I have never seen or heard of the pvc thing, but it sounds like something that could go pear-shaped pretty quickly.
SuzieQ- do you really longe a horse every time you change its noseband? That seems…excessive.
No not changing a noseband, adding some thing new. So the first time a horse wears a noseband, a saddle, a bridle, side-reins etc.
If going from a cavesson noseband to a drop noseband then yes, it is a big difference to the horse. If going from a drop noseband to a cavesson then probably not.
And yes I do send a horse out on the lunge with side reins before putting a rider up for a lunging lesson. Safety first and even with an experienced horse, you never know if something has happened overnight in their mouth that has made them sore. It is just for safety and only takes a minute.
So in this thread someone has already said their horse had a big reaction to the pvc pipe instead of the reins. So if anyone is going to try it. Just make sure the horse is happy with it before getting on. JMHO!
Ok, thanks for explaining. 
http://www.google.com/patents/US5442900
Haven’t seen an ad/catalog with them listed in awhile, but I do recall pictures of them.
Just for the record, I DID lunge the filly in the pipes before getting on. She was fine. The event started when I put my foot in the stirrup and she simply shook her head. Fly or something I guess, which made the pipes tap against her neck, she made a bigger move, they tapped harder and it was up, up and away.
Paint BTW, 3/4 QH, one TB grandparent, maybe 40 months old, about 4 months under saddle going W-T-C both ways with no issues outside of normal Green inconsistencies. She was not too bright or friendly but not a spook or anything, broke out easy. Never expected it out of her, must have really scared her and then she couldn’t get away from it and panicked.
You just never know…
Falls into the category of using cement blocks as jumps. If nothing goes wrong, get the job done I suppose. If something goes wrong you have loaded your ring full of weapons available to hurt you and/or horsie. I am all about safety first.
I neither encourage nor discourage the imagery or use of this tool, if you must try it someone has suggested pool noodles as an alternative.
Agree, if you must, pool noodles would be marginally better. Although if you loose the reins they won’t come off any better then the pipes. Possibility they see those things flapping on the reins in front of them, they might try to run away, especially if they just unloaded you with a spook and are already upset/scared.
Stuff happens, you can’t plan for every “what if” and there is always risk. But sticking to the type of basic equipment proven successful and safe for centuries that has survived millions of “what if” situations without making them worse is the smarter choice. Especially combined with proper riding and training over enough time to allow it to be successful. In my case, I was in too big a hurry, know that now, even knew it then but just had to get it done quicker.
“head Poles” used in Harness racing for ever to keep a horses straight between the lines. wouldn’t work quite the same with reins as the head poles in Harness racing is attached to the ring on the side of the nose band and then the harness hook near the top center of the harness or a line Burr which is more flexable and can be run through a rein
The more I think about this, the more I’m thinking that I saw the pool noodles on a standing martingale, not on the reins themselves. I don’t remember exactly (I just saw it once, and it wasn’t a horse that I knew), but I’m pretty sure they were on a martingale.
Edited because I didn’t remember it right. Woops. Sorry!
[QUOTE=supershorty628;7923279]
The more I think about this, the more I’m thinking that I saw the pool noodles on a running martingale, not on the reins themselves. I don’t remember exactly (I just saw it once, and it wasn’t a horse that I knew), but I’m pretty sure they were on a martingale.[/QUOTE]
Hunh. What would that do, I wonder? It seems counter-productive. Something along the lines of riding a horse in a tight standing AND a three ring lifter (which I saw the other day)?
[QUOTE=foursocks;7923396]
Hunh. What would that do, I wonder? It seems counter-productive. Something along the lines of riding a horse in a tight standing AND a three ring lifter (which I saw the other day)?[/QUOTE]
Momma Pope just informed me that it was on a standing martingale, not on a running. (Forgive me, this was years and years ago and I misremembered!)
It was done to keep the horse from curling behind the bit. I’ll go edit my other post.
But it would probably be a much safer alternative than pvc+reins, so there you go!
I mean, it could still freak a horse out, but many things can freak a horse out. The important thing is to use common sense and reasonable precautions… And make sure the thing itself is not adding to the danger factor.
If it can’t be found in the old Gordon Wright Cavalry Manual of Horsemanship and Horsemastership, chances are it’s a gimmick/gadget/way to get killed that you don’t need. Those guys encountered every horsemanship problem this Earth can produce, including those resulting from bad conformation and inexperienced riders, and solved them all with basic tack and basic exercises.
PVC pipe on the reins is a recipe for getting run off with and thrown through the arena FENCE. Leave things like this to shady dealers’ courses of last resort.
[QUOTE=findeight;7922852]
Just for the record, I DID lunge the filly in the pipes before getting on. She was fine. The event started when I put my foot in the stirrup and she simply shook her head. Fly or something I guess, which made the pipes tap against her neck, she made a bigger move, they tapped harder and it was up, up and away.
Paint BTW, 3/4 QH, one TB grandparent, maybe 40 months old, about 4 months under saddle going W-T-C both ways with no issues outside of normal Green inconsistencies. She was not too bright or friendly but not a spook or anything, broke out easy. Never expected it out of her, must have really scared her and then she couldn’t get away from it and panicked.
You just never know…[/QUOTE]
When I say I lunge until the horse is happy. I mean that the horse is happy in walk, trot and canter. When they shake, trip, get a fright, etc etc etc. Not hard to do at the moment with undulating ground and cow manure to slip on or trip over, sigh.
…and you are right, you never know. To know you have to ride a motorbike not a horse.
Jimmy Toon had something called, “Straight Lines”. He even had a video out to promote them. I rode with him for several years, but never used anything like them, but they were black tubes on the reins with white writing.
[QUOTE=STA;7926819]
Jimmy Toon had something called, “Straight Lines”. He even had a video out to promote them. I rode with him for several years, but never used anything like them, but they were black tubes on the reins with white writing.[/QUOTE]
Yep… that was the product sold by Dover. I thought I was not remembering the name correctly because I can’t find any reference to them. Which is not a bad thing.
I can’t even picture how this would work.
Straight Lines – been trying to think of that product name for days! Used them on a couple of horses back in the day because my trainer told me to. Can’t remember if they made a difference or not…
Come on now, this is COTH…am I the only one who giggled at the phrasing of the substantially rigid tubular members in the patent?
