help - schooling exercises/bitting/experiances

[loisrhodes]

my 6 yo horse evades the bit and has a 'tug of war' whenever asked to slow down. i realise this is partly due to schooling and training, but i believe he is uncomfortable more than anything. he is currently in a copper roller, is too strong in a snaffle and over bends in a dutch gag due to poll pressure. any ideas?

Also does anyone have any experiance with bitless bridles - i am considering buying one for him but, i don't know if the poll and nose pressure may just cause him to over bend - something he is prone to.

Thanks, any info/ help greatly appreciated. as well as any schooling exercises or experiances.

 

[xXxTraversxXx]

is this the only time he feels like he might be uncomfortable or is he like this generally?? the last baby i had was like this for quite a long time, messing around with the bit and pulling, and some people might disagree with me but i think alot of it is to do with age - it sorted itself out eventually once he's matured a bit (and once he understood downward transitions better, there wasn't quite so much for him to think about all at once, bless haha). i think it's just a matter of doing loads of transitions and rewarding the good ones and don't just pull, but pull and release, pull and release etc and wiggle your fingers so the bit isn't solid in his mouth for him to grab hold of if you get me?

 

[Kelpie]

as said above, make sure you don't get stuck keep pulling, but when you get the desired downward transition, release. If needs be, when you get a really good downward transition, give him a totally long rein and a big pat and then let him just stand and chill for a bit.

Also, focus on getting your downward transitions at a slow pace. So, try some schooling sessions in a really slow frame of mind, and just set yourself targets like walk for 5 steps then halt then walk for 6 steps then halt, etc.... just keeping it all calm and chilled, so you're not in your own mind expecting a tug of war, you're just expecting some nice, chilled, low key schooling work.

Another thing to remember is not to stop on a brace. So, if he's stopped but he's still pushing on the bit, that's not the time to release, wait until not only has his feet stopped moving but he's stopped pushing on the bit - maybe even wait for his weight to shift back a bit. Ultimately, the horse needs to understand that stop (or any downward transition) is done gently and softly and without braces, and with a horse that pulls against you it's easy to build in a big brace before you've even realised by releasing when in fact the horse is still pulling against you even if the feet have stopped.

Bitless is a way to go, but the catch is, you don't actually teach your horse about a bit, you just sidestep the problem. That's OK if in the future you are going to be doing competitions where a bit isn't compulsory, or if you plan to teach your horse transitions through bodyweight, etc, but unless you're that good that you plan to get downward transitions on bodyweight alone (and most of us aren't!) then personally i'd persevere with the bit, but just make sure you're clear in your own mind about what the bit means and what it should mean to your horse.