head tilting

Z

zigolo

Member
Joined
20 July 2010
Messages
20
Visit site
hi, I got a 5 year old gelding, that tilt his head to the right..he is okay when I ride him the first 20 min..and then as he gets more tirred he start tilting his head, with his nose to the right and right ear as the highest point.. I normally the give with my right hand, almost no contact..but at the same time, he is also makeing his right contact very hard..so my good feeling is to take the right contact and bend him to the right..

I did have him completely cheched, teeth, saddle ect, and all is fine..he has only been in work for 9 months.. will it help to put the drawreins on for a week, attacthed to the side, to help him find the contact.. please help..
 
i wouldn't put draw reins on him, i'd try raising your right hand, holding it up high and forward (say, a foot or so above the withers) so that it acts consistently upwards on the corner of his mouth, quite hard to maintain but usually effective. when he realises that this is consistent and just 'there', he should accept the contact better.
i would get him checked again though - has he been tied up and pulled back, for instance - if so, the pressure at his poll could have affected his atlas/axis joint (one of mine is particularly prone to this) and this could be causing it. it can be so hard to tell whether this sort of thing is a symptom or an evasion.
 
My sisters mare does this and if I watch my sister ride I can see where it's coming from.

If my sisters mare is on the right rein for instance and she is tilting her nose to the right (which is what she will normally do) my sister just needs to lift her outside left rein and take up a little more contact with the outside rein and the mare normally corrects herself.

Now my sister also has a new horse straight from racing and although most ex racers are one sided, this one has just started to tilt too! Sounds too much of a coincidence to me and as soon as my sister corrects it (when told) he becomes straight again.

I think it's to much inside rein, perhaps a little heavy handed on the right rein, with my sister it is anyway.
 
my pony , a little while back was doing this when stood around , just really bending his head and neck . We had his muscles checked , and he had a lot of tension in his right shoulder . It later turned out that he had been attacked in the feild so may have been kicked on his shoulder . Is he turned out with other horses , it could be loads of reasons , but could this be a possibilty ?
 
thanks..will try rising my right hand..I only put the drawreins on him once, but will try this new way of riding. thanks again
 
I do lunge him quickly every day before I get on him, as he is always full of energy. I lunge him with the side reins on and that helps a bit..if one day I dont lunge him, before riding..his head tilting is much worse..
 
They tilt their head if they are not stepping forward from behind to the contact of both reins with equal power so make sure he is straight and out infront of you without his weight going out through one shoulder at all. Also make sure you give him an even contact to go to. If his nose goes to the right you should raise your LEFT hand to bring his left ear up but at the same time push his shoulders out infront of you so you correct the cause not just try and ride the symptom. I would suspect that he tends to push his shoulders to the right in which case more right leg in a little shoulder fore to put him into the left rein and on the left rein shoulder fore but don't let him offer too much bend and go back onto the right shoulder and keep the left hand up so that he can't drop the contact on that side.
 
hi, great informatuon..but i am a bit confused, as one said to raise the right hand, and the other said to raise the left hand..he is tilting to the right, nose to the right and left ear low. i will try tomorrow, but now I am confused..what do I do ?
 
If the nose is going to the right raise the LEFT hand to bring it back to the left and to bring the left ear up. While you are sitting there on the computer tip your head so your right ear is up then imagine upward pressure on one side of your mouth. I think you will find upward pressure on the left will straighten your head. He is dropping the contact on the left and blocking on the right so by raising the left hand you make it more difficult for him to lose the left contact so he becomes more even if you back it up correctly with your leg and seat.
 
ah, okay, I stand corrected. sorry for confusing you, their way makes much more sense than what I said. i think you still need to be sure of having a really consistant contact with the right hand though, if the tilting is to evade it...
good luck.
 
thanks so much for the help.. I did try to rise my left hand whenever he tilted his nose to the right, with a bit left leg on..and it worked..thanks again.
 
My Dutch warmblood is 10 years old and I have had her from the age of 3, she has recently started to head tilt really bad and chews on her bit but only on the right side the same side she is tilting, she is worse in a striaght bar bit mullen and a little better in a snaffle and kk losenge, In the mullen she won't canter or goes disunited and won't go forward and throws her head about, I have had 2 dentists and 2 vets and no one seems to know what it is.
So I rode her bitless to make sure it is coming from her mouth and she went like a dream, more forward, happy and head straight, so it must be coming from her mouth. Any ideas from anyone who has had the same problem.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top