Best bits for a horse that rears

[amyg]

I've recently had a bad accident out hunting with my 12 yr old IDx in which he reared up on a road and fell on top of me I was hunting him in a Cheltenham Gag (leather) and have put some of the onus on this bit as to why he did what he did as he's never reared in the 3 years I've had him. I'm now stuck with what i can hack him out and SJ in as he can be a little strong out and about, but i obviously dont want something that reflects the action of the CG too much in case it happens again. He's schooled in a sweet iron lozenged snaffle which is far too soft for him to be hacked out in. Any ideas?

 

[touchstone]

I think the cheltenham gag can make some horses feel a bit trapped combining raising the head and poll pressure. It sounds as if you'll need to be careful not to overbit him.

Something like a Myler combination that acts on the nose as well as the mouth might be useful, although it still has poll pressure which you might want to avoid. If you find he's okay with poll pressure then a pelham or kimblewick can be useful bits too.

Changing mouthpieces to a Dr Bristol or Waterford but keeping a 'milder' bit might be a possibility too or you could try using a Kineton noseband. To sum up though each horse is so individuaol that it can be difficult to say what would work for him, perhaps a few lessons with an instructor who can see his way of going might help you to decide.

 

[canteron]

I don't know much about the cheltenham gag, but I had a horse that reared up badly when hunting - I came off backwards, before the horse fell however what I learned was you have to work out why the horse reared before you can solve the problem.

In my situation, I had put the horse in a myler bit which was a little bit stronger than normal, he was nervous, playing with his bit, got his tongue over the bit and just at this moment, the hounds moved off, I collected the reins and as he had his tongue over the bit it jabbed him painfully, he reared, etc.

I solved this by never ever riding this horse again in anything but in a straight bar happy mouth snaffle - so I couldn't cause him that much pain in his mouth ever again.

I had another horse who got in the habit of rearing as an evasion. I quickly sent her away for some training, they set up questions where they knew she would rear and rode her through it. This solved that problem, but I also used to use an 'Abbot Davis' (attached to the girth NOT the tail!) if I was going into situations where she might revert to rearing. This effectively solved the problem as she learnt rearing wasn't an effective evasion.

As I say, time to work out why your horse reared - pain, evasion, panic?? Then you can work out how to train the horse out of it.

 

[*hic*]

Did you have one rein on the gag or two?

 

[Ladylina83]

My mare has not reared with me since I started using an elasticated standing martingale , she hated the interference of a running , I use the same snaffle bit as you and a happy mouth straight bar gag for hunting

 

[PennyJ]

I'd start with nothing with such a severe action on the poll. At a guess (and of course I don't know your horse at all) I would think he may have been trying to get away from the action of the bit, but you are already thinking on similar lines yourself.

Try nothing that "ties him in" at the front end. We are in a similar situation to you with one of ours, his flash has gone, the martingale (running) has gone, the cheekpieces dropped a hole and he hasn't reared up since and is also much more chilled. Also a big effort to make sure we are easy on his mouth, the lightest of touches rather than hanging on. He is now in either a Neue Schule snaffle, or their 3 ring gag, with the tranz lozenge mouthpiece, rather like a jointed snaffle.

Have you stopped hunting him whilst you try and sort this out? It could of course have been down to excitement, plain and simple. I haven't put him in it yet, but when we start doing "exciting" things with him again, the Pelham has worked well in the past, so will be trying it again.

 

[ILuvCowparsely]

what about an anti rear device rather than a stronger bit??
there is one on this web site

http://equinecare-and-control.weebly.com/vices.html

 

[wattamus]

My horse used to rear all the time when i first got her. I tried LOADS of different bits on her and she still did it. In the end i jumped/ competed in a 3 ring hollow mouth french link gag.
Please don't take this in a patronising way but I think you need to assess why your horse reared. With mine it was because i was holding her back when she tried to nap/ spin round or if she had to wait while other horses left her or waiting to leave the box going hunter trialing . For her it was clearly a matter of excitement or a tantrum depending on which circumstance, and i just learned to release my hands a bit more and use my seat to calm her down and walked her in small circles instead of letting her stand and stew- keep their minds busy you know? i learnt to controll it as i went through so many bits trying to fix it and in the end it made no difference. So i would try and pinpoint why your horse reared, maybe you were holding him too tight? or something along those lines.
However if he has been fine in a CG for a long time and as you say he hasn't reared before then maybe it was a freak incident? And maybe changing his bit straight off isnt the best thing to do as you may end un freaking him out more.

 

[Oldenburg]

My old horse used to rear and a Myler combination bit made him worse and its and awful bit!! My horse I have now tends to rear when scared (had all pain options looked at ie teeth,back etc) So when I hack him I will take him out in a snaffle with draw reins or a 3 ringed happy mouth with 2 sets of reins on or with D rings on!! Not much help I know x

 

[beeswax]

Keep him in the bit he is schooled in and put a kineton noseband on, forget all the extra strong bits with the extra bits of hooks and gags to attach it to, honestly the kineton will do everything from working from the poll down to the nose and only works when you take a pull otherwise gives no pressure when relaxed, it is not a horrible noseband it does the job and it is better than filling the horses mouth with bigger stronger bits, give it a go before you tick it off your list, it stops racehorses in their tracks so must work. Learn to lean forward when a horse rears, you possibly were taken by surprise was a bit scared and fell back causing the horse to go over backwards with you, it hurts and is frightening, but geldings and stallions very seldom go over backwards whereas fillies and mares can and will, again remember he was not trying to hurt you he was trying to get away from that thing in his mouth, good luck!!