Found a new horse at last........................ advice please

lochpearl

lochpearl

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I have been looking for a second horse for a while now as the re-schooling of my show jumper is taking it's time and he is not being very co-operative - plus he's a phsycho (sp) at the moment with a mare in season and lots of grass!! Anyway i have bought a very willing 5 year old (coming on sat!!) he has been used to teach a man to ride and he has also done some BSJA on tickets so can jump. Now I want to do everything with him, but his schooling needs some work.
Here is the dilema.................... as he has had a novice on him he has been socked in the mouth, held on to and not had the correct aids, so in effect he has not been working correctly or in an outline. When I schooled him he worked very nicely for me, came into an outline and worked across his back, however on occasions he would really lean on the bit and at 17hh+ he is very heavy. Now i know that this will stop gradually as he gets the correct work but in the meantime is there a bit or something that I can use to help pull him up? He is in a snaffle and needs nothing stronger but I would like something that he cannot lean against?

cookies for getting this far xx
 
Hi Amymay, yes I was thinking about one of those but they look horrible and uncomfortable, he is only 5 years old and I don't want to put him off the bit - have you used one and are they as uncomfortable as they look? thanks
 
well, the best thing is to continually soften when he tries to lean, and so teach him that he has to hold himself up, you aren't there to do it for him. this will be the best and overall quickest way of getting him working correctly, and training him to be nice to ride. just do a half-halt every time he tries to lean, use your legs a little, sit up, teach him not to rely on you. repeat repeat repeat until he's got the idea.
a waterford will help stop him from leaning, but there's a reason why they're not allowed for dressage... because they move so much, you cannot establish a correct contact that the horse can trust. your hand/rein aids will be muddled by it, because it is so imprecise compared to a single or double-joint bit.
best of luck with your new boy, he's obviously been a saint in the past, no reason he can't learn quickly to be a nice light ride for you!
 
thanks Kerilli, I agree, he is a lovely horse that will excel in dressage as all other desciplines, he had never leg yielded before and he was working off my leg and seat so i think he'll be a quick learner. He is ridden in a martingale which I will take off as young horses some times try and lean on that too. I guess I was just trying to see if there was a nice way bit wise to try and stop the leaning, but it sounds like perserverance is going to be the key.
 
The only thing that I have found to help with leaning are softening the inside hand and really pushing him on from behind and forgetting the head. I have found that if you really push from behind the front lightens on its own and then no leaning, but if he really has't been used to working like this then I would take my time and do shorter correct schooling sessions. Hope this helps.
 
How about a loose ring french link happy mouth, they are so mild that everything should be nice & clear & may be nicer for him if he's been caught in the mouth, I use them on anything that is unbalanced, as there is less risk of accidentally holding them together with it, (which TBH can happen in a waterford) and as they are so mild i find horses are quicker to learn to get better balance & work from behind, Also i'd recommend lots of transitions on the lunge, that way you'll be able to see his progress from the ground & that can be rewarding in its self (esp when you've had one of those days when everything seems to go backwards)
 
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How about a loose ring french link happy mouth,

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I was going to suggest the same thing. My horse was a terrible leaner, and I found this bit and light hands with lots of leg, soon did the trick.
 
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