GB2503514A

GB2503514A - Device for assisting in the riding of horses

Info

Publication number: GB2503514A
Application number: GB201211727A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Rebecca Marsden
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2012-06-29
Filing date: 2012-06-29
Publication date: 2014-01-01
Anticipated expiration: 2032-06-29
Also published as: GB201211727D0; GB2503514B

Abstract

A device 1 to assist a horse rider to obtain balanced rein control and aid turning thereby leading to a more obedient horse. The device comprises a central portion 2 of adjustable length. The central portion has a transversely extending handle portion 4,5 at each end. The central portion may be provided with visual markers 14, 15, 16 to aid positioning. In use the rider holds the handle portions whilst simultaneously holding the rein.

Description

lmDrovements in or relating to the riding of horses This invention relates to the riding of horses and more particularly is concerned with providing a device to assist the rider to obtain balanced rein control.

Many riders give poor ineffective hand signals to the horse. The disposition of the rider's hands can become unbalanced and uneven causing rough treatment and damage to the sensitive mouth structures of the horse resulting in ineffective control.

According to one aspect of the present invention there Is provided a device to assist a horse rider to obtain balanced control of the horse's rein, which device comprises a longitudinally extending central section of adjustable length, a first portion in the form of a handle for a first hand of the rider extending transversely of the central portion at a first end thereof, and a second portion in the form of a handle for the second hand of the rider extending transversely of the central section at a second end thereof whereby, in use, the rider can hold the rein whilst simultaneously holding the handles. According to another aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of obtaining balanced control of a horse's rein and even contact through to the horse's mouth when riding the horse which method includes the step of holding the handles of a device as hereinbefore defined whilst simultaneously holding the rein.

The device may be formed of a material similar to that used for horse riding whips or any other suitable light weight material. For example it may be formed of plastics tubing, glass fibre or aluminum.

In a particularly preferred embodiment of the invention, the central section of the device comprises first and second parts which are slidablè with respect to one another to enable the length of the central section to be adjusted. A means is preferably provided to lock the first and second parts in a fixed relative position once the length of the central section has been adjusted as desired. This may be in the form of a sleeve into the ends of which the ends of the first and second parts are inserted to an extent such as to give the central section the desired length. The sleeve may be provided with a series of apertures extending longitudinally of the sleeve with each of the first and second parts being provided with a spring loaded peg which is adapted to engage with one of the apertures in the sleeve to releasably lock each part to the sleeve.

If desired, in order to assist the rider to grip the device, the surfaces of the first and second portions of the device may be formed of a resilient material such as rubber or polyvinyl chloride.

Preferably, the central portion of the device includes a first visual marker located at its centre and second and third visual markers located at either side of the first visual marker and equidistantly therefrom. The markers may be of any suitable form and conveniently may be in the form of coloured tape wrapped around the central section at appropriate positions.

The use of the device of the present invention assists the rider in obtaining a more balanced stable alignment for dressage and schooling and reduces the likelihood of the rider having rough bouncing hands. Overtime, co-ordination will tend to be enhanced and the horse will receive more responsive hand signals thereby instilling confidence in both horse and rider For a better understanding of the invention and to show how it may be carried into effect, reference will now be made, by way of example, to the accompanying drawings in which Fig. I is a plan view of a device in accordance with the invention, Fig. 2 is a vertical section through part of, and passing through the longitudinal axis of, the device of Fig. Ion an increased scale, Fig. 3 is a front view of a rider on a horse using the device of Fig. 1, Fig. 4 is a top view of a part of Fig. 3 showing the horse moving in a straight line, Fig. 5 Is a view similar to Fig. 4 but showing the rider turning the horse to the left so as to move anti-clockwise in a circle, FIg. 6 illustrates the footfalls of a horse working correctly whilst moving clockwise in a circle, Fig. 7 illustrates the footfalls of a horse working incorrectly in a first way whilst moving clockwise in a circle, Fig. S is a view similar to Fig. 5 showing how the rider uses the device to correct the footfalls of Fig. 7, Fig. 9 illustrates the footfalls of a horse working incorrectly in a second way whilst moving clockwise in a circle.

Fig. 10 is a view similar to Fig. 5 showing how the rider uses the device to correct the footfalls of Fig. 9, Fig. II is a partial view of a rider on a horse without the benefit of the device of Fig. I, Fig. 12 is a partial view of another rider on a horse without the benefit of the device of Fig. 1.

Referring now to Figs. land 2 there is shown a device I comprising a tubular central section 2 extending longitudinally along axis 3. Extending transversely from a first end of the central section 2 is a tubular first portion 4 in the form of a handle.

A tubular second portion 5 in the form of another handle extends transversely of th! cent'9! 5ectigp 2 pt a pconc pd terpqf. The!nncr surfaccs of;he haniqs are concave in shape to assist gripping. The central section 2 and the first and second portions 4 and 5 are made from a suitable lightweight material. Each of the first and second portions 4 and 5 is encased in a resilient material 6 such as rubber to assist gripping. The central section 2 comprises a first part 7 and a second part 8.

An end of the first part 7 is slidably located in a first end of a tubular sleeve 9 and an end of the second partS is slidably located in a second end of the sleeve 9. Each of the aforementioned ends of the first and second parts 7 and S includes an aperture 10 through which projects a peg 11. Each of the pegs ii is mounted on a generally V-shaped support 12 made of resilient material. The ends of the supports 12 are secured to the internal surfaces of the ends of the first and second parts 7 and 8. The sleeve 9 is provided with a series of apertures 13 of a size such as to be able to receive the pegs 11. The length of the central section 2 can be adjusted as desired by depressing the pegs 11 against the spring force exerted by the supports 12 so that the first and second parts 7 and S can be slid into the sleeve 9 until the pegs 11 rise up under the effectof the spring force and engage with a desired aperture 13 corresponding to the desired length of the central section 2. The engaged pegs 11 and apertures 13 releasably lock the first and second parts 7 and 8 to the sleeve 9. In this way the device of the present invention can be adapted for use by adults on larger horses or by children on smaller horses. A first visual marker 14 formed of coloured tape is provided in the centre of the device to enable the device to be aligned with the horse's withers. Second and third similar markers 15 and 16 are located to the left and right of the first marker 14, respectively and equidistantly therefrom.

Referring now to Fig. 3 there is shown the device in use. It can be seen that the rider holds one of the handles in each hand in addition to the horse's rein 17. The rein runs from one end of the horse's bit (18) located in the horse's mouth through to the rider's hands and back to the other end of the horse's bit. The device encourages the rider to adopt the correct hand placement by reducing the tendency for the hands to move too independently of one another and therefore to become unsightly. This leads to a more effective communication of signals to the horse via the rein and thereby helps in the steering and control of the horse without causing damage to the sensitive structures of the horse's mouth. In this way, the device 1 enables the rider to achieve finely tuned hands. Also by schooling and training, equal muscle tone tends to be developed whereby the horse stays straight and aligned whether traveling in a straight line or moving around a circle.

Fig. 4 illustrates the importance of the rider's hands being In alignment to achieve balance. More particularly, the central marker 14 is aligned with the horse's withers at the base of the neck so that the riders hands are symmetrically disposed with respect to the centre line 19 of the horse and the horse is moving in a straight line, The leg positions are denoted by reference numerals 20a and 20b.

Fig.5 illustrates how to turn the horse to the left using the device 1 of the invention.

The rider moves the device 1 inwards until the marker 16 is aligned with the horse's withers. This ensures that the rider's hands are placed correctly to cause the outside portion of the rein 17b to close inwards to contact, and help turn, the horse's shoulder 21 whilst the inside portion of the rein 17a opens softly. The combined effect of this is to achieve a flowing left turn. The leg positions are denoted by reference numerals 20a and 20b. In many cases a flowing left turn is not achieved if the rider pulls the horse round merely by pulling the inside portion of the rein 17a as this loses the horse's shoulder upon the turn and also causes harsh and uneven treatment of the horse's mouth. By moving the device Ito the right so that the marker 15 is in alignment with the horse's withers, a flowing right turn can be achieved in a similar way.

Fig. 6 illustrates how a horse should correctly place its hooves when moving in a circle whereas Fig.7 illustrates the horse's foot falls when incorrectly falling out ts eft shoulder when gving in a cirç!e. As can b seen the circle becomes wider and misshaped. This can be rectified, and the horse's balance improved, by placing the device las shown In Fig. 850 that the marker 15 is aligned with the horse's withers.

Fig. 9 illustrates a horse's foot falls when incorrectly fatling in through the shoulder when moving in a circle. As can be seen, in this case the circle has become smatter and misshaped. Again this can be corrected by using the device 1. In this case, as shown in Fig. 10, the device 115 placed so that the marker 16 is aligned with the horse's withers.

The device I is also useful for riders who are learning to make the horse move laterally. In this case the horse has to adduct and abduct its muscles to achieve both forward and sideways movement. By leg yielding, the horse's shoulder should lead very slightly. A common tault of the rider is to allow the horse to fall out too much through the shoulder in which case the sideways movement will not be achieved. The use of the device I in the manner shown in Figs. 8 and 10 can help to overcome this problem by moving the device I inwards to keep the horse's shoulder from fatling out too much whilst asking the horse to move away from the leg.

As noted above, Fig. 3 shows how the use of the device I helps to ensure that the rider's hands are in the correct position. In the absence of the device I there is a tendency for the riders hands to be incorrectly placed as shown in Figures 11 and 12. This in turn produces uneven contact down through the rein and rough poor signals down to the horse's sensitive mouth structures resulting in ineffective control and possible damage to the mouth.

By ensuring that the rider has good hands, seat and legs, the horse will work correctly and build correct muscles for its working future, a good even contact through the rein will improve the horse's straightness and with the above combination of aids, helps to achieve a convex rounded shape to the upper neck.

In the absence of good hands and balanced control, as can be achieved by use of the device 1, a horse tends to build unwanted muscles, therefore becoming uneven within its work, all riders should aim to improve their aids with a connection from leg to hand, to allow the end result being soft and light though to the horses mouth.

Claims

Claims 1. A device to assist a horse rider to obtain balanced control of the horse's rein, which device comprises a longitudinally extending central section of adjustable length, a first portion in the form of a handle for a first hand of the rider extending transversely of the central portion at a first end thereof, and a second portion in the form of a handle for the second hand of the rider extending transversely of the central section at a second end thereof, whereby, in use, the rider can hold the rein whilst simultaneously holding the handles.
2. A device as claimed in Claim I wherein the central section comprises first and second parts which are slidable with respect to one another to enable the length of the central section to be adjusted.
3. A device as claimed in Claim 2 wherein a means is provided to lock the first and second parts in a fixed relative position once the length of the central section has been adjusted as desired.
4. A device as claimed in Claim 3 wherein said locking means is in the form of a sleeve into the ends of which the ends of the first and second parts are inserted to an extent such as to give the central section the desired length, said sleeve being provided with a series of apertures extending longitudinally of the sleeve, and each of the first and second parts being provided with a spring loaded peg which is adapted to engage with one of the apertures in the sleeve to releasably lock each part to the sleeve.
5. A device as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the first and second portions of the device have a surface formed of a resilient material.
6. A device as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the central portion of the device includes a first visual marker located at its centre and second and third visual markers located at either side of the first visual marker and equidistantly therefrom.
7. A device as claimed in Claim I substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in Figures 1 and 2 of the accompanying drawings.
8. A method of obtaining balanced control of a horse's rein and even contact through to the horse's mouth when riding the horse which method includes the step of holding the handles of a device as claimed in any preceding claim whilst simultaneously holding the rein.
9. A method in accordance with Claim 8 substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.