Dressage legal bit for a bolter

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rachboc

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My daughters horse is fab 90% of the time but has recently taking to taking off with her in the arena. Its happened twice. We've had bodyworker and vet out and there's nothing physically wrong. Her saddle and bridle are correctly fitted. It happens when she hasn't been worked for a while. It's affecting my daughters confidence so we've been using a universal bit, which provides more brakes than her usual snaffle. However, it isn't dressage legal. Does anyone have any suggestions for a bit for a horse which can be tense and spooky, and will occasionally take off? She's not strong any other time.
Many thanks
 
It does sound rather odd that she has just started doing this recently if she was ok before. The fact that you say she only does it when she hasn’t been ridden for a while, makes me wonder if it’s excess energy/ and at this time of the year when the grass is coming through too. It could simply be that she needs more work so, if you are confident that there’s no pain or discomfort, then I would start by lunging her in between the times when she is ridden and also before your daughter gets on and see how that goes. Possibly also keeping the pony on the lunge for some sessions to help rebuild your daughter’s lost confidence.
Hope you get to the bottom of it and your daughter regains her confidence.
 
I was reading the Soft and Sound fb post this morning, about horses being present in their body, and how we ask too much of them at times when they are not able to cope. Rather than bit up an occasionally spooky horse, perhaps work on what the horse is worried about or finding too hard, it might be an accumulating problem or it might be that right travers (for instance) always throws up the issue. But if he’s not happy a stronger bit isn’t going to reassure him and make him soft and compliant.

Btw, your horse is not a bolter, that term is reserved for horses who run blind with no regard for their own safety.
 
I agree with spot the risk. Look up trigger stacking, it may be that there is an accumulation of stressors that are pushing your mare over the edge. You need to look for her early signals that she is out of her comfort zone and worried (before she feels she needs to run) Then work on reducing the stressors and teaching her to relax and be calm.
My boy is subtle, he looks calm and chilled….until suddenly he isn’t. I needed to learn his early ‘tells’ that all was not well and work on reducing his stress.

Sorry, it’s not a quick fix but it will be better for both of you in the long run.
 
Whilst you’ve done some checks it’s possible something physical is still causing this reaction. Mine was in a saddle that absolutely fitted but he disagreed and until it was sorted he was reactive under saddle. It was causing some minor tightness when on the left rein. Fine 90%of the time and then something innocuous would send him off. Similar to the trigger stacking described above. something uncomfortable either physically or mentally and they cope until they can’t and then react. It’s one of those “I wish they could talk” situations…
 
Thank you for your advice. She is an anxious personality so I'm sure there are triggers there which add up and then that one small thing will result in a situation which isn't controlled. We're working with a new trainer so hopefully we can get to the bottom of it. It's hard when it's not a constant problem as when the trainer is there she's great! And then suddenly she's not... We'll stick with a universal at home and maybe knock the dressage on the head for a while (travers... :) We're doing Intro and a tiny bit of Prelim!)
 
If she only does it after a day or two off, then surely you’d be fine in the dressage arena if you have ridden her the day before?

(Disclaimer - if that is her normal behaviour but has only just occurred for you because she has only just started having more time off with you)

If she has literally never done this before in exactly this situation then unless she is young and just turned 5 or you just changed the feed then you’ve probably got a vet issue.
 
Spotherisk said:
I was reading the Soft and Sound fb post this morning, about horses being present in their body, and how we ask too much of them at times when they are not able to cope. Rather than bit up an occasionally spooky horse, perhaps work on what the horse is worried about or finding too hard, it might be an accumulating problem or it might be that right travers (for instance) always throws up the issue. But if he’s not happy a stronger bit isn’t going to reassure him and make him soft and compliant.

Btw, your horse is not a bolter, that term is reserved for horses who run blind with no regard for their own safety.
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@Spotherisk love the empathy in this post
 
rachboc said:
Thank you for your advice. She is an anxious personality so I'm sure there are triggers there which add up and then that one small thing will result in a situation which isn't controlled. We're working with a new trainer so hopefully we can get to the bottom of it. It's hard when it's not a constant problem as when the trainer is there she's great! And then suddenly she's not... We'll stick with a universal at home and maybe knock the dressage on the head for a while (travers... :) We're doing Intro and a tiny bit of Prelim!)
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Is your daughter anxious and making her anxious? Is that the trigger? Is she saying I'm struggling and my person is too so I can't cope
 
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She wasn't but is becoming more so! Which is why I want to give her more brakes so she knows that if her horse dashes off, she can do something about it.
 
When I was having a few issues last year (rodeo type issues) I went HC in my NS elevator to make sure I could get his head up. I also didn't care about results so much as steering round and staying on board!

I'm pretty sure tapeworm / gut was my issue. The extra adrenaline of being in company upsetting an already disturbed gut. I've finally got his equisal test down to negligible and he's a lot more settled.
 
ycbm said:
I got told the same about my horse that bucked and reared, but only now and then and only at the dressage markers, not at home. He had kissing spines and was trigger stacking (post #4)

What investigations have been done to come to this conclusion?
.
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You've replied since I wrote this RB, but not to this?
.
 
ycbm said:
I got told the same about my horse that bucked and reared, but only now and then and only at the dressage markers, not at home. He had kissing spines and was trigger stacking (post #4)

What investigations have been done to come to this conclusion?
.
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My mare was the same. She was perfect to hack but during a lesson would spook, fly across the arena and buck. Every lesson. Wouldn’t do it if lunged. Physio found nothing of note. X-ray showed kissing spines.

Kissing spines treated and she no longer “spooks” in lessons.

(Just to add, she isn’t a spooky horse, which is why her spooking was so out of character. No one, instructor, physio or even vet thought we’d actually find KS when we crated.)
 
rachboc said:
My daughters horse is fab 90% of the time but has recently taking to taking off with her in the arena. Its happened twice. We've had bodyworker and vet out and there's nothing physically wrong. Her saddle and bridle are correctly fitted. It happens when she hasn't been worked for a while. It's affecting my daughters confidence so we've been using a universal bit, which provides more brakes than her usual snaffle. However, it isn't dressage legal. Does anyone have any suggestions for a bit for a horse which can be tense and spooky, and will occasionally take off? She's not strong any other time.
Many thanks
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Trigger stacking has been mentioned in reference to the horse in few comments. And rightly so.
However, do mull over the fact that a buildup of unresolved and unaddressed bad experiences is extremely common in riders too. The old adage of ‘when you fall off get straight back on again’ has caused hidden problems for horses and riders for too long.
Your decision to back off from the dressage arena for a while is a good one. Taking some pressure off will give you all time to understand what’s gone a bit wrong and exactly why these bad moments happen, and how to fix things.

More often than not, it is the rider that unintentionally and unknowingly initiates tension in a horse.

Get her teeth looked at for sure. And saddle. Get second opinions on everything. When the teeth have been done, always assume that the jaw will out of line, so try a bit of craniosacral therapy to realign her.
Get your daughter to have a bit of bodywork too. Bowen therapy, Feldenkrais, Alexander Technique, chiropractor.
If you find someone who’s good, and does horses and humans, give them a go.



It’s an odd and sad fact that BD have a limit on restrictive bits at lower levels of competition, but a bit further down the line it’s fine to whack in two mouth pieces and a curb.
 
I'm Dun said:
Nope. More often than not its pain.
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Riders can cause pain, especially over time. Anything that causes dysfunctional movement can end up causing pain.

Equally this might be something as simple as occasionally something sharp gets stuck in the saddle pad, something vegetation wise etc, so a saddle check won't reveal that.

Spotherisk said:
I was reading the Soft and Sound fb post this morning, about horses being present in their body, and how we ask too much of them at times when they are not able to cope. Rather than bit up an occasionally spooky horse, perhaps work on what the horse is worried about or finding too hard, it might be an accumulating problem or it might be that right travers (for instance) always throws up the issue. But if he’s not happy a stronger bit isn’t going to reassure him and make him soft and compliant.

Btw, your horse is not a bolter, that term is reserved for horses who run blind with no regard for their own safety.
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And thank you, so often it's me saying that so often our horses aren't up to what we expect them to do, they don't feel safe in their bodies and so don't feel safe full stop. We also can't ever 100% eliminate pain as a cause, no matter how many tests and diagnostics we've been through, so we should never say it must be something else.

OP, as ycbm hints at, anxiety is usually the result of not feeling safe, and the most common reason for not feeling safe is somewhere on the continuum between dysfunction and actual pain.
 
@Breather can you add some details about what veterinary exploration has taken place of your mare's anxiety issues?

This is in your interests, if something has been missed, then this behaviour is likely to escalate and your daughter could end up hurt. We want to help both you and the horse.
..
 
ycbm said:
@Breather can you add some details about what veterinary exploration has taken place of your mare's anxiety issues?
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I'm with this; often a vets cursory exam only picks up obvious lameness, not all the things that can be wrong with and cause pain / discomfort for a horse.

One of mine had similar issues. 2 experienced trainers said it was my anxiety causing him to be nervous and over reactive as I had taken to holding the neck strap all the time (due to dramatic spooking, spinning and bucking). I believed that my concern about riding him came FROM his behaviour not the other way around. Vet initially said he was sound. He was pts at age 6 with dsld.
 
nutjob said:
I'm with this; often a vets cursory exam only picks up obvious lameness, not all the things that can be wrong with and cause pain / discomfort for a horse.

One of mine had similar issues. 2 experienced trainers said it was my anxiety causing him to be nervous and over reactive as I had taken to holding the neck strap all the time (due to dramatic spooking, spinning and bucking). I believed that my concern about riding him came FROM his behaviour not the other way around. Vet initially said he was sound. He was pts at age 6 with dsld.
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Yep unfortunately I agree with this and having had one that threw me off three times and was passed as ‘sound’ by vet, dentist and physio. Trainers told me I wasn’t good enough to ride her and to get a pro to rider her through it and ride in draw reins. Turned out to be neuro issues.
For what it’s worth she was ‘sound’ but clearly in pain.
I’d imagine OP is in the same predicament and it’s horrible as you either have to throw money at it and investigate or bury your head.
 
Bolting, or tanking off because pony has too much energy and is in an exciting environment? You say it tends to happen when pony hasn't been worked for a while so I'd address this first. I have one that I have to take up the gallops the day before a dressage test because otherwise he just has too much natural enthusiasm for life to give me a half decent relaxed test (annoyingly we then get worse marks as judges seem to prefer him when he's sharp, but I'd rather have a rideable horse than be barely containing him in the boards!). How is pony if worked consistently for a few days before a show? Quick lunge the morning before competing? Turned out overnight?
 
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