A Discussion on Rein Lenth

In this post I would like to talk about teaching the new rider how to shorten and lengthen his reins as the need may be, and to suggest the length they should be held.  At the walk the reins can be allowed to hang slacked  if both the horse and rider are experienced.  If with ether are inexperienced then the reins should be held shorter.  That is not to say that the reins should be held tightly against the horse's mouth, just that the reins should be short enough so the rider does not have to move his arm very far back to apply pressure on the horse's mouth.

If this horse was to take in into its mind to run away the girl's arms are way too far from the horse's mouth for her to exert much control over the horse's head either in direction or in  speed control.

The above is a picture of two riders, one knows how her reins should be held, and the other does not have a clue.  The same if for the kids in the picture below:

To help this horse in its jump the rider should have shortened his/her reins and leaned much further forward.

While this rider has leaned forward the reins should shorten and the hands much further up on the hors's neck.

Now this rider gives a picture of how it should be taught, note the short reins, and her position on the horse's neck.  The picture below shows another rider who has grasped the concept:

And this one even more advanced in the use of the forward seat:

When pull directly upon the horse's mouth you are using the direct rein to cue your horse, when you put the rein on the horse's neck (neck reining) to cue your horse you are using the indirect rein.  The horse understands the direct rein easier than he does the indirect rein, and responds to it faster than the indirect rein both in learning the meaning of your cues and when he becomes excited or fearful.  Some people never teach their horses to neck rein. And this never have to concern themselves as to when they should switch from the indirect rein to the direct rein.

In the video below I demonstrate my method for shorten and lengthen the reins while on the move:

Another method I use to shorten my reins which I did not demonstrate in the video is to grasp both reins with one hand and with the other hand pull the slack out by pulling the rear hand backwards until the reins are at a length more appropriate for the situation me and the horse may find ourselves.

Rexx