Product: Rein keeper
Brand: Booma Rein
Horse Trail Chicks’ rating: 5 carrots out of 5
If you are anything like me, you sometimes drop your reins to take a picture, adjust the stirrups, or check the map. Dropping the reins on a trail ride is generally not a good idea. If your horse drops its head the reins can fall down the neck and the next thing you know, the reins are on the ground and your horse steps on them and you have completely lost control. And then there are times when your horse trips or something else happens and you have – involuntarily – lost your reins. These situations can be inconvenient, or they can be deadly.
Nebraskan Molly Dickinson was well aware of this danger growing up on a cattle ranch. Herding and roping cattle is demanding, fast-paced work, and sometimes she lost her hold on the reins. When she had children and started teaching them to ride, she fashioned a leather strap to keep the reins close to them. One day she heard about an accomplished barrel racer who lost the reins when her horse took a tumble; she stayed on as the horse recovered and galloped out of the arena out of control and was thrown onto a concrete parking lot; the rider died of a head injury. At that moment Molly decided to create something to prevent this kind of tragedy. Thus was born the Booma Rein.
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The Booma Rein is elegantly simple. On one end is a hinged ring you clip onto your reins (it’s like a circular carabiner). The other end you attach to your saddle; in between is a length of sturdy flat elastic.
There are two styles for attaching the Booma Rein to a saddle.
The “Original” has a length of elastic that you wrap around the pommel of a Western saddle and then feed back through 2 D-rings to secure it.
The “Direct Rein” has a clip for attaching to a D-ring on an English saddle. It can also be clipped to many endurance and Western saddles.
I’ve had the chance to try out a Booma Rein. Since I ride English, I use the Direct Rein. I was a little concerned that it might interfere with my use of the reins. But although I was aware of it and was conscious to let the ring slide down the left rein when I shortened my reins, I did not find that it got in the way at all. After a while I barely know it was there. When I let my horse eat grass or if I wanted to take a photo, I knew that I could drop my reins without worrying about them ending up next to his ears. He is a really good boy (and he prefers eating to running away) so I know he won’t take off on me; but if something spooked him and he did, with the Boom Rein I could easily just pick up the reins and regain control.
Although I rarely fall of my horse, it sometimes happens. If I fell, he could step on the reins, pulling the bridle off, breaking a rein, or jerking his head around and causing an injury. I am a worrier so I really like the peace of mind in knowing that, with the Booma Rein, at least I can take the reins of the list off the thousand things that could kill me or my horse.
Price: as of February 2020 the price was $22.99 for the Original, and $29.99 for the Direct Rein.
Where to order: Booma Rein website
Monica
