If the FEI was truly concerned about the welfare of the horse they would BAN all ENDURANCE competitions. Screw the draw reins. The endurance people are lunatics. Our veterinarian has officiated at a FEI events. What those horses go through is SICK. He won’t go back, though has gotten many offers, with high fees. Calls it “cruelty.” So there.
Draw reins can make life a lot easier in some ways, but there is a lot that gets missed when that becomes the method, DeNemethy or not. There have also been some very well known riders / instructors / trainers / Gold Medal winners that don’t agree with that approach.
The FEI has dropped the ball on a few things.
The endurance situation was out of control … riding horses until they dropped dead.
I am an unapologetic user of draw reins. I don’t use them a ton, and I don’t think they are right for every horse (at least two of my own personal horses were too claustrophobic for them). I agree that they can EASILY be abused. But there are sometimes and some horses that they can be a benefit.
I have a horse who is typically a lovely ride. He’s a bit sharp, but he is obedient, well schooled, and, when doing his job, quiet enough that I can put friends on him that may be less experienced and let them play on the flat and jump him. But he can be emotional and very fractious. Draw reins help me hack him out more safely, and are nice to have on when he’s going to be fresh (if I’m able to move past my grief of losing my BO and dear friend this week and get back on my horse, I will be pulling out the draw reins). 98% of the time, we go around with a big loop in them, no where near engaged. But the other 2% of the time, they can help refocus him, save my nose, give me a hair’s breath more power in my half halts, and just generally keep us and anyone brave enough to go out with us safe.
I also used to gallop him in them, and know many other event horses who gallop in them (Mark Todd couldn’t hold the great Charisma on gallops without them. Mark. Todd. On a horse who won two gold medals and showed through I believe Prix St George in pure dressage). My guy isn’t strong, necessarily, but always found gallops so exhilarating that tiny things would cause huge spooks (he is gifted at the 180 degree spin while going 500mpm). Again, draw reins help refocus him and give me more power without overwhelming him (he is sensitive and is very easily overbitted).
He is a horse who can jump smoothly and quietly around the show ring, and then turn himself inside out on the way back to the barn or trailer. As with most high intelligent and sensitive horses, he knows when it’s game on and when it’s not, and gets a kick out of being a bit of a turd when not working. I’ve worked on it, a lot, and while it’s much improved almost 5 years on in our relationship (I can get on him at shows now without fearing for my life and anyone directly in front of us!), he is who he is and is managed. Not changed.
My my point in all that is that just because a horse is really well schooled and does its job very well, that does not mean they can’t be fractious and even rude when they aren’t on the job. Some horses are managed, not trained, and sometimes managing them means draw reins.
And you can believe their are plenty of event horses out there that their riders probably wish they could use draw reins on to hack around at shows. And probably plenty who could stand them in VGs. But rules are rules and draw reins at events have to be put away by 3pm the day before the show starts.
I am am all for banning them from warm up, especially over fences, but sometimes they are nice to have to survive non-game time on some horses.
I doubt it was the ‘big names’ who caused this ban, but probably lesser riders misusing them and making for crashes and horrible photos. It’s easier for the federation to issue a blanket ban. In my opinion, fair enough.
And yes, public perception of the sport is important. If you want equestrian sports to remain in the Olympics, and receive funding and recognition, the images of bloody mouths and blue tongues that keep coming up on social media have to be recognised as a major problem.
Equestrian sports remaining in the Olympics is a completely different thread. I think we can do without them in all honesty. Too much crap to put up with, too much begging to have to do, too many conciliations.
Back to original thought, I agree that draw reins have their purpose and in the right hands, work well. In fact, in David Broome’s training manual, he’s seen jumping in them. Heresy !!! No, old school maybe. But some of the softest, most educated hands in show jumping. I would trust him implicitly with my horse in draw reins any day. John Whitaker knew Milton better than anyone on this board and no one here can say better whether that horse needed draw reins in VGs.
A total ban is ridiculous. Throwing the baby out with the bath water.
Very common actually, and, yes, even with the horses that have been all over the place.
Very common actually, and, yes, even with horses that have been all over the place. Also, I think these riders know how to ride. 
Yes we had a helicopter landing right next to a schooling ring on the Atlantic tour in Portugal. You are right, it didn’t really bother most of the horses. But the rc helicopter some kid kept flying in the same area scared the bejeezus out of many of them. If you think fei horses are robots who don’t bat an eye at anything you have not been to a lot of fei shows. You’d be astonished at what doesn’t bother them and then what thing you didn’t even think of causes a meltdown.
If you think fei horses are robots who don’t bat an eye at anything you have not been to a lot of fei shows.
FEI horses aren’t a breed, they are just horses. I have met a lot of horses that are extremely hot and fit and still have some holes in their training.
I thought I remember Laura saying that Cedric goes in draw reins at shows because it is good for the life expectancy of any horse/rider near him - he is spooky and a wee bit explosive and nobody is served well by a dumped Laura/loose Cedric careening around (least of all, Cedric, who broke his ribs when he jumped out of the ring, slipped and fell in Spain IIRC).
But I think only a fool or an idiot would argue that Laura uses draw reins on Cedric because he is not well trained (fools and idiots, here’s your cue, post away). Cedric is an enormously talented but quirky individual. And as is the case with so many of these upper level athletes, you make concessions and work around the quirkiness as well as you can.
I suspect that in something like jumpers or eventers, where the horse has to think for himself much of the time and save his (and your) ass sometimes, that self reliance/quirkiness may be more of an asset more often than in dressage, where waiting on the rider is a valued commodity. Also, for those that compared VG with Rolex or dressage, let’s just say the most tired VG of the three groups would be at Rolex. Yes they are the fittest by far, but unlike a jumper, they are not heading back to a class in 5 days, they are going home for some well deserved rest. And dressage? After they finish their test, go back and do a shortened version as a timed event (fasted gallop wins!!!), really get that blood up and THEN come immediately back for a group gallop, then we will talk about control. 
Maybe I should say that I have been working in barns with GP jumpers and have seen some pretty crazy stuff going on … not the sort of “training” that I would say gives a horse confidence in unusual situations.
