Hackamores

[Halfpass]

Have posted this in NL too but though I might get more response in here!!

What kind of action do they have and what type of horse do they suite.

Thinking of trying one on my girl. She is just so sensitive in her mouth.

She is fine in the school when she is 100% listening and my contact is ultra light however out hacking if she gets a little onward bound I struggle to pull her up without the following happening.

She is not strong at all but even with just a very light half halt she throws her head up slams on the breaks and runs back wards.

My SJ trainer days she is super sensitive too and I have to be so careful not to catch her in the mouth when jumping otherwise we have the same as out hacking.

After the above has happened she calms very quickly and is straight back to her usual self - very very light in the hand and happily tracking up in self carriage.

All the relevant checks have been done (back teeth saddle etc).

 

[Dowjones]

I have one on my pony for similar reasons, he was overly sensitive so would slam the brakes on and rear.
I have him in a hackamore now, but slightly looser then some would fit as it can be quite severe on their nose and underneath. He works much happier in the hackamore and has pretty much stopped with the stopping and rearing

 

[TarrSteps]

Worth a try, certainly.

The leverage ones can be quite a lot of "bit", depending on the shanks, material or the nose, fitting, curb chain etc. There are also "straight pull" ones with no leverage component, which are very mild. These seem to have fallen out of favour in the English world, perhaps because people think they couldn't possibly be enough to control a horse with, although the rise of "bitless" bridles seems to have brought the subject up again.

What bits have you tried, out of curiosity?

 

[Baggybreeches]

I quite often use a german hackamore on my big TB, he has some mouth issues, and quite a lot of habitual behaviour, he is very relaxed and so straight and swinging in the hackmore, I don't use it for fast work but for walk and trotting its fine.

 

[soupdragon71]

I went through the entire bit bank with my old horse who had raced for 7 years, before trying a hackamore and he loved it. His trick was putting his tongue over the bit. He didn't have a hard mouth (exact opposite) but he had raced for a long time. The hackamore worked really well at home but could be a bit random at competitions (steering etc) as his blood was up - he jumped the fence beautifully but you could have a problem before or after the fence!! They are definetely worth a try - I used an English hackamore as I knew the German one would be too severe. Also had to wrap the curb chain in vetwrap as he backed off it (the first time he ever backed off any contact!!)

 

[almorton]

personally have had more positive effects using a kineton noseband over a soft bit. have you ever tried one? keeps the steering wheel working too!

 

[Baggybreeches]

Oh yes forgot to add that for jumping on all weather/indoors it was great, on grass a definite no!

 

[Batgirl]

I actually use one on my 17"2 ISH. He was always really resistant to contact and sensitive in the mouth and what I did because I wanted to compete Dressage was to slowly introduce a suitable bit (linked hanging cheek). I also got my instructor to ride him in a bit so I knew it wasn't me and my contact causing the problem. Now he is always schooled and jumped etc in a bit and hacked in his hackamore. It's a lever action one.

Lol he does get shirty if his hackamore goes on and we go in the school to wait for our hacking partner! 'that's my hacking bit mummy! duh!'