Had a little breakthrough with my mare - but what do I do now?

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sue_ellen

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I have posted a few times about my lovely new mare and her headshaking. Over the last few weeks I have increasingly thought that it might be behavioural/habit rather than seasonal or an allergy.

She is sensitive in her mouth, and the slightest pressure on the bit, or try to turn or slow down and she throws her head up and down violently and constantly, I have noticed that she does it when she feels pressured or stressed. She doesn't do it on the way home from a hack, but the second you get on in the school she starts, doesn't do it lunging.

Earlier this week, when lunging, I put elasticated side reins on (very, very loosely), from the bit to the girth between the front legs, to give ever such a slight contact and to try and encourage her to just carry her head in a more natural position (she has a very high head carriage and an "upside down" neck) and although she protested at first, she seemed to accept the idea quite readily.

Anyhow, yesterday I did this again, but then got on with the side reins still on - no headshaking! She tried a couple of half hearted ones and then just didn't bother after that! I was so thrilled! I only rode for a few minutes as I didnt want to do too much at once.

I am trying my best for this girlie, she is lovely and I will not give up on her, but my nervousness doesn't help, however I am getting therapy for this!

What can I do next? I would love to control the speed and headshaking a bit more out hacking but not sure if hacking in the side reins would be the right way to go. I have changed from a flash to a grackle and she seems to like that better, and she is in a loose ring thin french link snaffle. I thought about changing her bit and was reading about the peewee bit but am not too sure about this.

Any advice, tips very gratefully recieved, sorry this has got longer than it was originally meant to be!
 
I would give her a fixed sided (eggbutt or D ring) french link to keep the bit more steady in her mouth. I assume you have had her teeth checked? Have you also tried her without her mouth tied shut with a lower noseband, she may shake her head less if she can open her mouth. I would keep the sidereins on if they make YOU more confident, because your confidence will affect her confidence a lot.

I'm going to get jumped on for this, but you might consider riding her, including hacking her out, in draw reins. If she has too high a head carriage and an upside down neck, you can use them to gently bring her head down a little and change the curve to the right direction. They will also give you a lot of confidence, and you can release them whenever you feel she needs to stretch her muscles, as they will be working in a way which they are not accustomed to. You won't have to use them forever. You don't use them to "winch in her head" as some people think, just to show her there is a more comfortable place to be. And if they give you both more confidence in each other then you can enjoy a nice hack on your new horse.

I hope you continue to make progress.
 
Thank you so much for this. I have tried no noseband but she opens her mouth so much its impossible to do any thing with her, but the nose bands are not too tight and she can still open her mouth a little bit. I see your point about draw reins, I have used them in the past but not on this girl, but am worried about getting tangled up in them out hacking! Do you think this might happen, on a gate, for instance?
 
The fact that you say she has an upside down neck indicates that she probably needs to see a chiropractor. Horses with ewe necks rarely have anything a long their top line because of misalignment and need to be straightened.

The other thing is to get a good horse dentist to check her mouth, she might have a broken wolf tooth.

The other thing if it is allergies is to put the top of the leg of a pair of tights over her nose and fix it to the noseband.
 
Thanks Foxhunter, yes she has had chiro to re-allign everything, and the dentist who said her teeth hadn't been touched for several years! She won't tolerate a nose net, so not sure if that would help or not.
 
This sounds like my girl throwing her head around for "no reason". So have put her on pollenx by gloabl herbs and a nose net and draw reins in the shchool as she needs to learn where to put her head. I ride her forwards all the time and make sure she works from behind into the reins and in walk now they are very losse with a her in a nice soft outline. When in the school no head shaking at all - perfect. Out hacking no draw reins as I feel if she spooked etc I have to much in my hands to sort out. She will start shaking at some point on the hack think its when she gets tired as well as pollen. I also put mine out at night wearinga fly mask with a nose on it to try and help stop her. I had got to the point of tring anything!
 
Thanks for this, it does look like I'm going in the right direction, might dig out the draw reins and see how we go. Do you think the pollenx helps her Sherbet?
 
mmmmmmmmmm not sure I think I started it a tad late as this is the 1st year she has done this so waited a week or so before I started pollenx will strat at beg of april next year to try and stop it before it starts. But having said that if it helps her 1% then has to be worth it hate to think of her being unhappy
 
My late mare used to do this headshaking really badly.
She was best in an eggbutt snaffle, it made quite a big difference. Also I had to be really black and White with the contact. She needed a firm, really consistent contact. No loops or baggy bits in my contact at all and I had to ride her forwards into it. The contact had the strength of carrying half a bucket of water.
I also used a standing martingale for a short period of time out hacking.
I found it very irritating but she was getting placed every time out dressage in the end so we did get there :).
 
sue_ellen said:
Thank you so much for this. I have tried no noseband but she opens her mouth so much its impossible to do any thing with her, but the nose bands are not too tight and she can still open her mouth a little bit. I see your point about draw reins, I have used them in the past but not on this girl, but am worried about getting tangled up in them out hacking! Do you think this might happen, on a gate, for instance?
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Yes, I wouldn't use them unless you get off to do gates, too risky. Other than that, I have hacked out in them with no problems, but I do make sure to tie them off so that they are never long enough to get a leg caught in even if you drop them completely for some reason.

The upside down neck is very often found on excitable horses ridden in a running martingale - they pull against the martingale and over-exercise the muscles on the bottom of the neck and don't use the top ones.
 
Thank you everyone so much - this is all really encouraging and just helps me to see that I may just get there with her in the end. Thanks again, Sue
 
I would try and get some one to come and look at her bitting for you. She may have conformation issues in her mouth that are making her uncomfortable. Not sure where you are but if you ask around there is bound to be someone local to you. There is an excellent book called 'complete book of bits and bitting' by Elwyn Hartley Edwards which is really informative. Sounds like she is objecting to the contact, horses that were not well mouthed when broken often object to anything other than a super steady consistent feel. It's nigh on impossible to be steady in your hand with the horse throwing it's head around so the negative feel reinforces itself, because they get jabbed by themselves when they head toss. As an alternative to side reins or draw reins try getting one of those monkey/balance strap things, or make your own out of bailer twine. When she starts head tossing hold on to it so she doesn't pull you about and ride forwards into it. Should help.
 
Thanks ajn, I have thought about her bit and her mouth, she seems to have a very fat tongue, but not sure how to go about finding a bitting expert, they don't seem to be around in the same way as saddlers are, its a shame really because I will certainly call one in to see her if I can find one. Are there bitting people about? I am in Nottingham, East Midlands.
 
I'd agree with the running reins (draw reins) if you are comfortable using them. Like anything, they are a tool which, if used correctly, can be very beneficial. If you are worried about them, you might consider a bungy instead - she will still be able to stretch wearing it, but only downwards - so it will help her start to build muscle in the right place, but with less leathery flappery going on.
 
Everyone, thank you so much for your advice, you cannot know how much it has encouraged and helped me to see a way forward. Thanks again, Sue
 
OP, really glad you are looking at different options for your horse.

If she doesn't like contact and has to have mouth strapped shut to 'accept' the bit then IMO she is almost certainly in the wrong bit (and/or uncomfortable somewhere else ridden, sounds like she also needs to build muscle on her top line, for which encouraging long and low work may help, get an instructor to show you.)

Whilst the extra reins might make you feel good (which is obviously a good thing!) they are almost certainly just teaching her that if she tries to avoid discomfort in her mouth by head shaking then she actually ends up in more discomfort when the rein action kicks in.

Get the mouth sorted and she'll learn that she doesn't have any discomfort to avoid.

Suggest following up on the bitting expert search and also getting a few lessons so that you can be sure you are riding her with kind quiet hands (not easy if you are tense yourself!) and getting her to work as correctly (for her longer and lower, stretching down probably but seek advice form those who can see her too!) as she can to build muscle.

ETS: good luck :-)
 
Is she responds well to the elasticated side reins then you could try the harbridge which is elasticated or flexi reins (elastic inserts). My mare responds well to both of these!
 
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