More cries for help! Bitless bridle issues

Omarkiam

Omarkiam

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As some of you know my boy is ridden bitless and I was loving it to begin with, and was going to start turning everybody bitless as soon as I had the chance, but now I am questioning it!

He has to be riden bitless according to one vet as he has a broken jaw, and its in such a place that even a rubber bit would cause him discomfort, but when he eats etc he is in no discomfort, so there was no real need to ''fix'' his jaw.

However I am having real problems with his behaviour now. He doesnt hack alone unless someone is on foot, and in company he will not walk infront..however now it has extended to he wont walk atall!
He is desensitized to the whip, so no amount of whipping or kicking makes any difference, and if he does not want to move he will not move.
I have tried turning him in very tight circles continuousley so as to make him uncomfortable to encourage him to move forward but this is now becoming impossible, because the bitless bridle just works as poll pressure meaning it has no real effect when you pull it left or right, so although we sometimes manage a couple of turns, thats it, then he just continues to plant himself.

To mount from the yard or the school on a block, he is good as gold, but if I end up getting off whilst out as hes planted himself, he will make it impossible to re-mount from ground or object!

Basically the problem I am having is getting him too move. He is NOT nervous, which I thought was the original problem, so I tried having a sympathetic hand for him.
I swapped horses today as he planted and I failed to get him to move, so I jumped on my friends irish sports horse who is very fizzy, very forward going, and extremely nervous, every single dent in the road is a problem for her, so whilst she was acting a complete nutter omie just stood there like what are you doing! So I know he is not nervous, because he never spooks either, hes no frightened by any noises, any animals, or anything unusual (bags blowing around etc) So its just him being stubborn.

I have rambled on a bit and probably not made much sense but Im trying to describe the situation as best I can.
I was going to get a second opinion from another vet as too whether I could use a rubber bit, because if he eats comfortably and I use a soft hand, can it really cause him any damage?? Its really frustrating when he plants because if a car is coming etc I cant get him to move, sometimes he will go home okay but that defeats the object, and I refuse to let him go home because he does it repeatedly otherwise! Any help woul be very greatly appreciated!
 
Because he doesnt respond when I ask him to move with his bitless bridle, but if I use a hackamore on him or something a little harsher he picks up, but then he becomes too strong as he really hates the hackamore, he knows he has full head movement with his bitless bridle and as a result he takes the mick. My point is, if he had a bit he wouldnt be able to avoid what I am asking him to do, whether or not it is napping.
 
TBH whilst a hackamore/bit might give you more ability to stop or turn a horse I doubt you'd find it much good in sending him forward.

You might find some good idea on here about how to get him hacking out in any bridle though.

If this is new behaviour though you might want to consider what might have changed...
e.g.
- yards/routes/company, is this place/the hacking companions unfamiliar to him?
- going, is he protesting about walking on frozen ground?
- being kept in over winter? Could he be feeling the big outdoors is scarier if he has been kept in a lot? (Most would be more forward but I've heard of some who get less keen on going out)
- physical problem? If he is suddenly reluctant to go out on (long?) hacks it could be worth getting his back and feet checked out by a vet.
- relationship with you? Are there other things going on in your life that might be making you less confident? Perhaps have a lesson or two together to get some advice on how you ride him positively?
 
Thanks for reply Tickles, nothing has changed for him, hes purely being stubborn, he lives out, does the same route quite alot, same company, does it in company or alone so is never kept just one way or the other. Hes had his back recently checked and have been told he has a very strong back, and very healthy. He is unshod and recently had his feet done and all 4 are fine, he is fit as a fiddle really.I have spoken to the owner and she has said that we could try a rubber bit as the break on his jaw is at the back on the right, just where the bit sits, but normally its only a problem with metal and bone, not rubber. So will use this to get him listening to me a little better.
 
If his behaviour is not caused by pain, then perhaps he is bored? You say you ride the same route often, try different routes, do some schooling, mix it up a bit. Get him interested in his surroundings. I ride bitless & don't have any problems with enthusiam (!) and would be surprised if his current nappiness is due to the bitless bridle. I also would take the advice of your vet aswell and not just go ahead and put a bit in, you could very well do more harm than good.:)
 
Sounds like he has lost confidence and he is the type of horse that just wont go if he doesnt feel safe, he doesnt spook or bolt like others just refuses to move. If I were you I would work on the ground at gaining his confidence back. I would also want to check he isnt trying to tell you he is in pain by not wanting to be ridden.

Dont put a bit in his mouth if you've been told not to. a bit wont make a difference to him going forward.
 
What bitless are you using?
You see I'm thinking that if you are putting in a rubber bit so that you can get after him a bit more, then that implies you are going to be putting a bit of pressure on his mouth. Which might be OK normally, but if he's already got a damaged jaw is that a good option? Only you know the answer to that and how it might affect his injury.
The reason I ask what bitless you are using is because I regularly ride bitless on different horses and I have never felt that I couldn't pick them up when I needed.
 
Its ust a normal bridal with a bosal poll pressure piece. Hes definately not in pain, has been vet checked, he does get some schooling, a bit of jumping, and I cant do any different routes at the moment as he is frightened of pigs and we are surrounded by them, there is one pig farm at the end of our hack that we normally do, so I am slowly getting him used to this before chucking him in at the deep end. Thats for all replies.
 
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