Ok, so does he need a grackle?

M

moneypit1

Well-Known Member
Joined
28 January 2007
Messages
2,246
Location
North Devon
Visit site
Always a bit worried about over tacking! Had lesson on Fly today and he 'grabs' at the reins and opens his mouth constantly. He is ridden in a loose ring snaffle with a lozenge, (v. mild) but really takes the p*** when I get a contact. Advice please.....
smileplease.jpg

fly10mtr.jpg

canter.jpg
 
[ QUOTE ]
What does your instructor think?
Does he cross his jaw or lock on to one rein?

[/ QUOTE ]
She says that he finds it hard when I ask him to shorten and that he protests by snatching at the reins. However, once jumping is introduced he is a different horse, he is forward going and so much easier to ride. He finds it very hard to go forward when schooling and uses me as a fifth leg. He leans and snatches when i take up a contact. His mouth is soft and kind but he will "pull" at me when I ask more of him. Difficult one really.
 
i always change the bit before i change the noseband.... not really sure why though!

your horse may be better in an egbutt as it has a quick response wheras a loose ring has a delayed action? maybe try a rubber D-ring snaffle as my horse seems to have had the same prob as you and that bit really helped!

otherwise, have you tried a drop noseband?
 
[ QUOTE ]
i always change the bit before i change the noseband.... not really sure why though!

your horse may be better in an egbutt as it has a quick response wheras a loose ring has a delayed action? maybe try a rubber D-ring snaffle as my horse seems to have had the same prob as you and that bit really helped!

otherwise, have you tried a drop noseband?

[/ QUOTE ]

Thats interesting....I was always taught that it was less traumatic to change the noseband before the bit! Good point though, perhaps he will be better suited in an eggbut. (he has a large tongue so I use don't tend to use a single jointed bit). He does go well in a Cheltenham gag with two reins, just need to get the "bit" right. He does tend to overbend so thought that the cheltenham would help with that.
 
ah reading your other post fits with this one, he needs to go forward and stop taking the p*** if hes using you to lean on and evading the contact- which looks like from the pic, then you need to be quick with the schooling whip, not hard just a quick sharp flick to let him know you mean it when you ask him to go forward, he just needs to learn that ur the boss and its not acceptable to only go forward when he wants ie when jumoping and excited. when he starts evading the contact react quickly and ask him to go forward more eventually he'll get the idea that fighting is not the way!
 
if he were mine, i'd be looking further back than his bit/teeth...as he looks terribly uncomfortable in his neck/withers/shoulder to me....

i'd have a Bowen therapist out to check this over.
 
I think there are two considerations when a horse does this, firstly is the horse able to cope, and sufficiently well balanced to cope, with the work you are asking it to do, and then secondly is the horse evading simply to be difficult. In my experience the second is rarely the case and I always give the benefit of the doubt.

If you are getting this kind of resistance when asking for a contact you have to ask yourself if you are truely riding the horse into a contact from behind, or whether you are simply shortening the rein without engaging the hindquarter - if it is the second then IMO the horse is bound to get gobby, and that may well reflect a struggle with balance.

If, on the other hand, you feel you are asking for genuine collection, in that you can feel the horse softening and coming back to you, but there are still issues in the mouth, then maybe the teeth need checking.

This is a point (you may have guessed by now) that I feel very strongly about, and would consider just about anything in preference to simply lashing the horse's mouth shut.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top