Bitting/control - hunting advice...... (also in Hunting forum)

NW1

NW1

Well-Known Member
Joined
12 October 2009
Messages
232
Visit site
My boy has just turned 6, but a very mature 6 when it comes to schooling (to elementary) and hacking (even though he does have the odd silly moment like all youngsters).

Our jumping is okay, we do it about once a week in the menage (on grass in summer) doing grids or combinations upto about 2'9 - 3ft. we have done XC twice but not this season - not competition, just a few jumps at the local course, he was very bold & confident.

we have done many long distance ride which he is good on & only once have i lost control .... but he has started doing it more recently in our own fields (2 or 3 times in a month). he gets something in his mind just canters off & wont stop (he doesnt gallop off, just extends a bit). the stronger the bit - the worse it makes him (schooling in a french link snaffle - hacks in a ported kimblewick), i came off really badly last fri & my confidence went but coming back nicely but i cut all energy out of his feed to try to stop this as he did have a very high eneergy diet for the summer! (i did have back- saddle - teeth checked too but all fine)

I would LOVE to take him hunting, i know he is more than fit enough to go on a hunt (-or i believe he is!), this is something i always wanted to do.....

However, im so apprehensive about him bolting (obviosuly putting others in danger & myself) being embarrassed by this, and any obsticles that we may not be able to conquer!

Can anyone help me please?
 
I'd say round up a few friends and go for a good gallop at home to be very sure you can stop before taking him hunting.

Bit wise could you try a different noseband?
 
i really appreciate the suggestion 'dwi'... however i can add to the situation....

i am at a competition yard & i am pretty much the only person who hacks out & has 'fun' in the fields. most other owner will only use the menage & walk their horses around the field & hack because they are too precious. being 24, i dont have my own transport yet either so to get out & meet with friends will be quite difficult.

My boy doesnt open his mouth or get tounge over bit to evade me he just locks his neck! i have tried many different bits from ported/ french link/ rubber mouth pelhams, waterford/ french link gags & hackamores combined with snaffles (like the whitaker rides on his big ginger thing) but found the stronger they are the more he doesn't like it. i did think about a kineton to 'break' his locked neck but now put of the idea becasue of how much he hated the nose pressure with the hackamore. (i would jus tlike to add i did ride in the menage in each bit doing very light work to introduce the bits.. im not one of those fools that would just take him to his naughty spot with a new bit & hope for the best!!)

sorry to go on & i know it seems like there i have an answer for everything but i have no one left to ask!! i have tried everything people have suggested!!!
 
Is he actually bolting or just ("just", she says
wink.gif
) buggering off? My big lad sods off but he never ever bolts - if he's bolting then it's out of sheer terror and TBH, I don't think I'd be getting back on him again full stop! If he's just taking the pee then I'd hunt him. It would have been worth taking him cubbing first to let him settle but that's finished now, so ring your Sec and find a quiet meet to get him out to.

FWIW, my horse schools and jumps in a french link. He won't tolerate "strong" bits (ie, kimblewick, gag, anything Myler, waterford) but gets on well with a jointed pelham (2 reins!) for hunting as it's soft when he's good and I have the curb for naughty moments.
 
do a sponsored ride first, mine is a nightmare on spons rides so would never entertain taking him hunting as I would have even less control which would be none
 
dwi - thanks anyway!
smile.gif


chestnut cob - i would like to think that it is the latter of the two! i think know when he is geuinely scared (or i hope i do!) but i think he is just being fruity on these occasions! on those few time he has done it (which for me is a few times too many - he a big boy and not having control of 3//4 of a ton of muscle is not a nice feeling!) i have known that he wasnt feeling 100%, he was a bit more sprightly than normal & in heinseight (sp) i know i probably shouldn't have gone for a 'steady' canter & just kept it to walk or trot. i just think that would put me in the frame of mind that if he is ever sprightly again it stops me from doing what i wanted to!

I will try & get hold of one of those pelhams to borrow - fear not i always ride in double reins where possible... i dont see the point of roundings (sorry if i offend anyone there!).
 
gentle_warrior - thanks for the thought but we have done loads of rides & he is pretty good... even with horses bombing past!!
 
If he was truly bolting then I think you'd know about it! Sounds like he's just feeling well and taking the pee (which is what mine did this morning...took off down the road in canter trying to catch up 2 bikes that I think he thought were part of the hunt..we were only hacking out and the hunt aren't even out today!
smirk.gif
).

I know how you feel as I can be the same with my horse as he's so big - I like to feel I'm in control. It took a few attempts out cubbing to get a bit that suits us both. If it's too mild then he just takes off (I will never be hunting again in a Dr Bristol!
shocked.gif
) and although he isn't bolting, it isn't fun trying to pull up all day long and ending up with numb arms and legs! If it's too strong, he runs backwards and upwards to get away from it. The single jointed pelham seems to do the trick and having the 2 reins means he gets a reward when he's nice. I would give hunting a go, just have a word with the Sec first so they know you're new to it and put a green ribbon in his tail.
 
My horse will go for it just like yours.

After a bit of experimenting involving crashing into a sheep and barbed wire fence, I use a bit that I can have milder or stronger depending on what he needs - a pelham with two reins. I have him in a chain covered with latex for the curb but I also carry a stirrup leather curb so that if he is being a good boy I can reduce the curb pressure. You can just let the curb out a link at a time too. With a running martingale on both reins through the one ring, it works a treat. I tie the reins together so that the curb rein is longer than the snaffle, which means that I have to make a special effort to use it rather than it being in use all the time. If you drop your reins it also makes it much easier to pick them up again.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top