starryeyed
Well-Known Member
Just after everyones general thoughts / bitting suggestions really please!
When madam came to me we tried a number of bits, none of which she was happy with - she came in a too-small happy mouth but the next size up was too big & too chunky for her, I then tried a loose ring snaffle, standard snaffle, sweet iron loose ring but she never accepted any of them. She zoomed around with her head in the air and ignored everything I asked for, and didn't have much in the way of brakes - especially in open spaces / grasssy tracks when things got very hairy. Had a chat with neue schule who suggested the trans lozenge universal - to be used on the main ring 99% of the time and the lower ring for "emergencies".
Now if i'm completely honest there hasn't been much of an improvement - she does prefer it to the stainless steel mouthpieces but she still fights any suggestion of contact and runs round throwing her head up - it's almost as if she expects to be jabbed in the mouth. I've done loads of schooling with her over the past 5 months and she's getting there, slowly - she will now walk in a beautiful outline, drop into a lovely relaxed trot in an outline for around 7/8 steps - but then revert back to her giraffelike ways. Canter is still quite a white knuckle experience but she's shown slight improvement...! I did try ditching the bit altogether but it wasn't a pleasant experience.
*Now the problem is...*
Now she has got a lot fitter (daily workouts) she has a lot more strength and is a lot fizzier and more hot headed than she has ever been before. This is manageable on hacks / in the school, but whenever we hit grassy tracks or fields she will take matters into her own hooves and take me for a gallop. I think her past owner just took advantage of any grass and raced her along it, as she genuiney just seems to associate grass with speed. She gets extremely stressed and worked up at the fact that we're not going fast.
I've spent a lot of time with her just walking / trotting through fields (easier said than done) and although she's never completely relaxed she got so much better. Started to introduce small canters which blew her brain a bit so we went back a step to the walking.
But unfortunately she has now lost any patience she once had, has had enough of walk/trot work and wants to gallop everywhere - and sadly she is succeeding. On the whole she bounces along with her head sky-high, she used to buck and jump up and down / run sideways on grass, but that was all... she has now stepped it up a notch and worked out that if she broncs violently (which she unfortunately does very well) and then throws her head to the floor, she can grab hold of the bit and take me for a spin. I try to counteract this by turning her in a tight circle as quickly as I can but she doesn't give me warning and usually wins - she can also launch herself into the air at an alarming speed mid-twist.
Not an ideal situationl! It doesn't frighten me, but it does concern me that I have absolutely no control and no say in the speed we're going - there are country lanes at the end of some of the fields and I'm terrified that she's going to run onto one of them and cause an accident. Luckily she seems to understand that road = stop but it's not a nice feeling. I also worry that we're going to come across a walker and flatten them, and that as the ground is getting slippier we're going to end up falling over, as she does go a hell of a speed and we often get wheelspin.
I don't like the thought of upping the severity of a bit but the one we have now is not working and it's getting to a point where she needs to realise that she can't do this every time we touch grass as someone will get hurt - and it will probably be me! When she's not tense and stressy she's very light in the mouth and seems perfectly happy, but when the evil side of her comes out she is ripping my hands to pieces. I'm using my body as much as I can and have ridden horses with brake issues in the past and solved them quite quickly, but she's a bit out of my league!
I was considering a NS universal with the waterford mouthpiece? I've used a waterford in the past with a horse that leant heavily on the bit and found it to be very good, do you think it would be suitable for her antics as it would be more difficult for her to take hold?
Or any other suggestions? (Or good lucks!)
I'd prefer to use one set of reins if possible as I'm not that great with two - she wears a cavesson noseband and of course all teeth/back/physio checks etc have been done. Her diet is an average quality grass & soaked hay overnight with a scoop of balancer so nothing exciting there! x
When madam came to me we tried a number of bits, none of which she was happy with - she came in a too-small happy mouth but the next size up was too big & too chunky for her, I then tried a loose ring snaffle, standard snaffle, sweet iron loose ring but she never accepted any of them. She zoomed around with her head in the air and ignored everything I asked for, and didn't have much in the way of brakes - especially in open spaces / grasssy tracks when things got very hairy. Had a chat with neue schule who suggested the trans lozenge universal - to be used on the main ring 99% of the time and the lower ring for "emergencies".
Now if i'm completely honest there hasn't been much of an improvement - she does prefer it to the stainless steel mouthpieces but she still fights any suggestion of contact and runs round throwing her head up - it's almost as if she expects to be jabbed in the mouth. I've done loads of schooling with her over the past 5 months and she's getting there, slowly - she will now walk in a beautiful outline, drop into a lovely relaxed trot in an outline for around 7/8 steps - but then revert back to her giraffelike ways. Canter is still quite a white knuckle experience but she's shown slight improvement...! I did try ditching the bit altogether but it wasn't a pleasant experience.
*Now the problem is...*
Now she has got a lot fitter (daily workouts) she has a lot more strength and is a lot fizzier and more hot headed than she has ever been before. This is manageable on hacks / in the school, but whenever we hit grassy tracks or fields she will take matters into her own hooves and take me for a gallop. I think her past owner just took advantage of any grass and raced her along it, as she genuiney just seems to associate grass with speed. She gets extremely stressed and worked up at the fact that we're not going fast.
I've spent a lot of time with her just walking / trotting through fields (easier said than done) and although she's never completely relaxed she got so much better. Started to introduce small canters which blew her brain a bit so we went back a step to the walking.
But unfortunately she has now lost any patience she once had, has had enough of walk/trot work and wants to gallop everywhere - and sadly she is succeeding. On the whole she bounces along with her head sky-high, she used to buck and jump up and down / run sideways on grass, but that was all... she has now stepped it up a notch and worked out that if she broncs violently (which she unfortunately does very well) and then throws her head to the floor, she can grab hold of the bit and take me for a spin. I try to counteract this by turning her in a tight circle as quickly as I can but she doesn't give me warning and usually wins - she can also launch herself into the air at an alarming speed mid-twist.
Not an ideal situationl! It doesn't frighten me, but it does concern me that I have absolutely no control and no say in the speed we're going - there are country lanes at the end of some of the fields and I'm terrified that she's going to run onto one of them and cause an accident. Luckily she seems to understand that road = stop but it's not a nice feeling. I also worry that we're going to come across a walker and flatten them, and that as the ground is getting slippier we're going to end up falling over, as she does go a hell of a speed and we often get wheelspin.
I don't like the thought of upping the severity of a bit but the one we have now is not working and it's getting to a point where she needs to realise that she can't do this every time we touch grass as someone will get hurt - and it will probably be me! When she's not tense and stressy she's very light in the mouth and seems perfectly happy, but when the evil side of her comes out she is ripping my hands to pieces. I'm using my body as much as I can and have ridden horses with brake issues in the past and solved them quite quickly, but she's a bit out of my league!
I was considering a NS universal with the waterford mouthpiece? I've used a waterford in the past with a horse that leant heavily on the bit and found it to be very good, do you think it would be suitable for her antics as it would be more difficult for her to take hold?
Or any other suggestions? (Or good lucks!)
I'd prefer to use one set of reins if possible as I'm not that great with two - she wears a cavesson noseband and of course all teeth/back/physio checks etc have been done. Her diet is an average quality grass & soaked hay overnight with a scoop of balancer so nothing exciting there! x
