Effect of shortened reins on rein tension

By Anna-Katharina Ludewig & Uta König v. Borstel*.

N°28 - Janvier 2012
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Les effets du raccourcissement des rênes

It is certainly commonly thought that the length of the reins does not affect the ridden horse to a large extent, as long as their tension is light enough.

A study on seventeen dressage horses was led in Germany by two researchers of Göttingen University : here are their findings.

Horses are commonly ridden with reins severely shortened compared to the theoretical ideal, e. g. by inexperienced riders in a mistaken attempt to achieve collection, to “stretch” the horse’s muscles, or to hold back a bolting horse. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to study naïve horses’ reactions to riding with shortened reins.

Length of reins and rein tension are two different things. Nevertheless, on this photograph, both are shown. © Fotolia

This study has been presented recently in the congress of the ISES (International Society for Equitation Science) held in Hooge Mierde, Netherlands.

Reins shortened by 10 cm

Seventeen dressage horses (including warmbloods and riding ponies) were each ridden by their riders in a dressage pattern (official competition patterns for German rider level A or L, depending on the skill level of the horse and rider) in balanced order twice with their normal rein length (mean ± SD: 79 ± 7 cm; corresponding to a posture with the horses’ noseline at the vertical as, according to the owner, usually used for this horse) and twice with the reins shortened by 10 cm.

«Horses partly comply with the shortened reins by adapting their head posture and step-length»

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