What kind of reins do you have?

[hank]

Reins what kind do you like? And why? I have a pair of round leather with clips on the ends

[Francis30642]

I have a nice pair of 3/4" split reins with horse hair tassels for the young horse
I have 1" split reins in braided cotton/poly for the standardbred
I have braided round leather for the Spotted Saddle Horse, romel reins even
I have a beautiful set of purple braided nylon mecate reins on blingy purple slobber straps
I have purple nylon roping reins for the heck of it, don't use them much cause they are too short
I have hand braided cotton reins with rein chains cause they are cool
I have some wonderfully soft braided cotton flat 10' long continous reins for the big half draft that I trail ride
I have 3/4 inch leather rope reins that are 8' for the old horse
I have several nice english reins .. different widths
I am sure there are more..

Some have snaps on the ends, some don't.. depends on the horse.. some tolerate that, most would prefer not to have metal clanging on metal in their mouths

I like split reins, I like continuous reins.. just depends on the horse and what I am going to do with them.

I like Tack

Hello my name is Tina and I buy tack..

OT

[man from snowy river]

LOL, thats funny Tina. This is really a tough question, like Tina said, depends on what you do and what you are comfy with. I love the Mecate reins for training, I like split leather reins for show, parades, and ASHA shows. I like the loop reins that are a little thicker for trail riding. as long as its not girly looking I like it...LOL

[hank]

I trail ride, I have thought about the loop reins but I dont know anout them I alway wonder why they had the heavy leather on the ends?

[tinasi]

I love my 1/2" heavy harness split reins for training.
Also I have the 1/4" heavy harness split reins for showing - yes they are small, but feel sooo nice in my hands.

[Francis30642]

Hank,
The heavy leather on the ends are called slobber straps.. they were designed to keep your "good" reins up out of the water or dirt and reduce wear and tear on the end attached to the bit.. they are designed to be the replacable part of a nice set of reins.. they also break easier in case of an emergency. They are typically used with a ring snaffle.

When I say continuous reins, I also mean roping reins.. like these..
http://www.smithbrothers.com/double-dia ... 69/cn/546/ (with small slobber straps)
http://www.smithbrothers.com/latigo-rop ... 21/cn/546/ (leather with snaps)
http://www.smithbrothers.com/5-plait-la ... 42/cn/546/ (leather with one snap)

OT

[Francis30642]

Oh yeah..
Also, the big leather ends, slobber straps.. are used to fine tune your snaffle bit horses.. they transmit subtle signals to the horse which allow you to use a softer que or "ask".


OT

[hank]

http://www.smithbrothers.com/double-dia ... 69/cn/546/ (with small slobber straps)

I like them, but I think I would like the big leather.

[Walk N Shake]

A horse that I'm training on or that I ride two-handed, I like a single roping or barrel rein, thick braided, like the ones Nikki makes and sells (www.niknaktack.com). I don't mind riding in split reins on a horse like this, just mildly worry about dropping one in case of an "emergency brake" one-rein stop.

A horse that I ride one-handed, I prefer split reins... preferably a heavy harness leather so that your neck rein cues are very noticeable and get a faster response.

My show reins are thinner, lighter-weight, dressy split reins with silver ferrules near the bit ends. The breed I show requires split reins on all western horses, regardless of whether you ride one- or two-handed.

[IB Spotted]

There is nothing better then the feel of quality harness leather in your hands. I like ones with all leather quick change loops on the bit end since I change horses/ bits very often!