Does anyone dislike pessoas?

i use one on my older mare who, in the past, has struggled to stretch down over her back and recently, due to an ill fitting saddle, has lost a lot of condition over her back. she gets on very well with it and it encourages her to stretch down a little and work over her back which in the past she was too tense to do whilst ridden, now i can finally get her to stretch down whilst riding which is really helping. I never do it so tight it socks he in the mouth (unlike where i work where they have the pessoa done up so tight :( )

I do think it suits some horses more than others though. I wont use one on my youngster as i feel he doesn;t need it as much and he has more ethusiatic bouncy movement so more likely to sock him in the mouth. I also will never use side reins on him unless very very very loose so they have next to not contact as i just hate a horse being put on a false outline!
 
ilovecobs said:
It depends, who is using them and on witch horse, some horses hate them! and some people fasten them so that even when the horse lowers its head and is working from behind it is still getting jabbed in the mouth. If you set it on the lowest setting and really loosely then when the horse stretches his top-line the ropes should just be hanging loosely then, it does take longer for the horse to get the general idea but its a lot better then constant pulling! iv seen lots of supposedly knowledgeable people with there horses trotting round with the head pulled in and the ropes still tight or the horse constantly bucking in canter and they think that's its fine... really if you use it properly and listen to your horse if its tells you it is uncomfortable then its fine but not many people do TBH.
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But if the lines are really loose your horse doesn't have a contact- so all the pessoa is doing is teaching him to keep his head down.

if that is your aim then use a chambon and a bandage around the quarters if needs be.
 
I don't like the way they get jabbed in the mouth either. I've been thinking about this for a while now, as I do about 15-20mins twice a week to help develop and maintain his topline

I might look into the equiami as a replacement. Gosh they're expensive. I'd need the xl sized one which is £85. (if anyone has an xl equiami 2nd hand, to sell, pm me)
 
If I thought for one minute that posting a video on here of him working well in a Pessoa would get a fair viewing I would. Unfortunatly I think once people have made up their minds to "dissaprove" of something then nothing will change their minds.

So lets just agree to disagree.
 
Chavhorse said:
he does spend months and I mean months getting all the horses used to pressure release using the excercise bandage over the back end and loose bungee before even entertaining the Pessoa.

By this time the horses get if my head is put here and I keep it here then it is comfortable. But then we never really rack the Pessoa in I use it on a loose rein length as I want my horse to carry his head naturally not forced down.
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Ok I'm not clued up on the whole pessoa system so forgive my ignorance but this trainer spends MONTHS getting a horse used to a lunging system? Why would anyone spend months doing such a thing? Are there lunging competitions where you are?

I trained to medium dressage (competing and advanced at home) and you know how we got our horse's to engage and work through a contact...we RODE them. I know, it's a crazy idea! Lunging was something we were only allowed to do once a fortnight, for 15 minutes with double lines (none of the bungee/side rein ****).

The idea of using a system that takes months to be able to use properly when you are never actually going to be able to ride in it perplexes me. I can see the benefit for a horse in rehab but a competition or leisure horse should be ridden, not lunged.
 
millitiger said:
But if the lines are really loose your horse doesn't have a contact- so all the pessoa is doing is teaching him to keep his head down.

if that is your aim then use a chambon and a bandage around the quarters if needs be.
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No that isn't my aim at all, but my mare struggles with her trot to canter transitions (by struggles i mean she always thinks for a stride and then goes, not really noticeable from the ground and you don't have to ask her to canter more than once but id like this to improve anyway.) and it is helping no end, TBH i don't like the action IN the canter that it has so just try to do transitions and not to much actual cantering, plus iv yet to have a bad comment about her :D and she has no problem taking a contact forward when being ridden :)
 
millitiger said:
But if the lines are really loose your horse doesn't have a contact- so all the pessoa is doing is teaching him to keep his head down.

if that is your aim then use a chambon and a bandage around the quarters if needs be.
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You could do that, or use a Pessoa - does it really matter which bit of kit you use or what you call it?

While I think we are all in agreement that they are open to abuse they can at least have a role in encouraging horses to stretch out in their paces..

or are you suggesting we all throw away the Pessoas (if I still had mine - down to long lining until i replace it) and buy a chambon?

No doubt there are some chambon haters out there too!
 
TBH i think the people who are insistent that they are rubbish aren't open minded enough and the people who say they have no faults are kidding themselves, personally the pros outweigh the cons for me as my horse is happy to have it on. I probably use it about once a week. My mare doesn't get behind the contact when i ride her except if we are being cut up by clumsy riders but she soon recovers. It does have faults, and when she has it on yes there is no contact to speak of but that top line, it looks niceee. This is the only gadget i use and nope some horses will hate it but i make a habit on lunging once a week and i couldn't say oh yes shes amazing after using this, there's a huge difference but she is definitely a little better and i have had no bad side effects for handling her or riding her, like i say, good points and bad points...
 
I've used one on Dizz, off my own bat and because advised by physio. I use it on the lowest setting.

Dizz argues, then stops arguing and keeps a steady head carriage (and I'm inexperienced yup, but she's not behind the vertical), and she stretches down and goes long and low. It has helped build muscle across her bum and her back :).

She's ridden much more now and Pessoa'd much less often, but next time I'll try and remember to get a video.
 
My horse had a back problem and the vet prescribed 12 weeks lunging in a pessoa with no ridden work. We had a very exciting summer that year but it did work! I carried on using it twice a week and have had no problems since.
My horse accepted it straight away and has always worked happily in it.

That said, when my pessoa fell apart recently I replace it with an equiami which I much prefer.

Like any gadget, they have their benefits but are also open to abuse.
 
the watcher said:
You could do that, or use a Pessoa - does it really matter which bit of kit you use or what you call it?

While I think we are all in agreement that they are open to abuse they can at least have a role in encouraging horses to stretch out in their paces..

or are you suggesting we all throw away the Pessoas (if I still had mine - down to long lining until i replace it) and buy a chambon?

No doubt there are some chambon haters out there too!
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doesn't matter really.
the issue i have with a pessoa is because it attaches to the mouth that people think it makes the horse work 'on the bit' or helps with the contact which i can't see it does.
not really anyone's fault as the blurb on the kit is quite misleading imo.

i've got no problem with people using them at all but think people should be aware of how they work and the mechanics behind them before putting them on.

and i'm not close-minded. i own a pessoa and have tried it on numerous horses because i wanted to see in action myself on horses i know.
i don't see how you can be called close-minded if you have tried something!

but i am fussy and anal about anything that is meant to improve my horses so i like to understand the biomechanics behind the gadget- and i fail to do that with the pessoa.

also, a horse can be behind the contact without going behind the vertical so i wouldn't use that as a measure.
 
Personally I don't like them, for most of the reasons stated above.

All of our horses (even the unbroken 3 year old who's only been lunging for a few weeks) work better over their backs in only a cavesson than I believe they every could in a pessoa or any other sort of lunge aid (and we did use one for a little while)- we find the trick is to get them into a nice slow tempo. I never get tired of seeing their muscles working over their backs- I still get ridiculously excited watching them.
 
kerilli said:
This is exactly why my trainer detests them, they sock the horse in the mouth with every stride of the hindlegs, hardly a nice reward for softening and rounding.
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Agree with this totally, they are no good for the horses mouth and do nothing to help the horse, I have never used one but have seen them being used and I don't like them at all.
 
I work my boy in a pessoa probably about once a week. Its set up for him and is part of his work schedule that I put together. It most certainly does not sock him in the mouth with each step! I lunge him in this as he is naturally lazy and at least with the pessoa I can get some work out of him, cavesson only does nothing, neither does just side reins. I am not, however someone who thinks this is the answer to all my lunging problems - it just happens to suit him. It would never have sorted my OTT and forward going mare because she would have been a: unable to accept something behind her back legs b: needed always to be wound down not wound up!

I don't put the pessoa up on the "advanced" settings ever - he can't work like that when I am riding him so doesn't have the muscles to work in that outline. In that instance, I would agree that the pessoa could cause damage by forcing him.
 
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