I need suggestions on some new reins. I have small-ish hands so I prefer thinner reins. I love the flexibility and thickness of the Nunn finer soft grips, however, those things are slicker than snot without gloves on. I had a pair of smartpak reins that I loved but they seem to have discontinued them. So fellow small handed riders, what reins are your faves? Bonus points if they are on the shorter end length wise as my horse has a neck that is about 3inches long…
My favorite are the PS of Sweden Reins by HVE. They are much shorter than “normal”, so I don’t have 3 feet of bight to wrap around my foot (my horse has a super short neck) and they larger hand stops, so they don’t slide when you don’t want them to. I also prefer thinner reins that don’t get slippery and these are perfect - soft but grippy leather on one side and and rubber lining on the other side.
My new favorite are these. I ride bare handed with them all the time. I’ve only schooled xc with them. They might get too slick for xc but I love them for everything else. I posted two different links for them. They are very pretty in person and good for those of us with smaller hands!
I’m looking for the same thing, thanks leheath and bfne, both of those look great!
I love my KL Select Soft Grip reins: https://klselect.shptron.com/p/kl-italia-soft-grip-reins
I have a pair on both my dressage and jump bridles. The black ones are thinner than the brown ones, I’m not sure why. Could be that they are buckle ends while the brown ones are hook and stud. Even though they’re full length I haven’t had a problem with my short - erm, compact - horse.
Thinline! They never get slick when wet and are super comfortable.
Thinline! I don’t have the world’s largest hands, but also not itty bitty hands. They run short too. I got the size above pony, and they give me length for stretchy circles but i dont feel like i have a cluster of extra rein when shortened
I am a new convert to these: https://www.horze.com/reins/horze-soft-grip-rubber-reins-with-stoppers/10701.html?color=DBR
I bought some last year since my one horse kept suckering me in to letting the reins get longer and longer on XC. Both of my horses have fairly short necks so the pony length is perfect. I believe Vespucci or someone makes something similar, but much pricier.
I’m in UK but I’m sure you will have the equivalent over there - many different manufacturers of Jefferies Bio Grip
essentially look like traditional rubber reins from a distance, but they have a thin nylon core (rather than leather) which makes them much thinner and far more flexible. I only ride in these reins now
These are similar to (but way cheaper than) the Jeffries - but! - how thin are they? They look thicker, and for comparison I have the Nunn Finer Softgrip - which I love - but they are useless when wet or when the horse’s neck sweats.
I am over 60 and have two wrecked thumbs and arthritis in my hands, so anything too thick is just difficult to grip.
Ideally I would like to find something exactly like the Soft Grip but with more GRIP when wet!
Thinline. Hands down (pardon the pun). They are on every bridle in the barn.
Schockemohle makes awesome rubber reins, especially for those of us with smaller hands. They are thinner without being so thin that they cut, soft without being floppy (I hate those Biothane style reins!!!), and grippy. I also quite like the rubber reins from Bridlesandreins.com .
https://www.horze.com/reins/horze-slender-intertwined-reins/10659.html?color=BL
i love these reins by Horze. They have stoppers and the main material is like a woven rubber type stuff. Also super slim and small.
and $20.
Jumping on the Thinline train. They are AMAZING. Only reins I have found that I can wear with or without gloves and not have to worry about slippage when they get wet. Worth their weight in gold. Plus, they’re comfy and I get no rubs on my fingers when riding without gloves and my guy is a puller.
I have to say, I have large hands for a woman (7.5/8 glove), and I think the thinline reins are too thick. They actually make my hands ache! so it’s very personal I guess. I actually like the reins that came with my Micklem bridle.
They are really thin - not quite as thin as a pelham rein, but thinner than the Nunn Finer rubber reins - maybe 2/3 the size
Good to know, thanks! So how soft are they? That’s the other consideration
I have these
http://www.ejeffries.co.uk/p/falcon-bio-grip-reins?pp=24
And not as nice as I thought they would be, plus schockermohle does an exact same version at half the price.