I need to buy a new driving bridle for my mini and was wondering what the difference in function is between a side check and an overcheck.
He has been driven with a regular overcheck, but since the bridle I am looking at has the option of either, it got me wondering about the difference between the two. I have always liked the looks of sidechecks. Would there be a reason not to go that route? I will be doing a lot of ground driving at first, we are at the “getting to know each other” stage.
I should add we will be pleasure driving, and hope to go to some unrated pleasure shows in the driving classes. For fun.
Any advice is appreciated!
Go with sidecheck as the overcheck generally isn’t used in pleasure driving. For ADS type shows it’s a sidecheck if any check is used. No check is the most common today.
Overcheck was designed for speed horses, trotters and pacers, to force them to keep their noses out for better air supply during races. Overcheck does not let the nose come back when you are driving the animal, give to the bit.
Side check does allow throat to bend, nose come down so animal can achieve a “frame” when they do everything correctly when collected. This is with a LOOSE fitted side check.
As mentioned, in Pleasure Driving, most folks leave off the check rein. I believe the Mini Shows Rules require a check rein, but you certainly can leave it loose fitting, not really affecting the animal should you show in Breed competitions. 4-H State Rules here, also require a check rein, in the mistaken idea that it is a safety feature! So far, I have not been able to get that Rule changed in the Driving section.
If you have to choose one, go for the side check on your bridle, then use it when you need it to meet the Rule requirement.
Thankyou both. I was wondering about not to using any check at all and you cleared up that question too. If I do have to use one it will be loose.
Goodhorse, my neighbors had STBs when I was a kid, I never realized they were overchecked like that for air supply. That’s interesting. Brings back memories too, my first horse was a STB.
What Goodhors said is perfect. Minis must have a check in the ring, it’s in the rulebooks. My guy wears a sidecheck in the arena and no check everywhere else.
Raced Standardbreds for 40 years and never heard overchecks were for keeping airways open; they are not, they are meant to give the horse something to balance against. I have seen many a ketchup can crushed by horses that got their heads bent at the poll and would choke and now, the ketchup cans have been replaced by No Chokes and those can be found here - http://greenhawk.com/wdItemList.asp?strilhID=Web&intwgID=379&intwdID=380&intwtID=388&curLowPrice=0&curHighPrice=0&strListType=ItemList&strBrandName=&strSearchString=&intPageOn=3
A check on a race horse should never restrain but should be of sufficient length to allow the horse to get its head in a position where it is comfortable for speed. That length varies and there is no formula to sort it out.
Thanks to you both, Field of Dreams and sk_pacer.
Can I ask what the function of a No Choke is? I see them in the catalogues a lot and often wondered. I know little about racing and what I did know has probably changed. It was over forty years ago my neighbors had their STBs. I do remember my friend and I squezzing onto a cart and jogging their mare. We thought we were pretty cool. Thankfully the old girl was a quiet one!
A no choke threads onto the throatlatch and keeps the horse from getting his nose down and choking off his breathing. It is also used on horses with flapper problems to try to keep the airway open, doesn’t always work though.
OK, thanks. That is kind of what envisioned but wasn’t at all sure.
I bought a side check with my harness as it was allowed for competition (vs the over check which isn’t), and I thought may be useful, but it is able to be taken completely off the harness/bridle, so I can either use it or not. Seemed worth buying just in case I ever feel it would be useful.
I am a driving newbie, but from a ridden perspective, an overcheck is the exact opposite of what you want in a pleasure horse.
A pleasure horse should carry themselves with a round look, nose to bum. An overcheck will cause the horses back and neck muscles to build “upside” down. Not very pretty for a pleasure horse.
A sidecheck will just prevent the horse from grabbing a snack if you drive out in the fields/grass. If loose, it wont interfere with the horses way of going like an overcheck will.
sk pacer, thanks for your remarks on overchecks. Holding the nose up and out was what folks believed around here, and shared with us kids as we got into driving. Really sounded logical in discussions! Sure there were those horses who did the head down thing anyway, as you say smashed cans showed they COULD bend if they wanted to! We never raced anything, but used that kind of harness because it was readily available, and “everyone” used overchecks around here from their Harness Racing experiences.
goodhos - nothing quite like the experience of a going a training trip with a horse that decides to put its nose down to its chest whilst wearing a double bar crabb and choking because the airways are closed. You have to hope you throw the lines quick enough that the horse doesn’t go down from lack of air. FWIW, I know of a few horses that race without an overcheck, it is not a rule that they must wear one - you go with what works for the horse.
