Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

On Thu, 8 Jul 2004, Karen Casemier wrote:

> Made me start thinking - how safe is the biothane halter/bridle combo I use, 
> and the yacht rope reins that I love?

Ah, one of my pet subjects, tack safety.  :)  I believe that the biothane 
reins and the yacht rope reins are great products and I use them both, but 
they are very dangerous because of the unbreakability factor, especially 
if you use long reins as most of us do, so I have modified mine for safety 
reasons.

For the biothane reins, I cut them in half at the midpoint (where the 
buckle is on English leather reins), seal the ends with heat, fold over 
about 2", poke holes, and secure them with chicago screws.  This gives me 
two loops that I connect with a plastic ring (from a sewing goods store) 
that will break under stress.  When the ring breaks, unscrew the chicago 
screws and put in a new ring.  Easy and safe.  That ring is also a great 
place to hook on a rommel, and gives you the midpoint for riding on the 
buckle.

For the yacht rope reins, I tied tightly 2 very skinny pieces of string 
half an inch apart at the center point (again the "buckle"), cut the reins 
between the two pieces of string (the strings keep the ends from instantly 
fraying into disaster, which they will do), sealed the ends with heat (it 
takes a lot to get a good seal on yacht rope, so I use a butane lighter 
and do it in several stages until I get a good, deep seal).  Then I folded 
the ends over about 2" and stitched them into a loop with heavy quilting 
thread and a large needle (needs to be a yarn needle, as even a quilting 
needle will break off inside that heavy rope).  I thread a half length of 
a leather shoelace (available at most any drug store or grocery store) 
through the two loops twice, tie it and soak the knot in water so it will 
dry tight.  This makes a nice breakable point and also gives you the 
"buckle" to ride balanced on a loose rein.

I always "break" my reins in the center rather than next to the bridle, as 
I think it would be too easy for a tree branch or something to cause a 
break there accidentally when riding, or the horse could do it when 
scratching his face, whereas when I'm riding him, I ride on the buckle so 
I'm holding the breakpoint in my hand, lessening the chances that 
something will accidentally break the reins while I'm trotting or 
cantering along and don't need (or want!) the break.

--
Glenda R. Snodgrass
AERC #M18819
SE Region

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