Head shaking, Snatching and being strong help!

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horses99

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I have a mare who's ridden work is improving but lately has been hard work due to the issues outlined, these issues weren't initially a problem as she wasn't fit and toned. Now she is stronger and has more fight. For example schooling in the school her walk and trot was near perfect nicely moving on the outline hardly snatching at all pretty perfect. As soon as I started cantering it all went straight down hill. Every stride was a fight snatching at the bit trying to open her mouth and pull me (has a flash on). Then she would start bouncing and refuse to travel forward almost cantering on the spot. No matter how hard I put my leg on and when she goes go forward she fights and throws her head up (has a martingale on) and just fights me all the way. I tried for a while to try and round her and despite how soft my hands were or if I gave her a good pull to try and snap her out of it nothing worked and she would not move nicely only fight me. She is in a snaffle but has a flash and martingale to try and stop her opening her mouth and arguing but she is still succeeding.

Also when jumping she snatches the reins and head shakes in between or after jumps and can be hard to control, some have suggested putting her in a Dutch gag while jumping as I will have more control when she is strong to a fence but this may not stop what she does which is essentially headshake, open her mouth and then try to ignore you and run away from whatever you're asking her to do...

I put her on the lunge today in a Pessoa she still fought it and head shook sometimes but no bouncing and she cantered a lot better but unlike my hands they don't give up!

Any help or suggestions please :(? TIA
 
She is trying desperately to tell you that she is uncomfortable in her mouth. Rather than holding her mouth closed with a flash and her head down with a martingale, try experimenting with different bits to find one that she likes. There are loads of different kinds of snaffle, which is yours? You can try different metals as well, to see what she prefers. It could be that the bit you are using is too thick or too thin for her, what is her mouth conformation like?
And finally, when did she last have her teeth checked? It could be something as simple as a sharp corner on a tooth which is making her uncomfortable.
 
Second the above but would also add to have the saddle Checked and try a couple of different saddles to see if you get any improvements
 
Her teeth were checked around 4 months ago by a vet on a overall check and 7/8 by a dentist both gave a good report. she is currently in a French link snaffle, if it is the equipment or something hurting/ bothering her would this not show up in trot? I wouldn't be sure which bit to try for flatwork other than what she has now admittably it's the only one I have used for her, I could get a saddle fitter over, her current one has a riser pad and a decent nummnah so she's fully padded but could get that looked at thanks for the advice
 
If your saddle needs a riser then it quite probably doesn't really fit.

Of course different gaits can show up different issues, the spine moves in a completely different way in trot and canter as does the head so certainly issues can be more prevalent during different movement.
 
Echo that - it sounds like your saddle doesn't fit. A correctly fitted saddle should need nothing more than a thin numnah beneath it. If you have a riser and a load of padding then it doesn't fit. That may well be the source of the problem. In walk and trot the horse can hollow the back to support an ill fitting saddle, but to canter she needs to draw her back up to get her hind leg under her to strike through which results in pain. And jumping will only make matters worse. Equally it could still be the bit - you have said it is a french link mouthpiece - but not which type of snaffle. Regardless of type it could still be too thick or too small for her. Or just not what she prefers.

Whether this is mouth or back - she is clearly in pain and you need to find out what the cause is and fix it. My bet given your last post would be back or saddle - so it might be worth starting there.
 
In addition to the other posts I would have her back and neck looked at by a chiro or Osteo.

I would also be interested to know what happens if you canter on a loose rein and light seat without the flash or martingale.
 
I'm not sure how experienced you are, OP, but it sounds like you're trying to make her round with your hand instead of riding the back end. Your OP mentions 'hardly snatching at all' in the walk and trot. Snatching is not a behaviour associated with a horse properly working from behind - why would they need to snatch, if they're through over the back and working into a supportive (not restrictive) hand?

I would recommend a decent instructor who can see the two of you together to help work through this.
 
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