I jumped at the chance to try more Two Horse Tack — Conrad still loves showing off his bling collar and now that I know beta biothane is actually way more leather-like than I figured, I thought trying out some reins would be worthwhile.

One option: roller buckles

Okay. So. There were a lot of options. SO MANY OPTIONS. I will just spell out what I did, but if you click through the link you can scroll down for quite a while selecting options to customize your order. I chose 5/8″ 10′ 2-color English reins in brown with green, with roller buckles and super grip material. Basically, reins I can school with or use in the jumper ring. (But if you want red split reins with I don’t even know what all you can get, go for it because you can. Or bling reins, those are also a thing and I am not sure how I managed to not get those.)

I put them on my jumper bridle, which Eli hadn’t worn in a while. He was a little miffed about the noseband.

I am first and most impressed by the super grip material.

These reins have just a bit more weight to them than laced reins, but feel very similar to the more traditionally-styled reins you see in the jumper ring a lot. What impressed me about the super grip material? It never gets slippery. Really. The first two times I used these reins, it was misting and/or sprinkling and the reins got wet (with the rest of my tack). I figured they’d slip through my hands since I didn’t even have gloves on but nope! It’s also hot right now, even at 7pm when I usually ride during the week (like still 95F), and no amount of sweat that Eli and I could produce made the reins slippery. The super grip is as grippy if not more so than any pair of rubber reins I’ve used. It will be very interesting to see over time whether they get melty like some rubber reins–something tells me this may not be a problem with the beta biothane at least.

The color was just a fun thing I decided to do, but you can get the reins with only one color instead of two. The hardware on these reins also seems very sturdy–mine have the roller buckles and they are easy to use, built to last. Time will tell how rust-resistant they are, but since they are stainless steel I imagine they won’t rust.

Too hot. Must shuffle.

The 10′ reins are plenty long, long enough for Eli to do whatever it is he is doing in the above picture … protesting the noseband is my guess, nothing to do with the reins. He usually carries his poll a bit higher … oh well. I think 9′ reins would also be an appropriate length for the English disciplines, especially in the jumper ring I think that might be a better option for most people. And you can totally get 9′ reins instead of 10′ reins. Because options.

Looking for an incentive to order? The reins or anything else on the Two Horse Tack website … sign up for the newsletter! Sign up now and you get a $10 coupon which I think would go a long way on any product from Two Horse Tack.