[drivingpairs] Re: water hook?

Noel,
 From my perspective it's not that you or anybody else is wrong in the 
context of venues that disallow such "outside" devices but I don't think 
that a blanket statement should be made that gives the impression that 
these "devices" are illegal in all venues.  Unfortunately I've run into 
this among carriage drivers.  There are many different types of driving 
most of which do allow use of  overchecks and sidechecks.
As to their not being used as training aids I totally disagree with 
you.  Just as martingales (of all types) are used in riding horses to 
help teach head set, over/side checks can be used just as effectively 
within driving venues.  As I stated before, the lack of their use in 
situations such as grazing while hooked or improper head movement during 
a halt, can allow unsafe incidences to occur.  Should a grazing horse 
raise it's head at some angle other than 180 degrees, the reins could 
get caught under the end of the saft which would prevent the whip from 
having complete control of the horse's head which could result in a 
fatal incident.  Should a member of a pair be allowed to lower it's head 
into the crab of the pole or the buckles/chains which attach the horse 
to the pole, a fatal incident could also occur.  Even horses who rub 
their heads could be included in this catagory.
I don't have any knowledge of over/side checks causing horses to grind 
their teeth but if such a thing does occur then the trainer is 
improperly using such checks.  A check should never be pulled so hard 
into a horses mouth that such a reaction would occur.  Just because a 
whip improperly uses over/side cheks doesn't mean that checks should be 
totally discounted. 
Draft horse drivers have been using checks for decades.  Just as in any 
type of venue, there are many different ways of driving drafts.  Each 
style of driving uses over/sidechecks differently.  As I stated earlier, 
with a farm wagon the check's purpose is to keep the horses head level 
so as to prevent the incidents mentioned earilier.  In hitch competition 
checks are used to lift the head to a desired level for proper headset. 
Neither of these situations when taught properly by it's very concept 
"causes" teeth grinding.  In 15 years of such use I've never had a 
"grinder".  We do not have dressage in draft driving .
My point is that checks are used properly in venues outside of ADS 
events.  If ADS has determined that such "devices" are improper for it's 
members then the rules must and should be obeyed but we should not 
discount their use when done properly within venues not regulated by 
ADS.  The tradition of check use goes back for decades.  That's why most 
harness makers include a rein check in the construction of saddles/back 
pads. 

Ken

noel jones wrote:

>Why, oh why, does Helen go away and stick me with the hard jobs?
>
>Side reins (and overchecks) should never be used as training tools.
>
>They unnaturally force a horse's head into a position as the horse tries to 
>avoid the discomfort of the bit as positioned by the reins.
>
>This creates tension...dressage judges are permitted to count visible tension 
>against the horse in the score...if a horse is seen to grind its teeth - 
>points.
>
>In a driven dressage judging clinic it was discussed and decided that if a 
>horse 
>was heard to be grinding its teeth but not seen to be doing it...the horse 
>could 
>not be scored against.
>
>This all is about 10 years out of date, so if I am wrong. I stand aside.
>
>  
>

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