My horse keeps putting its head down

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equestrian7474

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My new horse keeps putting her head down and pulling the reins out of my hand whenever I ask for an upwards transition to get out of work.

Does anyone have any tips for getting her out of this habit?
 
It would be worth having some lessons with a good instructor. This is always a good idea with a new partnership IMO and they can tailor their advice to fit what is going on with you and your horse specifically. :)
 
Use your legs to get her forward when she does it. if you try to pull her head back up she will likely out pull you.
 
And does it work for her, in that when she pulls she doesn't have to work?

If it is a successful tactic, she won't stop doing it.

If so, then I would make it a null attempt, as in she can do it and still has to work. In fact, if she does it she would work harder. You can get the reins back at trot or canter just as easily as at walk. Of course, I would do this in an arena first, and look at how you are holding the reins if you are actually letting go rather that they are just going slack.
 
I would get the dentist to check teeth as my mare was very reactive with her head, turned out she had a fractured tooth from the root and she had no other symptoms. Would also check saddle etc. Either it’s a pain reaction or napping but you must find out which first.

if it is napping then I would get a few lessons with an instructor
 
Trinket12 said:
Sugar used to do this, we thought it was a training/manners issue. Turns out her teeth were in a right state, once we got that sorted the problem pretty much went away.
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Mine as nothing like as bad but when he arrived he leaned quite heavily on the right rein. He is 11 so we suspected he had just learned to go this way, but got the dentist out just to be sure. Turns out that although his dentistry wasn't dreadful, it wasn't great either. Dentist tidied him up and the leaning has reduced considerably. So definitely worth a check, in my limited experience.
 
Meowy Catkin said:
It would be worth having some lessons with a good instructor. This is always a good idea with a new partnership IMO and they can tailor their advice to fit what is going on with you and your horse specifically. :)
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I usually have a lesson with my instructor once a week, however she’s only started doing this over the past couple days so I haven’t got a chance to talk to her yet. Thank you for the suggestion!
 
Trinket12 said:
Sugar used to do this, we thought it was a training/manners issue. Turns out her teeth were in a right state, once we got that sorted the problem pretty much went away.
Click to expand...

She’s had her teeth checked about a month ago but if this keeps happening I will definitely make sure it isn’t a problem with her teeth.
 
Red-1 said:
And does it work for her, in that when she pulls she doesn't have to work?

If it is a successful tactic, she won't stop doing it.

If so, then I would make it a null attempt, as in she can do it and still has to work. In fact, if she does it she would work harder. You can get the reins back at trot or canter just as easily as at walk. Of course, I would do this in an arena first, and look at how you are holding the reins if you are actually letting go rather that they are just going slack.
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Thanks for the tip!
I’m pretty sure this is her way of getting out of work, I’ll try to keep her working harder when she does it next time I ride.
 
I've just started riding a cob who's been doing this with previous riders. His teeth, saddles, etc., have all been checked recently. I've not been letting him pull his head down and sending him on immediately. The head dropping has now stopped so he's trying stopping dead instead. Again, I'm sending him on. Next step is trying to anticipate his napping so I can stop him from even trying it. It's worrying when you just want a nice ride isn't it.
 
It can become a habit - and she is stronger than you! You need to speak to your instructor about which approach is most suitable for her - but she might be pulling becuase you have been working hard and she needs to lower her head to stretch her back. If that is the case then you just need to be more alert to when she might need to break. It could be becuase she can - in which case being shown how to bridge your reins can be really effective becuase they can't pull the reins out of your hands. But you have to use it correctly and not hold her too tight otherwise you will hurt her which might provoke a more violent evasion.
 
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