Horse softens then throws head up, why?

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djlynwood

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When the horse I ride starts to soften he throws his up.

My instructor tells me to try and keep him there when he does soften. I asked her how and she told me that I need to be firmer with him and not give away the contact. Im not sure if I need to keep him there by applying more contact but would this make him put his head up?

I will ask her again at next lesson but until then does anyone have any ideas how to keep him there.
 
read 'Training with Empathy' By karen Bilgaurt (no im not one of the sales advisers, but this book has improve my horses schooling by 200% in a few weeks.)

It explains how the the head throwing is a reaction fromt he co-contraction of the neck muscles, which will improve when the horse is more supple.

The other thing you can try, is draw reins (used correctly, a contact should not be kept on them at al times, there should be a loose loop between the bit and the girht when riding with theses, that will instantly tell the horse to bring the head back down, rewarding by the contact release)

Lou x
 
I've always been told to be soft when your horse is soft, so when they are soft, you give and allow with the hands, and push them up into the nice soft contact with your legs- its your legs and seat that will get the horse "soft and through" and not your hands. The moment you feel the horse try to come up in the contact you use more leg, but never use hand and leg at the same time. But the contact always has to be constant and consistent. Don't know if that will be of any use!?.....
 
"try and keep him there when he does soften. I asked her how and she told me that I need to be firmer with him and not give away the contact.." WRONG!!!!

Think about it from the horse's point of view - he has softened to you and then you keep that firm contact or tried to hold him there - where is the reward for him in that? What incentive is there for him.

Are you even sure he is softening for you or just escaping the harsh contact?

Horses often throw heads up when they soften and go round and are then pulled into a stronger contact

The other reason my simply be - how long are you asking him to stay in that sao called "outline" - if he is a young and inexperienced horse he may only be able to do it for a few dozen strides and then need to llift his head up to give his shoulders and back a rest.

K27 is right - a nice soft feeling, with the horse rounding under you, comes from behind - it simply can't come from the hands.
 
the horse is obviously not strong enough to stay down in the outline and brings the head up to balance it self this will not improve till you strengthen the horse i would work the horse in a pessoa personally !!

I would also do a lot of work building up the horse on hills etc oh and maybe harsh but get a new instructor how you can tell someone to keep it there is beyond me and should be able to help you not just say that "!!!
 
Assuming that back/saddle/teeth are all fine, agree with K27 - if he is throwing his head up you need more leg. The hands should always have a soft elastic contact. You can tweak the inside rein for more inside flexion but you should never use your hands to hold the horse's head down.

The horse may lack the musculature to be able to hold himself in an outline hence when you are riding him correctly, he wants to offer you an outline but then he hasnt the muscles/balance/something hurts (e.g. saddle pinching) and he throws his head up so his back isnt rounded against your seat. The only thing to do is to soften and relax the jaw by sponging the reins, and asking with the legs and seat for more impulsion and for him to round his frame again.

If he is struggling, dont work him for too long in an outline. If it is a rider issue, then you just need to practice to get the feel.
 
If he's softened I woudl take it means your hands are in the right position, so that being the case then more leg on.

Flinging his head up means he's thinking backwards so a bit more leg to push him forwards and his head should come back down again.

If he's being beligereant about it then back to what you were doing when you got him to soften in the first place.

Then rinse and repeat.

I have a complete head flinging monster but he's improved dramatically with the above approach.
 
Thanks everyone,

whats been said makes sense. I just couldnt get my head round what instructor was saying.

I am very light in my hands and sometimes a bit too light. But if the horse softening then I must be doing something right. I think as someone mentioned I need to use more leg.
 
Ah well - so many instructors just prattle out the same old formulae of words - generally because they have not thought through the real underlying issue and it's a quick fix in 45 minutes.

Good, insightful, horse centred instructors are few and far between I'm afraid.

Anyway - why are we so obsessed with outline anyway - it;s an aesthetic thing, like bearing reins on carrraige horses - unfair really - should allow the horse to carry us in their natural outline where it is most comfortable for them, rather than insisting they have their head and neck in an unnatural position.
 
Because horses werent designed to carry humans, by working the horse correctly (this is what I interpret outline to mean - i.e. working from behind in a rounded frame) the horse is better able to carry a rider. So many back problems are created by incorrect work.
 
"So many back problems are created by incorrect work."

Quite right CB ANglo - but it is not our place as a rider to demand a particular carraige from a horse - he should carry us as best as his physique and underlying conformation can.

"Incorrect work" is when we force that outline on them with our "conventional" views. After all we are not the ones carrying the weight!
 
My horse was doing the exact same thing quite a bit especially towards the end of rides. I had to learn to "catch" him before he threw his head. Takes some doing though. It has improved vastly since the physio put his atlas joint back and his pelvis............
 
I wonder if your instructor actually means that you need to be quicker to "catch him" when he throws his head up, rather than "keep him there".

When he softens you should soften to him, but it is easy and tempting (especially if he's an experienced school horse that is practised at finding ways to trick his rider into letting him off the hook) to then give away the contact completely, he will chuck his head to get you to give it away even more and catch you unawares. You then need to spend ages working to get him soft again from scratch. He thinks "tee hee good game I'll try this one again".

You need to soften when he does but keep a light contact, when he shows signs of head chucking you need to be ready to be firmer with your hand until he softens again, you also need to get your leg on as he is certainly dropping off the leg when he does this. It is about being quick to ride the correction NOT holding his head in and down.

Alternatively, if he isn't a crafty bugger type but is inexperienced/green/unfit/poorly muscled/not well schooled then it may just be that he can only hold his muscles in the "right" place for a short time for now and is getting tired. Think about being at the gym and doing "the plank" you can only hold it for so long before you collapse/have to stretch. If this is his problem then try to work out how long he can work for correctly and tailor your schooling, so work him for five minutes being fairly strict with him, then bring him back to walk and let him stretch down, it is great practice for you FWLR in your dressage tests. But don't let him snatch the reins, get some nice work and then invite him to take the contact down.

HTH Katt x x
 
I would imagine that he throws his head up because he hasn't fully developed the right muscles yet and finds it hard work to maintain an outline. Holding him tighter isn't a good solution - this sort of problem is only solved by hard work and lots of practice! I'd say you need to keep doing what you're doing: encourage him to take up an outline then reward him by softening your hands. Let him have regular breaks as well where he can stretch out on a long rein. It doesn't sound like it's a behavioural problem.
 
Just to irritate you :-) lol


My Mare did this too- just as you get her working from behind and softening give with the hands and then 6 perfect strides maybe then head up ! Dives me crazy but its just hard work for her thats all and gets better with time !
 
KristmasKatt said:
I wonder if your instructor actually means that you need to be quicker to "catch him" when he throws his head up, rather than "keep him there".

When he softens you should soften to him, but it is easy and tempting (especially if he's an experienced school horse that is practised at finding ways to trick his rider into letting him off the hook) to then give away the contact completely, he will chuck his head to get you to give it away even more and catch you unawares. You then need to spend ages working to get him soft again from scratch. He thinks "tee hee good game I'll try this one again".

You need to soften when he does but keep a light contact, when he shows signs of head chucking you need to be ready to be firmer with your hand until he softens again, you also need to get your leg on as he is certainly dropping off the leg when he does this. It is about being quick to ride the correction NOT holding his head in and down.

Alternatively, if he isn't a crafty bugger type but is inexperienced/green/unfit/poorly muscled/not well schooled then it may just be that he can only hold his muscles in the "right" place for a short time for now and is getting tired. Think about being at the gym and doing "the plank" you can only hold it for so long before you collapse/have to stretch. If this is his problem then try to work out how long he can work for correctly and tailor your schooling, so work him for five minutes being fairly strict with him, then bring him back to walk and let him stretch down, it is great practice for you FWLR in your dressage tests. But don't let him snatch the reins, get some nice work and then invite him to take the contact down.

HTH Katt x x
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^^^^^^ This!
 
HashRouge said:
I would imagine that he throws his head up because he hasn't fully developed the right muscles yet and finds it hard work to maintain an outline. Holding him tighter isn't a good solution - this sort of problem is only solved by hard work and lots of practice! I'd say you need to keep doing what you're doing: encourage him to take up an outline then reward him by softening your hands. Let him have regular breaks as well where he can stretch out on a long rein. It doesn't sound like it's a behavioural problem.
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Ditto above.

Providing there is no physical reasons and you are a good rider, you have to bare in mind its hard work for a horse to maintain a good outline if they are not fit, supple or if there conformation works against them, if this is the case it's likely that's he's just had enough and that's his way of telling you he's feeling a niggle somewhere and needs to ease off, this is often over looked and mistaken for something else or a bad habit developing, before you know it people are changing the way they ride, changing the bit, nosebands and so forth thus creating more problems, just don't expect too much too soon.

Although it could be many of the other reasons other people have also suggested but this would be my first assumption.
 
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