Reins for riders with one hand?

[saitou_amaya]

Hi all,
I had a question I was hoping someone could answer for me about riders who only have one hand. My boyfriend really wants to start riding more often and learning more than just casually walking around on the trails. He does pretty well on my easy going Friesian gelding, but since he is an english horse he is a bit confused when you try to neck rein him and my boyfriend has a bit of trouble direct reining since he has one hand. I figured, okay, I could just teach the gelding to neck rein, he is a smart horse. But my boyfriend would also much rather learn english than western anyway.

Are there any english riders with one hand? Any reins that are made for riders like him? Anyone have any creative ideas for making reins with a loop or something that he could use without wrapping it around his arm? My only idea thus far is maybe taking some draw reins and looping them around the bit to make one giant loop for reins…

[Equibrit]

These guys may have something; http://www.freedomrider.com/index.html

http://www.freewebs.com/andreaevansparadressage/adaptedtack.htm

[Janet]

My dressage instructor, who has competed through Grand Prix (with a double bridle) has only one hand. That arm ends a few inches below the elbow.

She has a snaffle rein with a series of loops on it. She hooks the appropriate loop around her arm. (When using the double, she rides with 3 reins in her one hand, and the other snaffle hooked around her arm.)

[saitou_amaya]

[QUOTE=Janet;6249352]
My dressage instructor, who has competed through Grand Prix (with a double bridle) has only one hand. That arm ends a few inches below the elbow.

She has a snaffle rein with a series of loops on it. She hooks the appropriate loop around her arm. (When using the double, she rides with 3 reins in her one hand, and the other snaffle hooked around her arm.)[/QUOTE]

Wow that is really impressive! Do you by chance know where she got the snaffle rein with the series of loops from? Or was it specially made for her? That is EXACTLY what I am looking for! I think it would work perfectly for him with the loops.

[Janet]

She had hers made by a local saddler, but there are others available now

The Precsion Reins by Gateway have one loop on each rein

http://gatewayequestrian.com/about/

There is another rein which has loops that, IIRC, hook onto the rein at various positions. But I do not remember who makes them or what they are called. You might ask a therapeutic riding center about them.

@saitou_amaya;6249356

Wow that is really impressive! Do you by chance know where she got the snaffle rein with the series of loops from? Or was it specially made for her? That is EXACTLY what I am looking for! I think it would work perfectly for him with the loops.

[JLR1]

Holly Bergay rides dressage with only one hand and is trying to make the paraOlympic team. She is really inspirational! Maybe she has a source for reins?

http://www.gofundme.com/ivvo0&aff=GFMse

[Zu_Zu]

LaSalle Harness Company can make anything YOU need ~

LaSalle Harness Company in R.I. is GREAT at custom equipment :yes:

David LaSalle can make anything you can ‘design’ …

He has made some ‘saftey lines’ for me * for when I am hitching young stock by myself :eek::lol:
DON’T WORRY I"M NOT BRAVE AND STUPID ``` STOCK IS NOT THAT ‘YOUNG’ ! :lol:

AND REALLY I HAVE DEVELOPED A VERY GOOD SENSE OF SELF-PRESERVATION ! :yes:

[loremipsum]

There are quite a few options and it usually comes down to a person’s comfort level. Don’t disregard the neck reining if it works and the horse can be trained to do it - have him watch some good reining runs, you can get just as much precision with neck reining as direct reining if you work at it. And remember using seat and legs to steer as much as hands!

The adapted tack link and the freedom rider site have some good examples to model something off of if you can find anybody who can sew onto leather. You can sew cloth or leather loops on the outside of flat leather or cotton reins at either set or varying distances or buy one of the adjustable loop things if he can hook the end of his arm through a loop.

The para dressage website also has a set of reins with what looks like a rubber handle at the top that I haven’t seen before (and now want to figure out how to get), but have seen something similar done with narrow pvc pipe. I think they attached (hot glued after running the cloth through the pipe?) pvc pipe to cotton cloth that then was sewn to the inside of the leather reins, so you have a short handle and can direct rein by pulling on either side of the handle.

Basically, be imaginative and have fun with it. The only thing to be careful of is to never tie his arm to a set of reins for the same reason tieing your feet to stirrups or strapping a child into a saddle is not advised. What works best for him works best for him and may not work for somebody else! And yes, there are many English riders with one hand and some with no hands/arms as well.

[Alagirl]

considering that 3-1 or even 4-0 is not a total novel concept in rein holding for at least Dressage, maybe a set of web reins with leather stops sewn on. I suppose it’s a bit of a challenge to train one hand to do it all, but it has been done before. :yes:

We always ‘neckreined’ our horses when we loafed around on the buckle…

But in general, it’s a reminder that in reality we need a lot less rein than we think we do. Seat and leg are much more important! :yes:

[_Liz]

There was a trainer in the town I grew up in with only 1 hand. She rode and showed in the hunters and jumpers and was quite a skilled rider. Like the rider Janet knows, this rider’s arm extended just barely past her elbow. She rode in conventional tack with a twist. One rein she would tie in a knot so that she would have a loop to use with her shorter arm. I believe she had separate reins for each horse she rode with a loop at a slightly different spot depending on the particular horse.

OP, it’s totally doable, and with enough determination, there’s no reason he can’t be very successful with only one hand. Good luck!

[Beau_Justice]

At the therapy barn I volunteer at, the only special set of reins we have that I know of offhand are ladder reins.

http://www.freedomrider.com/Reins-Adaptive-Ladder-Reins-Leather-Cotton-Web-Freedom-Solid-Rung.html

Maybe he can hold it where needed with one hand, and also make use of one of the longer loops?