Bits..

[Jade+Marley]

heya, i have a 15.2hh coloured gelding 7 yrs old, and his a little buggar around the jumping ring, and i cant really control him, he just lifts his head up and bombs round the place, napping but he loves jumping. ive got martingale on him to stop his head going up, but ive got a full cheek eggbutt snaffle on him too, so i can actually have abit more control, but he still is a buggar with it.. so i was wondering if anyone had any ideas to what bit or anything i could use to help me try and control and slow him down abit. i was thinking what if i kept that bit and added a drop noseband? would i be able to do that or not? i have tried a pelum, but its just too harsh on his mouth and because of his bombing around i just hold on and pull which causes him to go up and rear, but i cant help it, as it makes me neverous when he bombs because he makes sharp turns and stops and i go flying and always damage myself. so any help would be brilliant! thankyou x

 

[celia]

Short-term, I'd try a hanging cheek snaffle which will give you a little poll-pressure and should help to bring his head down a little and give more control. Ideally though you need to work on his schooling as any new bit is only going to be a quick fix and he may just learn to evade it and continue to do his own thing. It sounds as though he is fairly unbalanced so I would leave the jumping for now and concentrate on your flat work for a while. If he's making you nervous as well it's probably a good idea to go back a stage. Once you're ready to jump again start slowly with grids and single fences and don't move on until you can do them in a good rhythm and with him listening to you throughout. Do you have lessons on him? If not you'd probably be best finding a good instuctor who can help you to take him back to basics and sort out the issues you are having. With a little time and patience I'm sure he'll become much nicer for you to ride.