Reins with hand stops, or grippier reins?

[butlerfamilyzoo]

I’m working on getting my mini a bit rounder and working into the bit better. However, even with my gloves, my reins are slipping through my fingers and i’m constantly shortening up my reins.

I know this is mostly because i tend to relax with him on the trail and work him on a looser rein… So i’m not used to keeping contact with him all the time and fall into that mindset when doing arena work… Shame on me…

But wanted some advice on if reins with hand stops, or the ones that have the grippy nubs on them, might help me out? In my dressage days, i wouldnt dare use reins without hand stops because of the same problem… But didnt know if they would bug me since in driving you tend to adjust reins a bit more than you would when riding.

[Drive_NJ]

This was one of those DUH moments for me - as in , never thought of that

but depending on the current reins you have - most reins have a smooth outer surface and an somewhat rougher inner surface

When Tricia was having a problem with sliding reins - our trainer said to just turn the reins over in your hands so you would grip down on the rougher part -

I tried it too and DUH it REALLY works

One set of our reins has a much rougher inside surface but even on the older reins that have worn smooth and were smoother to begin with - It Works!

Our barn owner (driver too) uses the rubberized cotton web reins (marathon reins) for almost all her driving

[CDE_Driver]

I have a pair of these that I got for marathon,
http://carriagedrivingessentials.com/shop/cart.php?target=product&product_id=2639&category_id=258

They DO. NOT. SLIP!

I wasn’t wild about them for a couple of personal reasons. They are much lighter than leather reins and felt light those gummy worms in my hands, LOL. I know a lot of people that love them for just that reason. I also like to be able to slide my hands up and down my reins and I couldn’t with those.

Maybe someone you know has some that you could try and see if you like them.

[equinedriver]

I suffer from what I call “rein creep”. Without realizing it, 10 or 15 min into work in the ring I will realize one or both reins are 3 to 4" longer than they were when I started. I drive in the cotton web reins with stops. That way I have to conciously let the rein out… I also have a pair of the reins linked above. They are much heavier than the cotton web and they do not slip nearly as much as beta or leather reins, but personally I find the stop to be the best solution for me.

[buck22]

Butler, do you wear gloves? I never ever wore gloves for all the years I rode, but when I started driving I treated myself to a fancy pair of riding gloves, mainly because I was curious, and I really could not imagine driving without gloves now.

Drive NJ, what a brilliant suggestion!

[QUOTE=CDE Driver;5652503]

I wasn’t wild about them for a couple of personal reasons. They are much lighter than leather reins and felt light those gummy worms in my hands, LOL. [/QUOTE]
I had those type reins for riding, mine were nunn finers, and I agree with your comments on them. I hated mine with a passion, gummy, floppy, squiggly, I ended up getting very busy hands constantly futzing with them and annoyed my horse. The bight never stayed put either, it flounced around with every stride and just annoyed the bejesus out of me. My trainer at the time loved them, so I gave them to her.

Riding, I discovered thin line reins and I love love loved them. So much so, I have a second pair I’ve been wondering if can be sewn onto a set of driving reins? My hands were never so still and giving, and my pony never so steady in the bridle as when I rode with TL reins.

Equinedriver, I’m really glad you mentioned that. I’ve found myself with the same, after doing some arena work one rein is longer than the other. Stops are a great idea.

[butlerfamilyzoo]

Thanks guys. I think I’ll try some hand stop reins. I do drive in gloves, ride in gloves too, even western down the trail. I feel naked without them!

I had those nubby reins by nun finer, they are a love it or hate it kinda thing. I sold mine too!

Thin line driving reins… Now wouldn’t that be super! I’m gonna cut up one of my thin lines and make a saddle pad out of it one of these days. Not sure I’ll have enough to do a breast collar pad too, but think that would be nice to have!

[Quelah]

I have 3/4" leather lines with hand stops sewn on. I got them because the Advanced driver that my husband gators for has them, monkey see, monkey do. I also spent some time year back “loping colts” for a reined cow horse trainer, and ever since then (I was once a dressage/eventing rider) I’ve had a heck of a time making myself keep consistent contact, figured the stops would help me not slip the lines so much.

I was darn glad I had them when I went to my first driving show ever, and on the second morning, showed in SNOW and 40 mph winds. My horse was a saint (so glad I hadn’t clipped his ears!) but by the end of the class I had no feeling in my hands. I knew if I just kept my little fisties clenched on the lines, the stops wouldn’t slide through, and we finished that class, and the one after, in pretty good shape.

[buck22]

[QUOTE=butlerfamilyzoo;5655290]

Thin line driving reins… Now wouldn’t that be super! I’m gonna cut up one of my thin lines and make a saddle pad out of it one of these days. Not sure I’ll have enough to do a breast collar pad too, but think that would be nice to have![/QUOTE]
I was thinking the same exact thing, but hesitant to cut up my TL pad, I do like riding with it and do hope to ride again one day.

For the saddle I was actually thinking about getting some TL shims and sewing them onto a felt backer, so the TL was under the padding of the saddle, and free over the gullet. Breast collar would be a great idea too, but that would take more than one pad I bet.

I wonder if TL would sell scrap? surely they’d custom make.

[butlerfamilyzoo]

Buck - Interesting about leaving a gap over the gullet, i was thinking about this lately. I totally get it from the dressage ring, no pressure over the spine! But when looking at the common, and not common/expensive driving pads, none are constructed with any kind of gullet channel. I’m wondering if the makers think its not necessary, or just too difficult to construct that way? I was thinking of building it up with some foam on either side with the bottom being the TL and the top being fleece. Then i thought, hmmm, maybe just a single layer of TL under the saddle, sew my velcro loops directly to the TL. Not sure a horse would need an inch and a half of padding under there if it were a TL that distributes weight better than foam… And then i could just hose it off and not have to let it sit out to dry.

I was thinking for the breast collar pad, i could just use the sticky velcro and stick it directly to the inside of the breast collar, course then i’m pretty well stuck with that velcro on the inside of the breast collar forever! So maybe not so good an idea…

Wouldnt it be nice for TL to team up with a harness maker and line a breast collar and bottom of the saddle with the TL material! And while they are at it, make us some nice TL reins too! I’m sure i couldnt afford it! But it would be nice!

I’m going to start watching Ebay for some used ones to come up. I’ve gotten a couple that way in the past and cut them up for other uses. Made myself a front riser correction pad out of a red one. I never remember seeing them sell colors, but i didnt care, it was covered in white fleece, sure got it for a good deal though! Think i paid $15 for it! I was going to trim down the one i have for my son’s lead line saddle, i know he does quite a bit of bouncing around. But if i’m gonna start lining my harness with it, i guess i need a couple extras! I never use it under my western saddle and i sold my dressage saddle. I’ve got such a nice western pad, i dont really feel the need for it, and it’s a little small on coverage under the western saddle anyway.

Not sure TL would sell scraps since they sell the boot liners and hoof pads, they may use up most of their scrap. Wonder if they would start selling things for the driving market if we started asking though! Might have to drop them an email!

[Drive_NJ]

ALL of the driving saddles I have ever had (except the ultra cheapie one I got by mistake) have had a gullet built into the design

we have a 6 inch wide TREELESS saddle for our Alex who is just shy of being a 55 gal drum on legs and it has a distinct gullet built into the saddle pad - probably an inch and a half wide gullet

we hav also always had the padding that goes all the way down the sides of the saddle - Smuckers eventually used that style and called it Comfort something

Our harness was made by Russ Fagan who based his harness on patterns he bought out from an early 1900 harness company

AND since we now are using breast collar pads I would love to put in another vote for people interested in Thinline doing harness products

[butlerfamilyzoo]

Drive NJ- I didnt mean the saddles themselves do not have a gullet channel, but the pads you buy to go under them never do. I’ve only seen them with the same thickness all the way across. I spent the money on a nice waffle one and it was the same as my cheapies, so i went back to my cheapies. I got one at an auction that is fleece on top but vinyl on bottom, i like it, i can hose it and it dries fast, but still no gullet channel… So i wonder if like our riding saddles, does the pad apply any pressure on the spine if there is no clearance? Maybe not, it’s not like there should be much weight on the saddle to begin with, unlike 200lbs of human and saddle if riding.

Wonder how many people we would have to get interested for Thin Line to make us some breastcollar pads. I think that would be really great.

[buck22]

A gullet channel in my pad is vitally important to me since my boy has broken withers. Any pressure near his spine is uncomfortable for him after some time. Currently I am using a pad I home made from sheepskin. Before I learned of my horse’s injury, I was learning from experience that he was sensitive in some areas, and couldn’t find a riding pad that really was shaped the way I wanted, so I purchased some full sheepskin hides and started making my own.

I would hazard a guess that lack of gullet channel on saddle pads is likely because there has been little demand for one. For the longest time (I’m dating myself here) shaped riding saddle pads where challenging enough to find. The gullet channel on my saddle is wide enough that I can pull the sheepskin pad up into like I would a riding saddle. But, when I construct my felt and TL pad, I will be making a channel.

Can’t decide if I want felt or TL against the horse though. I usually rode TL over sheep or felt or flanneled cotton shaped dressage square. I’m leaning towards felt against the horse. Slippage concerns me.

Depending on what TL’s pricing would be, I might be interested in a breast collar pad too, though I currently use a home made sheepskin sewn onto a cotton pad that velcro’s on which I’m quite pleased with. I’ll see if I can find the vendor I purchased from.

I have a sheepskin pad under where the crupper buckles and kicking strap threads too, seemed to be an uncomfortable pressure point for my horse.

And, I constructed a home made pad/sleeve that goes over the neck piece. My boy seems reactive to pressure there too (doesn’t tolerate being blanketed for extended periods of time, other than a cut back blanket or high euro neck). I used an old foam wintec pad. Useless for its original intention I find, but the built in high channel was excellent to create an arch over his neck.

My poor pony looks like a french poodle with sheepskin puffs sticking out everywhere :lol:

I am positively inching to convert my TL pony length reins into driving reins however. Just need to find a set of forward half that matches.

[butlerfamilyzoo]

I’ve emailed thin line to see if it’s something they would consIder.

When thin line first came out it was supposed to be against the horse. I remember reading that once it warmed up to horses temp, it would Become like a second skin and help to prevent slipping. Then they started coming out with built in pads and sheepskin… The girths are still bare thin line against the horse and I didn’t have slipping problems. So I don’t think it would need to be lined. I don’t think it’s going to slip any more than a waffle pad would, and mine didn’t slip, I just didn’t think it seemed comfortable.

Will be interesting to see what they say. Might be a little rough on them unless they work with a harness maker as they need to make various sizes and straight or shaped breast collars in many sizes…

[Drive_NJ]

OK - so I wrote a reply about pads and gullets and it seems to have disappeared (sure to show up now)

But the gist of it was that riding saddle pads are longer and its easier to create a “shape” to mimic a gullet

with most harness saddle pads only 4-6 inches wide you really cant make a “shape” in that space - some way or another you end up with something resting on the back

you can place the pad in a position to pull it up into the saddle gullet (just like in riding)

Another factor that applies is that generally harness saddles are not cinched up as tight as riding saddles AND you dont carry the same weight as a rider - even when cart weight rests into the tugs - its a lot less than a riders weight

I would be interested in breast collar pads but I think they might need more structure than just the thinline material or they could twist with the movement of the breastcollar
Saddles dont move like the breast collar does

Might be an idea to see if Marjean at Camptown Harness could swing a deal with Thinline for pads. She has managed to get a lot of other miscellany made for driving
I think she also has cashel harness pads (not sure about that, though)

Just a thought on B22 having riding reins converted to driving reins
To make the WHOLE rein from bit to hand you’d probably need 3 or more reins for each driving reins

Horse sized driving reins are 15-16 feet long and riding reins are usually about 54 inches (4.5 ft)

Shouldnt be hard to attach a riding rein as the back “half” of a driving rein but you might still end up with 2 splices per rein and you want to make sure that that splice does not end up where YOU usually grip your reins - you will be VERY unhappy with that

So - if you really want to do it - mark your normal driving reins with where you hold them in your hands and measure that from the bit - that part MUST not have the splices
But other than that - no reason not to try
You should be able to get a decent pair of Amish made reins for under $80 and I know Becky Zimmerman might think you are “odd” with your request

• but she would do the work converting for you