I love the breathlessness of it!
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Hey now, I use these (or similar) at the barn!
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I tied string in my braided reins where I want to keep my hands for dressage. I have a tendency to unknowingly get uneven then wonder why my horse isn’t going right. I just used some white thread so it isn’t so obvious, though it’s just on my schooling bridle, not my show bridle - for some reason I don’t have this issue at shows.
For my schooling jump bridle, I have nylon reins with a thicker rubber part where I’m supposed to hold my hands but the ideal location is where the rubber meets the nylon so that’s perfect. My show bridle is a different set up but I just deal with it.
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Am I the only who thinks the Rein Dots look really uncomfortable? I wouldn’t want any piece of metal where I hold my reins - some kind of leather or rubber seems like it would be much more comfortable.
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Uh, you want to be able to adjust your reins continuously. There is never a single rein length that works for an entire course, dressage test, or jumper round.
Just buy reins with rein stops if you have to.
For context, you WANT to be conscious of how your hands engage with a horse’s mouth. I would tend to think this product would encourage a rigid elbow and wrist as the rider seeks to keep a grip around the “dot” if the rider does not already have a feel of how the horse engages with their mouth. The ability of being able to slip and retract reins allows for continual adjustment of how the arm carries itself in relation to the horse’s mouth.
Yes, the OLD adage that short reins teach soft hands is still true. However, that still requires being able to adjust the reins.
Here is a quick example where the rider moves their arm to adjust but also look at the ends of the ring as the rider adjusts their reins. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0D3TgWr-ag
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Yes I am well aware that different rein length is required at various points throughout my rides - when warming up versus after I have her using herself, flat versus jumping, etc. - and between mounts, and typically don’t have issues adjusting. It’s occasionally when on course during a long course or complicated exercise that panic or concentration on other elements of the task at hand is causing me to have brain farts regarding the rein length.
Am interested in temporarily having a reminder to check my rein length - as in a reminder “do not go past here” while I work on that. Finding yourself coming off a line to a tight rollback and having your rein length halfway to the moon is no fun.
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I am literally talking about on course, from jump to jump, not differences in rein length between flat and jumping or different mounts. Just like you don’t use the same release for every fence, rein length is a function of where the horse and human are in their balance.
As a reminder, that may work well, but again, why not just a band or rein stops? A hole in the reins becomes a weak spot where the rein will break in time because the cross-section has been reduced, increasing the stress in the remaining leather.
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Yes, I hadn’t thought of rein stops until someone mentioned them upthread. Since I got new reins with leather stops, I am sure my old rubber ones are around somewhere. That’s what I think I will try. I agree - don’t like the idea of punching holes in my reins for myriad reasons.
And yes of course one has to adjust reins on course. It appears, however, that on occasion there are periods on course where I am neglecting to do so, so it would be helpful to have a reminder until I break the habit of letting them get away from me occasionally.
ETA: appreciate all the input and suggestions! The Rein Dots came up after lesson on a barnmate’s Instagram. Perhaps the FB overlords were eavesdropping!
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Are these laced reins?
I am so guilty of letting my reins get too long while trying to be fair to the horse’s mouth. Years and years and years ago I had a PC instructor who one day showed up at my lesson with scissors and white twist ties from a bag of Wonderbread bread slices. She took my reins and threaded the twist tie through the laced portion of the reins, so it was smooth, unobstructive, and invisible when my hands were in the right spot. She cut it to length and “folded” it around one of the laced leather portions.
Might be a cheaper and better option than punching holes in your nice reins!
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Rubber for the snaffle rein, but nifty idea!!
The metal could rest under or in front of the thumb and I don’t believe that would cause any tension in the hands or wrist.
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Wrap the bight under his neck and buckle it. Ta da, now they literally can not get too long, and you also can’t pull to the fence. Perfect, perfect.
Your reins are long enough to do this?
Everyone’s are. The whole point of the exercise is to SHORTEN your reins and get your hands up on the neck where they belong. Sure it would be hard to flat this way, but going through a course with them situated like this really teaches you what it should feel like.
FWIW, it’s not my exercise, it was talked about here from some BNT who did it in a clinic with all the participants.
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I did this for a lesson! Super helpful until I forgot they were under the neck and dropped the reins and consequently had to lean up her neck to grab her entire bridle and get them back!
It actually really helped and made my connection feel so right. I tend to ride with a longer rein so this was hard, but so worth it. I would recommend this over rein stops for sure.
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Sorry I missed this part. I do understand how contact is being adjusted all the time on course. I also understand how, as in the McLain video you cited, contact is adjusted throughout via position and balance, and that he utilizes corners to adjust rein length as well. While upper body position and arm position can adjust contact on course, that is also directly related to not letting them get long. When my reins are on my mind, I can sit up and lift for more contact, soften elbows and follow for a lighter contact, etc. And of course I use my corners and other moments to adjust rein length when my brain is functioning,
The problem arises (again, occasionally) when they get too long, particularly when I get a bit frazzled. One cannot adjust contact on a long rein effectively through position alone. Was just interested in a mental reminder before that happens for those moments.
I can’t figure out how to multi-quote since the latest update, so, @endlessclimb and @LSBC - is this more an exercise to get the “feel” of contact? That’s what it sounds like to me. Also - the dropping the reins has me wondering what could happen if horse gets leg through reins if I am picturing this correctly. Interesting idea…
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I think so! We tie the reins up with twine at behind our hands so we can’t drop them. Unfortunately I forgot about this while I was untying the twine and alas… reins on the ground.
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