Wednesday, February 1, 2017

New Toy

I alluded to my new toy last post, but I didn't have any media nor could I figure out what the heck they were called.  Thankfully my fellow tack hos helped me out and figured out that they are Lauffer reins, Phillip reins, or as I heard them Vienna reins.  Most Vienna reins are connected and hook to the girth.  In true Stinker form, he did not appreciate these and has a strong preference for the ones that are split and can connect to the sides.

Stolen from the internet, because Stinker wanted to be a giraffe and show off his under neck

He has slowly been figuring things out with the new addition.  He is still a little more underpowered than I would like to see, but I think that will improve with time.  I also noticed on Tuesday (when all the media was taken) that he wasn't releasing his right crest and was tilting his head a bit.  If anyone has recommendations for good books on working in hand/lunging I would appreciate them.

A little underpowered and twisted

10 comments:

  1. Ooh interesting I'll be curious to hear your thoughts! I had been thinking about some sort of gadget after my last dressage clinic where the guy basically said my horse needed to be educated about the contact, and held the reins himself positioned a bit like side reins. But after discussing with my regular trainer we opted to hold off on that for now, given other competing priorities. We may try something like these reins out eventually tho! Hopefully they do good things for you and stinker!

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    1. Try borrowing and playing around with a few if you can. Stinker never did well in regular side reins nor in others I tried on him but he seems to be figuring these out.

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    2. ehh my regular trainer recommended against that for now so i think i'll hold off. but maybe one day!!

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    3. I can see why she recommended that with Charlie's tendency to get stuck, now that I think about it :)

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  2. I've heard good things about "Horse Training In-Hand: A Modern Guide to Working from the Ground" and I have it on my Amazon wish list.

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  3. I'm the worst at learning from books. I advise watching many hours of hilarious fail youtube videos, then saying "f*ck it" and just giving it a go.

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    1. I will be sure to send you the rants that go with that idea....

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  4. I do love a set of well-used Vienna reins. Not all horses need them, but there are some who really experience an almost-immediate transformation when set up with them! I love that the horse can find the release on his own, and they set both an upper and a lower limit as far as head carriage goes. I find that they teach self carriage and lighten the horse off the forehand quickly!

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    1. I'm really hoping that it helps him to get more consistent and build strength over his top line now that he has more muscle behind.

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