Hints and Tips
Lungeing with Side Reins
Side reins are useful for lungeing your horse in a correct outline
Side Reins teach the horse to accept a steady contact with the bit and encourage him to work in a rounded outline with his poll the highest point.
The Side reins in The Claire Lilley Lunge Kit are numbered so it is easy to make sure they are the both the same length
They should be fitted so that they are horizontal to the ground. Make sure the horse’s nose is on or just in front of the vertical. This ensures he works properly through his back.
The side reins are non-elastic. We find this much better for establishing softness through the poll and jaw than side reins with elastic insert.
Some horses tend to pull against elastic which can set up resistance to the rider’s hand when ridden.
Introduce the outside side rein only at first. Attach the lunge rein to the inside bit ring and keep a steady contact, making sure the horse is working into the outside rein with his head straight.
Once your horse happily accepts the outside rein, put on the inside rein also. As you can see from this photo, if your horse is working properly into the outside rein, the inside rein is slack.
The inside rein prevents the horse from looking to the outside.
There is no need to have the inside rein shorter– this just encourages the horse to lean on the inside rein
Add This: