Does anyone know why my boy does this?

P

picolenicole

Well-Known Member
Joined
20 July 2009
Messages
1,106
Location
Wadshelf, Chesterfield
Visit site
I have a 4 year old cob, hes fab but every now and then he will just grab the bit and hammer his head down so hard that I very nearly go flying.
I don't want to pull him in the mouth and I don't have him hard in my hands we have a loose but conected contact.
Why do you think he does this? And is there anyway I can get him to stop without hammering his mouth?
Thanks for reading all this XxX
grin.gif
 
Sorry but if he's being rude like that to you, then I would be rude back. If he snatches at you and is nearly sending you flying, give him a boot and yank him back. He will soon learn not to do it!

As Nailed said, long and low is one thing but snatching is plain rude.
 
My horse does this but he is not young - he is 10!

He does it when he is anxious/excited in the school or when he is tired on a hack, it is horrible, if I jab him back when he does it - it doesn't make any difference.

He is much better in a Waterford bit as I can stop him when I'm schooling him when he gets worried, but he won't stretch down though - ever!
 
I had a horse that came back from racing that used to do that... he went away with a lovely mouth then came back after being ridden by a girl nicknamed "The Hands" (i did not know this at the time!!!) snatching at the bit... It was very rapidly turning into the start of a bolt so I got bloody rude back and put a kimblewick in his mouth... He did it once in that bit and never again, he ended up one of the lovliest horses to ride I have ever owned... short sharp shock befor it gets dangerous....
 
My youngster dose this on the way back from a hack, i've always put in down to been tired and needing to strech her back muscles.
 
My boy does this when he's tired and been working hard... or at the moment as he's coming back into work just because he's tired...

I tell him off for snatching by putting my leg on firmly ensuring he lifts his head, however once he has responded and is moving forwards nicely (however long that takes) I then give him a really long rein so he can stretch down. He's learnt that snatching doesn't get him anywhere but he will get rewarded for good behaviour by getting the stretch he desires!

x
 
Our young clydie mare went through doing this, along with big body shakes - it was her way of evading work. I had everything checked out first and then when she started snatching, I bridged the reins and put my hands behind the front of the saddle so when she snatched she socked herself in the mouth - her choice. I found this best as it was an instant response to the snatch as she did it rather than me tugging back a second later.

I also gave her a sharp tap on the shoulder with the body shakes and rode her forward. Within a couple of weeks she gave up doing this, but will occasionally try it with a new rider, hence they are told give her one firm smack and tell her no the minute she tries it on.

After she was told off, she was offered on my terms a long rein in case she wanted to stretch.

My young gypsy cob did the snatching once or twice, again I did the same thing bridged the reins so he did uncomfortable things to himself - again very quickly associated snatching as being uncomfortable to himself.

It is one thing to mouth at the bit and jerk the head when tired, but a full snatch like you describe is not nice and I would try to nip it in the bud as soon as possible.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top