How about a good strong maybe. I would think that if you were riding on flat ground and lurched suddenly forward to grab mane, you might also throw your horse off balance and onto his forehand. Maybe anything would be better than grabbing his mouth, though.
When I first started out riding with the group of endurance riders I train with, I followed them up a very steep incline on my pony, who did not ask to be an endurance horse and later got to quit. Right at the top, I lost my balance and came close to pulling him over backwards. Tough little guy that he was, he managed in spite of me, but it was a good lesson for me in staying with my horse and never using the reins for balance. Of course I knew that intellectually, but this was a memorable object lesson. Nancy
