auxiliary reins) which are also rare here in the US.

Not the original topic, but I would agree that lesson horses in the US are a dying breed. When I was a kid I rode at an urban barn that had around 30 lesson horses ranging from beginner to advanced. That barn no longer exists and the biggest program I’ve seen lately had about 10 horses and is pretty unique. Most programs only have 1-2 lesson horses. If you don’t own a horse and want to ride something that can go correctly and is sound enough to hold up to more intense work good luck findings something without some behind the scenes connections to a part lease type situation.

Regarding the vienna reins and german martingales I think you don’t see it here in the US because most beginner programs are hunter places where there is zero emphasis on a horse being together and round. That said I have seen 2 trainers recently using bungees on horses with beginner riders which if set loose I think are faily forgiving and allow for a stretch but not for the head being flung up and super inverted.

[BigMama1]

I think in general dressage lesson programs aimed at novice riders just aren’t a thing in North America. Here dressage is something riders generally switch to after learning the basics in a h/j lesson barn. Dressage lessons are usually taught as privates on an owned or leased horse. While there are a few lesson barns that advertise “dressage lessons” and “dressage school horses” in our region, very few of them teach anything different than what you would find in a h/j barn and very few of the horses have any actual dressage training or experience. I suspect that’s the norm in most Canadian and US cities, unfortunately.

In places like Germany where lesson horses may have a great deal of dressage training, the use of sidereins or Vienna reins protects the horses from novice riders and allows the riders to feel what correct feels like, while also giving them a bit more control and steerability.

[luvmyhackney]

@enjoytheride

Sliding side/vienna reins are “less fixed.” They go from between the legs or at the girth on the side of the horse, through the bit, then back to the saddle somewhere in a V. Because they slide through the bit the horse has more range of motion than a single side rein but less range of motion than a german martingale.

A german is the way you describe and when the reins are not held, or held on the buckle the horse has all or almost all free range motion. A german is better in the hands of an inexperienced person because it only activates at a certain point that has nothing to do with the person (besides the length they hold the reins). I like a german because I just have to hold my reins at the right length and ride forward. The horse hits the martingale when he’s outside of the box I have set for him and self corrects. Now, if I have it set too tight it is of course punishing but I have mostly used it for head flingers and not to “set” the head. It saves my face.

Personally I would rather ride in a German if I am going to ride in anything because once you set vienna/sliding side reins that’s it.

To add to the confusion an arabian or saddlebred martingale is another option but it is used to set the head behind the hand and I can’t stand riding in one because you can’t push the horse into the hand and I feel woefully out of control.

I agree with you on the German martingle…Can I ask what an Arabian or Saddlebred martingale is? Not being snarky at all…but I rode saddleseat for years and the only ones I was familiar with was a running martingale and German.

[AZ_TD]

Arabian martingale looks like a breast plate with rings on the sides that the reins go through. [ATTACH=JSON]{“data-align”:“none”,“data-size”:“small”,“data-attachmentid”:10327144}[/ATTACH]

[enjoytheride]

https://www.sstack.com/english_arabian-equipment_arabian-training-equipment_training-martingales/

[SuzieQNutter]

Argh I will amend my first post. The german martingale is also called a market harbourer. You should have heard the penny drop when I heard someone say that yesterday!