1A manner of riding in which the reins are held slackly, allowing the horse to relax.
放松缰绳（指一种骑马方法，能使马肌肉和四肢放松）
on a loose rein, he ran better
放松了缰绳，马儿跑得来劲了。
Example sentencesExamples
He represents the hunt followers as having good, light hands and aiming to ride on a loose rein, taking only the lightest possible contact with their horses' mouths, and then only with small snaffle bits.
These horsemen rode with short stirrups, in snaffle bridles with a loose rein, in an uncollected, free forward manner that was the exact opposite of the extreme collection of the Continental riding school, with its emphasis on curb bits.
Therefore, your riding goal for the first several weeks should be achieving a long, slow, relaxed walk, both with contact on the reins, and on a loose rein / contact.
After the horse stops, Sam may opt to give him a loose rein as reward.
1.1A lack of strict control.
缺乏严格管理
he ran foreign affairs on a loose rein
他管理外交工作不严格。
Example sentencesExamples
I really wanted this job- and you say you keep a loose rein.
Rousseau defined it in his dictionary as ‘A kind of free music, in which the composer, without subjecting himself to any theme, gives loose rein to his genius, and submits himself to the fire of composition’.
Let young women out on a loose rein and they'll run wild.
His attitude was that she was eighteen and he trusted her enough to allow her a loose rein.