In addition to allowing the horse to take a steady contact on the bit and rebalance his energy from the hindquarters over his back, the purpose of side reins while longeing is to keep the horse straight. That is, bending on the circle by swinging the ribcage toward the outside of the circle–not by popping one shoulder out of alignment and leaning in or out. The horse’s body should follow an even arc around the circle, and the boundaries created by sidereins encourages this to happen when the horse is moved forward into the bit.
who did the certification clinic? i don’t know of anyone doing it that wouldn’t want to answer questions.
sometimes questions can impede the flow but they can always be asked later or emailed to the person after the cert.
I can’t say because I would like to one day become a certified trainer and I don’t want to burn any bridges or disparage someone that might of just been having a bad day or something.
In my experience, if a horse is laterally stiff and accustomed to resisting bend, and habitually does not give in the rib cage or jawl, no side reins or reins of any kind will suggest to him how he should carry himself. On the lunge line, you have 2 tools: driving the horse forward into the contact, and the contact… you have ‘some’ lateral control, for instance you can make ‘waves’ with the lunge line when the horse pops the shoulder in, you can also do some ‘half halt’ while pointing the whip at the horse.
I know plenty of horses, who are quite capable of hollowing or curling with the side reins, their legs going like a sewing machine if you drive him forward. To stretch into the contact, the horse must have some back muscles to work with, and is inclined to relax those back muscles, or are natural back movers. A horse that is crooked for a long time, I would correct it with massage/chiro, then suppling exercise, then side reins for further strengthening when the crookedness is lessened.
IMO rebalancing does not come from forward energy and contact alone. Some horses yes, like duck to water. Some has pain and stiffness and mechanical crookedness and conformation that makes it very difficult. I guess the best is give it a try, and let the horse tells you.
Side reins are mechanical conditioning… you let the horse figure it out himself by giving him the ‘given’ to work correctly. However, if there is an overwhelming influence, like discomfort, the horse cannot understand the ‘given’.
Lunge lesson on side reins, is to learn and feel and work with a horse that is round and knows how to be round. The student performs exercises on a horse that is steady, balanced and gives his back, while the student does not have to worry about contact or reins. Hence, the trainer typically have full control of the horse through the lunge line. It is not typically used to assist the rider anyway in achieving contact, or to teach the poor horse something about submitting to rider’s hands… that is what I am so mad about when people ride with side reins… “horse won’t give, oh put side rein on one side”… that is incorrect application. For it will gives conflicting message to the horse which is very uncomfortable.
If you are learning to ride and the horse is disturbed by the rider’s unsteadiness, trainer can put german reins on the horse to help the horse filter out some noise. Again the focus is to help the rider ride, not trying to teach the horse something.
Having been on both sides, I recommend the OP longe the horse in a snaffle and save the segunda for show day.
With my mare, I typically lunge her before I ride her, as I have found her to be a lot more relaxed and willing to work after being lunged, she responds well to the side reins, and I really like them for this purpose. Basically whenever she is lunged, she has side reins on. The exception of this is after a really hard day of work and I just lunge her for a few minutes in her halter to “stretch her out”.
I do agree with the fact that they are not for undersaddle use. As when I was with my previous trainer, he had me riding a mare in side reins, she spooked, and went over on me. I cannot stress how dangerous riding in side reins are. 8 years later, I have lasting injuries, and know better than to ride with anything on the horses head unless I totally trust them. I am even cautious when riding with draw reins.
well, oldschool, comments like that only serve to make people more skeptical about the instructor program, and i’m sure anyone who cared to take the time could very quickly find out who you’re talking about.
if you don’t like something about the program please offer to help them make it better, instead of making innuendos on a bb.
I didn’t see any innuendos.
Oldschool said she found them 'intimidating and dismissive" \I simply interpret that as Oldschool wasn’t comfortable asking them questions, I don’t see any talking ‘smack’ - it was his/her? impression . big whoop.
yeah, i’m just sick of complaints about that program and people not getting involved, just complaining.
and i STILL don’t know anyone involved who really IS dismissive of questions.
Let me assure you that I’m replying in good faith and I think it is an EXCELLENT program which is why I plan on getting certified, God willing. All I meant was that since I was only auditing, and the instructor, though obviously EXTREMEly knowledgable did not give me the impression that ???s from the peanut gallery{auditors, not actual cert hopefuls} were wanted, in the interest of time? having a bad day? It’s all good. That’s why I asked the ?? here and I’m thankful for slc’s answer. And THAT is why, when you asked who it was that made me feel intimidated, I kept my big mouth shut! It doesn’t matter. I learned a TON about lunging, safety, and exercises for both the horse and rider. I recommend it HIGHLY for anyone interested in gaining knowledge in a common sense and int’lly accepted matter!! My apologies if I offended anyone.
if i wanted to graduate from a program i would put my complaints thru official channels and keep them out of the gossip lane. and i still don’t know anyone doing the program that is in the LEAST bit dismissive of questions from auditors or anyone else.
there are certain individuals here who just launch an attack on the program any time anyone says anything like this here and start saying all the faults they found in the syllabus 20 yrs ago when it was first written and how in one session 20 yrs ago instructor 1 wanted one kind of stretch andd instructor 2 wanted another kind of stretch and that’s why the program is worthless today…fortunately they have not showed up :lol:
Again, I reitirate, I have nothing but respect for the usdf program. If I was here to gossip, I would of named names, and it was only a fleeting moment in time and I assumed I could follow up my lunging questions elsewhere when I wasn’t taking up time, as they have ALOT of info to share in a limited space . Unless you have attended every single workshop, in every single state for every single moment, you would realize that we are all human and even the most patient, kind person can feel pressure for a variety of factors;seen and unseen. I wouldn’t complain thru the program 'cuz it wasn’t THAT big a deal. I thought this was an info sharing lane, not a gossip lane by the way.
both
I train and study both dressage and hunter jumper, i rode modified and mini prix jumpers and hunters…,i would longe in an O ring loose ring preferably iron mouth snaffle or copper mouth and use bit guards (the rubber ones) as these press gently on the horses lower jaw and cause him to lower his head+yeild his jaw+champ the bit all from the pressure of you using your longing rein. NEVER RIDE IN SIDE REINS the horse can panic you cannot release and he can flip over backwards, you ride in draw reins and use two bits for that.
I like to build up jumper muscles by longing in a chambon and then adding in the side reins for the finished look, you get a great topline and crest with this method
the new trend with hunters is to ride in draw reins with them run through the throatlatch to prevent the horse from curling up and overbending and bending in the middle of the neck.
i ride with draw reins attached to the side of the horse at the girth parrellel with the saddle flap and going to a second bit a smaller bradoon snaffle and then also ride in my normal bit with a pair of regular reins
