I don’t long rein young, green horses anymore. But since a great many people do use long reins when starting horses, I thought I would explain my reasoning for abandoning them and training with short reins instead.
The Law Of Diminishing Anxiety
Education Versus Re-education
Not Forever
The Power of the Inside Rein
When To Stop Giving A Horse A Job
For me, I can see the advantages in a young horse having a job to help it adapt to life as a riding horse. However, there comes a time when to continue with working at a job becomes a hindrance. At some point, the focus of the job needs to move from performing a set of routine tasks to being connected to the rider. It should never be that we tell a horse to do something and then wait until it’s done before telling it to do something else.