Horse leaning on bit

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Weemegs

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Merry Christmas everyone! So the story is I've been riding a small horse for a friend who really is lovely, easy to work with, has great breaks and transitions doing flatwork or faster work. The problem is she leans so much with her head, I end up with dead arms and my core collapsing. She isn't tanking off or anything just leaning. At the minute she is ridden in a plain snaffle and Cavesson noseband. She does this with other riders too and tends to do it worse the longer you ride. My question is should I try changing bit/noseband/other tack? Or do I just need to get on with it and try to build some core muscles? Thank you everyone for reading!
 
When she leans use a lateral flexion (pull hard if necessary but smoothly (hand to hip)
Get her to release her neck the second she does lighten that hand... Then if necessary do this the other way too til she is light on both sides it won't be a quick fix and you have to be very reactive when she gives you what you want but the message has to be she carries her own head ...
 
Improving her schooling would be better than changing tack - but without seeing you it is really hard to know why she is leaning. It could be she lacks sufficient topline to carry herself correctly. Or that she has insufficient balance to reach self carriage. It could be that she is ridden (or has in the past been ridden) by someone who held her head in place for her rather than encouraging a true contact. It could be that she has discovered this as an evasion. Whatever the reason she is likely to be becoming dead in the mouth which has its own issues.

I'd be reluctant to advise any response that involved pulling hard on her mouth. She needs to carry herself yes - but you need to understand why she is not doing so currently and develop a strategy to chnage that. The response will also depend on how refined you are as a rider. Brute force is not necessarily - if at all - the answer. Can you get a good instructor to help you?
 
Mine used to do this. I put it down to lack of fitness and being built very downhill. Any exercises to get her carrying more weight behind are good, plus releasing the rein every so often so she has to carry herself. As above, its not a quick fix, but it does need to be sorted. Be very careful of carrying her head yourself. I tore a deep muscle in my back doing that on a long hack and was crippled for weeks.
 
She is really lacking muscle and I think before she was bought she had just been ploughed round jumps with no interest in her schooling. So I think it is that she lacks self carriage and needs to work from behind more! Any exercise ideas to encourage this? Thank you everyone for helping!
 
Lots of correct work! Long and low if she can sustain it. Lateral work if she knows the aids. Loads and loads of transitions - both between and within paces. Hill work if you have one. Building muscle takes time. Take care not to pull her into an outline or otherwise hold her head up for her. That has to come with time.
 
Yep, that was my horse's history too. Transitions between paces and within the pace are good. Simple pole work (I do it in hand as well as ridden). When she gets fitter halt to trot and walk to canter, but that's some way in the future. I would also suggest looking at straightness training.
 
She isn't leaning on the bit, it is simply a piece of metal in her mouth. She is leaning on what is holding the bit i.e. your hands, and can only do that if you give her something steady to lean on. Forget about "contact" and concentrate on asking her to relax her lower jaw by softly moving your fingers, then the instant she does, release any pressure. Do that before you move off, then before any transitions, of which you need lots. Transitions, circles (large enough so she bends and steps under, not so small she evades with her shoulder) and that jaw relaxation (which means no heavy hands in turns and downward transitions - use your seat) and she will carry her head where her biomechanics and strength allow. And get lighter and lighter as she gets stronger.
 
I'm currently working with my mare on this issue. If my hands get any way fixed at all she leans and leans and leans. I was at a loss, as by myself I couldn't see the cause and effect, as far as I was concerned my hands were doing what they always do and she was leaning for no reason.

I got an instuctor in who from the ground instantly spotted that my hands would occasionally set slightly, causing the lean, causing me to brace, causing her to lean more etc. What we are now doing is any time she leans, I give quite dramatically, so she has nothing to lean on. She is slowly getting the idea that her rider will support her until she throws her weight around, then she's on her own.

As she is a nice natured animal who likes to know where her rider is this is working. But it may not work in your circumstances, so my advice is get a good pair of eyes on the ground. They will spot things you don't even know are happening
 
Shay said:
Lots of correct work! Long and low if she can sustain it. Lateral work if she knows the aids. Loads and loads of transitions - both between and within paces. Hill work if you have one. Building muscle takes time. Take care not to pull her into an outline or otherwise hold her head up for her. That has to come with time.
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This. I'd also suggest trying to lunge her.

One thing which is also important is quality over quantity. It's super hard work for a horse to carry itself correctly, so when they achieve a few minutes of it, let them stretch as a reward! It means they understand they're doing correctly, and helps to build the muscle. Plus, it means they won't start to lean on you, and relapse into the habit.

Transitions transitions transitions! Pole work. Hill work. Lots of circling and shoulder in and leg yield.

The entire time she needs to be marching and stepping under herself, and build the whole thing up gradually!
 
Goldenstar said:
If a horse leans you need to move it's neck and give the rein away .
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This.

All the pole work, hill work, transitions etc will help her to build strength, but will only address the problem if you can get her to soften down the rein and only if you give the contact away when she gets heavy. She has to learn to carry herself and you have to get out of the habit of holding her up.
 
You could be describing my horse. I battled with this for years, despite doing pretty much everything everybody has already suggested. This summer a friend with a very similar horse insisted I borrowed her Micklem bridle to try on Arch.

I was so sceptical as I am with lots of these new things. I thought it was just an expensive gimmick to make people spend money unnecessarily but, from the moment I tried it, it was like I was riding a different horse. He was light in my hand, didn't fight me and I had much better brakes. He still has the odd leaning moment but he's 95% better than he used to be and he now allows me to ride him forward properly so he's finally started coming up off his forehand and properly engaging his back end too. It's not simply the answer in itself but in my case, it's meant my horse has allowed me to do all the other things to get him to carry himself better and I've got further in 6 months with the Micklem than in 10 years without it. I just feel guilty now that I didn't try it earlier. If you know someone who can lend you one I'd say it's worth a try.
 
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