Basics of Horse Longeing: Remove Side Reins?

Question

I use longeing as a method of training my horse. I use this technique because I compete in equestrian vaulting. My horse is an Akhal Teke gelding. He's great with longeing, but I need to know how to remove the side reins. He is advanced enough to the point where I want to remove these. How do I this? Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

Side reins are normally used to keep the horses head down, his neck rounded and to build up the muscles in it's neck.

If your horse can carry himself nicely and is ready to be taken off the sidereins. Just unclip them??

I normally lunge my horses without sidereins because sidereins encourage a horse to lean on the reins and to they gradually get a hard mouth!

I lunge my horse for the sake of excercise, I believe a horse should be schooled with the rider on his back :)

Answer 2

If you want to lunge your horse without side reins then I would suggest just slowly loosening them before simply removing them, this can create the same feel and let you know whether your horse will continue to do well without the side reins without leaving them off and forcing you to go find them if it turns out that you need them.  In training I prefer to lunge a horse in a balance system, a series of ropes and pullies that encourages natural carriage of the horse without encouraging the pulling or leaning that badly applied side reins can.  You can find plans for balance systems online but I would only use them under the supervision of a trained professional as you can do damage if you don't know what you are doing.  For exercise many people don't use any restraint of any kind while lunging, but I am a firm believer that if a horse is working, ie exercising, he should be working properly, exercising the wrong muscles will only make your job in the saddle harder.  Lunging for a half hour prior to climbing in the saddle will help overcome numerous problems, creating the rhythm and regularity sought after in the training of young horses so that when a rider mounts they aren't struggling to create it, just simply maintain it, and it is a wonderful way to loosen up a stiff older horse so that your time in the saddle better spent actually working the horse instead of warming up.