Loose rein jumping

[Crown_Royal]

Does anyone else ever jump their horse around on a completely loose rein (no contact other than opening a rein to guide a horse straight if leg isn’t enough)? Do you think it’s beneficial for horse and rider?

I have been doing this some days with my horse (who is a little green from having been in inconsistent work) and it seems like it helps. I do it both with single fences and fences with ground poles set out before/after. I pay better attention to my seat, leg, and balance (since the reins are out of the equation- I, too, have been in inconsistent work :winkgrin: ), my horse is thinking more, he seems like he’s gaining more confidence to figure out the fence “on his own”, he’s more relaxed after the fence, and it also seems to help build our trust in each other.

We’ve also improved a LOT recently (since I’ve consistently been riding him and jumping small things routinely) on getting a consistent canter to the base of the jump (as opposed to rushing) without a struggle (but while riding with contact). I’m not sure if the loose rein jumping helps that, or if this helps with the loose rein jumping, or if both things just help in general. Either way, I’m pretty happy that we’re starting to figure things out!

[Training_Cupid]

I do, but mostly only because I’m incapable of closing my hands or keeping contact. Trying to work on it, but hard to change something I’ve been doing for 20 years.

[roamingnome]

We do it to improve our seat/balance through gymnastics- tie the reins in a knot and have arms out/on our hips jumping through the exercise.

I’ve had a horse or two who could jump around on a loose rein, even at shows, used my seat to regulate pace.

For a horse coming back into work I would worry about them getting to much on the forehand, but if it is working for you that’s great!

[AmmyByNature]

Floating the reins is pretty common in the hunters. I had a couple of horses who, once I got them straight out of the corner, required no contact. I floated the reins at them, they maintained their pace mostly on their own, and jumped out of stride. If I saw we weren’t going to get where we needed to be, a few ounces of pressure, or a little leg, or a little weight shift were enough to get it done. If it wasn’t enough, then, sure, grab hold!

[ElementFarm]

I have the bad habit of trying to “micro manage” the horse to the jumps so it’s a good exercise for me to stop meddling.

It’s also a good exercise to teach the horse how to have their own “eye” which is safer and more fun for everyone. I think there was a PH article a few years ago about a fancy ammie horse with a stop. They went back and did this over a pole, then poles, then small jumps, then bigger jumps. When the horse realized it could see where it needed to be to jump and learned to put itself there, it wasn’t hampered by lack of confidence in the rider, and went on to be a star.

[Crown_Royal]

[QUOTE=ElementFarm;8385284]
I have the bad habit of trying to “micro manage” the horse to the jumps so it’s a good exercise for me to stop meddling.

It’s also a good exercise to teach the horse how to have their own “eye” which is safer and more fun for everyone. I think there was a PH article a few years ago about a fancy ammie horse with a stop. They went back and did this over a pole, then poles, then small jumps, then bigger jumps. When the horse realized it could see where it needed to be to jump and learned to put itself there, it wasn’t hampered by lack of confidence in the rider, and went on to be a star.[/QUOTE]

Micro managing is a BIG problem of mine! Mostly picking and picking because I had some issues with my older horse that caused me to worry about cantering a fence or having a refusal. The loose rein on my current mount is really a huge confidence builder for me!

Also a good point about the horse learning to find the fence on their own- as an ammy, it’s good to know that if I “forget” what to do or get nervous on course, my awesome horse can take care of me a little. Wouldn’t this also be a good quality if the horse ever ends up teaching someone how to jump? My last horse is a firecracker so wouldn’t need that skill ;), but current horse is a saint so maybe one day this will come in handy!

[Crown_Royal]

[QUOTE=roamingnome;8385219]
We do it to improve our seat/balance through gymnastics- tie the reins in a knot and have arms out/on our hips jumping through the exercise.

I’ve had a horse or two who could jump around on a loose rein, even at shows, used my seat to regulate pace.

For a horse coming back into work I would worry about them getting to much on the forehand, but if it is working for you that’s great![/QUOTE]

I don’t ride in an arena, just an open field, so don’t really want to completely let go of my reins in this scenario, but it feels like the same type of exercise. Definitely was helpful for my balance. I used to have a solid independent seat but took time off for pregnancy and when my son was very small so need to work a little harder now.

He is a little more on the forehand on the loose rein than when I actively ride him with contact, but we vary it so he gets schooling both ways. Right now we aren’t doing long jump schools anyway- I pop him over the fences less than 5 times a ride to get him more comfortable over them.

[Rel6]

This is pretty standard for anything you want to resell as ammy/kid friendly over fences, I would think. Both my OTTBs projects, once they were started over fences, routinely jumped with me getting them straight to a fence and then dropping the bridle and letting them figure it out. Same with other green mounts I’ve worked with.

In sales appointments I have had buyers specifically ask me to ride up to the fence and completely chuck the reins once I’m on the line to the fence to see what the horse does (usually more with the ponies then greener horses.)

I’ve seen that method help a whole host of issues over fences, from horses that rush because they think they are going to get grabbed in the bridle a stride out or micro managed, to horses who stop simply because they have never learned to see their own spot and won’t jump with a rider who misses.

[Montanas_Girl]

I definitely have/had (when I used to jump) a tendency to micromanage. My college trainer would occasionally take my horse’s bridle off and have me jump a course with just the reins around his neck to remind me to let him do his job. It’s amazing how much straighter he was and how much less often he attempted to rush or drag me past the distance when I stayed out of his way.

[thehorsedream]

When I first started riding my horse, I rode with such loose reins my horse probably didn’t even know my hands were there. In retrospect, that was really bad of me. My trainer would have me shorten them for jumping but I’m sure that I jumped with loose reins when I was riding at home. My horse always loved jumping and never ever refused a jump. I’d like to think that is because even though I was learning how to jump with him that I never grabbed his mouth on landing.