Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Why I spent $120 on a pair of ThinLine reins

I have a confession to make: I have a hard time dealing with lots of types of reins. I know, I know, you’re thinking “seriously, how hard can this be? There are lots of options for different reins out there, just pick one and go with it! ” Let me ‘splain.
  • Braided reins – I have a love/hate relationship with these. They’re gorgeous, but how the hell do you keep them clean? Seriously – one ride on a hot day in Texas and it’s going to take you an hour to dig the scurf out of all those tiny cracks and crevices. I haven’t got the patience. But I won’t deny that they look awesome, and I am teensy bit jealous of those of you who have those beautiful fancy stitched braided reins. Ok, a whole lot jealous. Still, I don’t own any.
  • Reins with stops – I love these, especially plain leather with leather stops. LOVE THEM. There’s just one tiiiiny problem – don't laugh, but I can only hold the damn things with my thumbs on the stops. I know, I know, you’re supposed to be able to hold them with the stops anywhere, but my brain never got this message. No matter how much I explain the theory to my hands (or my trainer yells at me to shorten my reins… again), 30 seconds later I find my thumbs on the next stop. It never fails. I’m mentally challenged somehow. This makes me sad, because I have like 3 sets of them.
  • Rubber reins – I like these for XC, but good ones are hard to find and pricey. Lots of them are really stiff or super wide, which makes them hard to hold, or they are the webbed ones with stops (and we already know that stops are my kryptonite). Also, for dressage, I don’t want super grippy pebbled reins. In the summer, friction on the horse’s neck from the reins just makes more lather on the neck. Not attractive.
  • Plain reins – These are my FAVORITES. I rode Cash in plain reins for years. Easy to clean, I can hold them anywhere and my brain doesn’t melt down. The problem? Mr. Haffington can pull like a freight train… which means he can pull the reins right through my hands. Yes, I ride with grippy gloves, but I don’t have enough strength in my hands to hold the reins when he’s running through my aids. Maybe in a year or two when he’s lighter? For now they have been relegated to Red’s bridle and the spare leather bits box. 
By now you’re probably wishing I’d quit whining about reins and just get on with it, so here’s my new investment: Thinline Reins. I accidently touched them when I was at the Dover store - no really, I was looking at the rubber reins, I touched the Thinlines and was like OOOOH. I picked them up and they folded in half over my hands, like a pair of well-oiled leather reins. They were super flexible and while they felt a bit thick, they are narrower than most reins so I didn’t feel like they would be too much in my hand. I winced when I saw the price tag – I’ve never spent $120 on a BRIDLE, much less a pair of reins, but what the hell (and SOMEONE who will remain nameless was shopping with me and may have been an enabler). Dover has a great return policy, so I figured I’d ride in them once and see what I thought.
I know, they don't look too exciting, do they?

And wow, I’ve been riding in them ever since. I LOVE these reins, LOVE THEM. They are super comfortable in my hand – the Thinline material has a little give to it, and they’re more of a round shape (but not so much that it’s awkward) than flat leather, so I find them easier to grab. They don’t stretch, and they don’t slip AT ALL. In fact I find that I can hold them in much less of a death grip, even if Paddy’s being strong, which means I’m carrying less tension in my arms and shoulders. They clean up quickly and easily, which is just my style.

Boo black mark on his neck.

I have two complaints about them – first, the black ones come with running martingale stops, which I had to cut off (well, I pulled out the stitching to remove them). Not sure why black dressage reins would have stops? Oh well. The other issue is that they leave a faint black mark on Paddy’s neck, but I think that will go away with a few more cleanings and a bit more wear. I’ve seen a few complaints in online reviews that the Thinline material doesn’t last, but hopefully that’s not the case because DAMN, these things are awesome!

So in the event that you are rein-challenged like me and you have some extra money just burning a hole in your pocket, give these things a try! Oh, and… anybody want three sets of plain leather reins with stops?

23 comments:

  1. I really love Thinline reins; I was unimpressed with the saddlepad but these are totally the bee's knees. I have 'em on my dressage and jump bridles, both sets are over a year old (maybe quite a bit over; I forget) and have held up well. Neumann's gloves + Thinline reins = excellent grip in all situations without, as you say, the bulk of traditional rubber. The leather is not the loveliest, but it does the job just fine.

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    1. I also had a Thinline saddle pad and didn't like it, so I was skeptical about the reins until I actually held them. Now, I'm totally in heaven! Agree that the leather is not the best, but the buckle ends make me super happy.

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  2. A pair of good quality reins are EXPENSIVE, I know because I've had to buy replacements because I had a horse who loved to chew on reins :(

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    1. Ugh, don't tell Paddy that! He's not allowed to chew on the reins!

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  3. I got a pair of the ThinLine braided reins to test out. I really like them, but after only a month the ThinLine material started to go. They also had rein stops that I had to cut off as you can't have those in the hunter ring.

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    1. That sucks that they didn't last! I hope you were able to return them.

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  4. I'm intrigued. And I learned quite a bit reading this!

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    1. What you learned: Jen is mentally incapable of handling reins, and spent way too much money. ;) Probably you should not follow this example!

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  5. Braided reins are awesome sauce, but they slip really bad in my hands too in the summer. Maybe I need 1/2 and 1/2!

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    1. They do make a Thinline braided rein, but it sounds like they don't last very long. Boo :(

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  6. I looove my Thinline reins. I got a pair on sale and loved them so much I went back and bought another pair at full price.

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    1. I'm glad I'm not the only one who's addicted!

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  7. I have so many rein issues too!! And I ride in a double periodically... that is the WORST. I seriously need to invest in some good ones.

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    1. When I rode Cash in a double I had plain reins - I just couldn't hold on to anything else. If I were going to ride Paddy in a double tomorrow (and I'm not), I'd use the Thinlines on the snaffle and my plain curb reins. But hopefully by the time (if) he's ready to go in a double, he'll be light and I won't need the extra grippiness!

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  8. I LOVE the thinline reins. When I first bought Pia my dad gifted me a Thinline bridle (complete with REINS) and I adored them. Sadly when I wasn't paying attention and she stepped on them I could just never bring myself to buy a replacement... I hope you love them!!

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    1. Man, if I broke mine I'd either have to get them fixed or replace them. I'm not sure I can go back to "normal" reins...

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  9. Why couldn't you have posted about the amazing deal you got on some awesome but really cheap black reins you just bought right after the rubber started to separate on mine? Huh?? Enabling is a gift that keeps on giving, because now I need a pair! Thanks for the review!

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    1. Muahahahahaha! I'm so glad I could pass along the enablement. You know you need some!

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  10. Braided reins look cool, but they hurt my hands. Those new reins sound great!

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  11. I can totally relate to this, especially the reins with stops. I dislike them. I actually do like normal rubber reins, and I'm sure I'd love the thinline reins.

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  12. I have heard good and bad things about these reins....glad to hear another positive :)

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  13. I had a couple pairs of these--one I picked up on ebay super cheap just to try out and another I think I got on saddle. I thought they were ok, not mind blowing. Once I discovered nunn finer soft grip reins, I got rid of the thinline and never looked back. I dunno, I had the pad too and while it was fine, it didn't overly impress me. Glad you like it!

    It always makes more sense to me when someone else explains why they like something.

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  14. I started out with the web reins with leather stops. Sadly, I have the same problem as you, Jen. I can't seem to hold them any place other than at the stops. sigh... I moved on to laced leather reins. While the leather was new and the edges were 'rough' I could hold my place fairly easily. Now that the edges have worn a bit and are rounded they slip. I didn't realize how much until a recent lesson. Now that I've tried your thinline reins on Paddy I will be investing in a pair for Taran.

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