Head faffer?? Any suggestions?

BorgRae

BorgRae

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Hi All,

I’m looking for a bit of advice for one of our horses. We’ve had him about 5 months and when we bought him, he wasn’t in great condition, but have gradually put weight on him and he is looking fab now!

The only issue we have is that when he is ridden, he messes with his head quite a lot. Pulls at the bit, head up and down etc. He doesn't shake from side to side, it's more pulling up and down. We haven’t asked for any roundness or anything yet, just getting him fit, straight and forward first. He's 10, but don't think he's done much!!

I have just bought 2 new bits to try (should be delivered in the next couple of days) in the hope that this may solve the issue. He is currently in a loose ring, single jointed snaffle. The bits I have bought are:

Shires Copper French Link Bradoon (Sweet Iron)

Shires Flexible Ripple Bar Mouth Eggbutt (happy mouth, nylon)

Is there anything else I should try?? Any other suggestions?

Thanks very much!! :D
 
I sound like a broken record, but have you had his teeth checked? The new bits sound an improvement - particularly the french link, but if his teeth aren't good then you will still be having a problem.
Is his browband large enough? This can make horses very unsettled in their head as one even v slightly too small can pull the headpiece into the sensitive backs of their ears - result is one rather unhappy and sore horse. Much better to have one a little large.
Nodding can also be due to lameness - does he do it if trotted up/circled on hard or soft surfaces?
 
ThePony said:
I sound like a broken record, but have you had his teeth checked? The new bits sound an improvement - particularly the french link, but if his teeth aren't good then you will still be having a problem.
Is his browband large enough? This can make horses very unsettled in their head as one even v slightly too small can pull the headpiece into the sensitive backs of their ears - result is one rather unhappy and sore horse. Much better to have one a little large.
Nodding can also be due to lameness - does he do it if trotted up/circled on hard or soft surfaces?
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Hiya,

Teeth have been checked and are fine, they were done 3 months ago.

I will definitely double check the browband and make sure there is plenty of room, we have spares so I can always swap to see if that makes a difference.

He doesn't really nod, as opposed to pull up and down?! (if you know what I mean. He is sound on both hard and soft ground, and doesn't show signs of any lamesness, but will keep an eye out!

I will try the french link first and see if that helps! Thank you for your advice! :)
 
Good luck! It can be a bit of a prob to find the reasons for things like this. My mare is prone to it too and I am still really struggling to find the reason and a solution. Start with the easy stuff and work your way through! Sure you'll get there!
 
ThePony said:
Good luck! It can be a bit of a prob to find the reasons for things like this. My mare is prone to it too and I am still really struggling to find the reason and a solution. Start with the easy stuff and work your way through! Sure you'll get there!
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Thank you! Good luck with yours too! Fingers crossed we'll get to the bottom of it! I guess it's no major issue, just a tad annoying when riding! Bless him!!
 
We went through this with my boy, Kali, also quite green/unschooled and weak behind when we bought him. What we discovered was that there were multiple reasons.

1) In the spring, pollen - nose net cured that one
2) If the rider gets too tight through the seat - he's saying "help, I can't MOVE"
3) If he finds something hard - trick there is just to ride him through it - as he matures through his body and musculature he is able to do more and more without finding it difficult
4) If he's feeling impatient or annoyed about something - then he gets a growl and "the look."

Like you, we had teeth done (two wolf teeth removed), faffed about with bits (went from a single-jointed snaffle to a french link), bought him a new saddle, checked his bridle wasn't rubbing/hurting him and took the flash off on the flat and he has his back done every six months or so while he's developing. It took alot of trial and error and being super-observant for us to figure out why he was faffing with his head - now we can identify the causes, we can treat him accordingly.

I hope that helps.

p
 
PolarSkye said:
We went through this with my boy, Kali, also quite green/unschooled and weak behind when we bought him. What we discovered was that there were multiple reasons.

1) In the spring, pollen - nose net cured that one
2) If the rider gets too tight through the seat - he's saying "help, I can't MOVE"
3) If he finds something hard - trick there is just to ride him through it - as he matures through his body and musculature he is able to do more and more without finding it difficult
4) If he's feeling impatient or annoyed about something - then he gets a growl and "the look."

Like you, we had teeth done (two wolf teeth removed), faffed about with bits (went from a single-jointed snaffle to a french link), bought him a new saddle, checked his bridle wasn't rubbing/hurting him and took the flash off on the flat and he has his back done every six months or so while he's developing. It took alot of trial and error and being super-observant for us to figure out why he was faffing with his head - now we can identify the causes, we can treat him accordingly.

I hope that helps.

p
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That's brill thank you! There is hope out there! We had a saddler out to fit his saddle when we bought him, and have had her back a couple of times as he has changed shape. I might get my back lady out to have a double check that all is ok as well.

A nose net seems a good idea as well. I will try the new bits and see which of those suit him (if any) and see where we go from there.

Thank you for your post! Glad you managed to help your boy, hope he continues to be a happy lad!!

Thanks again! :)
 
I had exactly this problem when I first got my "rescue" tb. She had been thoroughly checked over by the charity, back, teeth etc. She had been ridden by them in french link so I carried on with a sweet iron french link with copper middle piece. She did the nodding head thing almost as though expecting a jab in the mouth.

I was told she took a 5.5 inch bit but felt this was too wide so I had a 5" Neuscheule trans-angled lozenge loose ring snaffle and I tried this. I also completely stripped down her bridle, no martingale or noseband, made sure she had plenty of room in the browband and that I was using a nice wide headpiece.(Good job I never get rid of any bits and pieces of old tack!). She immediately felt better in her mouth and after a week the nodding had stopped completely.

Now the only time she nods a bit is when she is tired, so I immediately give her a loose rein and she relaxes. Initially I was given the advice to ride her through the nodding, but this just made her worse. I followed my instincts and it worked for us both.

Good luck!
 
Tammytoo said:
I had exactly this problem when I first got my "rescue" tb. She had been thoroughly checked over by the charity, back, teeth etc. She had been ridden by them in french link so I carried on with a sweet iron french link with copper middle piece. She did the nodding head thing almost as though expecting a jab in the mouth.

I was told she took a 5.5 inch bit but felt this was too wide so I had a 5" Neuscheule trans-angled lozenge loose ring snaffle and I tried this. I also completely stripped down her bridle, no martingale or noseband, made sure she had plenty of room in the browband and that I was using a nice wide headpiece.(Good job I never get rid of any bits and pieces of old tack!). She immediately felt better in her mouth and after a week the nodding had stopped completely.

Now the only time she nods a bit is when she is tired, so I immediately give her a loose rein and she relaxes. Initially I was given the advice to ride her through the nodding, but this just made her worse. I followed my instincts and it worked for us both.

Good luck!
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That's brilliant, and sound like a good plan! At the moment he just has a caveson (sp) noseband, but i'll have a go with nothing and see what the reaction is?! We have loads of spare pieces of tack to try so will try and find the best fitting things for him (even if it looks a bit odd! lol).

Thank you for this, i'm really pleased you had success with yours, and will keep my fingers crossed we follow the same path!

Thank you! :)
 
BorgRae said:
even if it looks a bit odd! lol
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I shouldn't worry how it looks! I dread to think what people must think of us - I have cut bits out of her headpiece, her browband is 'too big', no noseband, and we school and lunge without a browband at all. It has helped so we are sticking with it! She is less sensitive when we are through coat change time, then the bits go back on and all is well. Nodding is worse than an odd looking bridle!
 
I hope it works for you - just to add, you can hire bits to try from one of the on-line bitting banks which might work out cheaper than buying different bits and the bit people are very helpful if you discuss your problem with them.

Keep us posted.
 
Tammytoo said:
I hope it works for you - just to add, you can hire bits to try from one of the on-line bitting banks which might work out cheaper than buying different bits and the bit people are very helpful if you discuss your problem with them.

Keep us posted.
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That's a good idea, if neither of these bits suit him, i'll definitely get some more advice and use a bit bank. Thanks you!

I'll definitely keep you posted! :D

ThePony said:
I shouldn't worry how it looks! I dread to think what people must think of us - I have cut bits out of her headpiece, her browband is 'too big', no noseband, and we school and lunge without a browband at all. It has helped so we are sticking with it! She is less sensitive when we are through coat change time, then the bits go back on and all is well. Nodding is worse than an odd looking bridle!
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Hehe, totally agree!!

Good tip though about not even using a brow band, I hadn't thought about going that far, but if it works, I'll defo give it a try! Strip it down completely and start from the begining, I guess that's the best way to get to the root of an issue.

Thanks again!! :)

I'll let you know how we get on!
 
Have you tried bitless? I don't know if you need to ride with a bit for dressage but if not I'd try a dr cook's bitless bridle. Daisy was really flappy at times but she learned that she couldn't evade a bitless bridle so she stopped trying and thenwent back into a bit once she was out of the habit.
 
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