Schooling Ideas for a horse which fights the contact...

[spotty_pony]

Basically, I have my pony for three years and his schooling has improved loads in the time I have had him, but he is still very reluctant to drop his head and accept the contact.

I ride him in a loose ring french link snaffle and he seems to go well in this except, he still resists the contact on his mouth and would rarther go along with his nose poking out! (I don't know how as he cannot lean on the bit as it is a loose ring!

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His back, teeth, saddle, etc have all checked and are fine. So I know there are no problems there. I have tried riding him in a flash noseband as he sometimes opens his mouth to evade the bit but this doesn't seem to work either!

I think part of it is down to his general cheeky character but I know he has potential to go well, it's just really frustrating when he is always trying to be rebellious!

I have tried everything - had loads of lessons on him, instructor has ridden him and she seems to think the problem is that he is locking his jaw against the bit. I also lunge him regularly in side reins. I have been concertrating on exercises which get him bending such as circle work and spiralling in and out but I am now at a loss as to what to do next!

Any ideas/advice much appreciated

 

[Natch]

Trust me, they can lean on a loose ring!

Have you tried a lot less/NO contact? This worked really well for me. Ride him with your seat and legs, and leave the mouth alone. When you come to take up a contact, do it very very gently as if you would hurt him if not. Might just work.

The lunging in side reins might be contributing to the problem. Side reins are fixed - if he does have a tendancy to lean, he can lean on side reins all day long. A pessoa or similar might be a better aid, but TBH I'm not a fan of lungeing to solve your problems. Do you have another instructor you could try? Sometimes it takes fresh ideas or seeing the problem first time to find the solution.

 

[Scribbles]

My 16.3 CB used to do this, which as a skinny 14-15yo would KILL my arms. I found as Naturally suggests just relaxing the reins and not allowing her to lean helped, with gentle squeezes on the reins. Try to think of it sa holding their hand, rather than it being a prop between you and their head.

It's not a matter of just getting the head down - my CB would lean with her head pushing down, jaw locked like you say.

 

[spotty_pony]

Thank you for your advice, both of you!

Naturally - I have tried several instructors and they have all said similar things. One of them rode him and he actually went worse for them then he did for me!

Is there such a bit which a horse can't learn how to lean on?

Scribbles - Yes I know it isn't just about getting their head down and I have often tried relaxing my reins to stop him from leaning and this does seem to help, but I have heard that because I don't have a proper contact on the reins, he is not working in a true outline. Is this true?

 

[Scarlett1980]

This may be a little contraversial but have you tried draw reins? I'd use them with your instructor first and you shouldn't need them much but I have found, when used properly, they can be really helpful in these situations. You can have a nice secure contact - only the same as your normal rein, school as you normally would to improve submission - lots of transitions, use of outside aids to turn, gentle changes of rein etc - whilst maintaining a soft but consistent contact.

As he begins to work over his back and through you can relax the draw rein and eventually drop it altogether.

I must stress this is only an option if you are confident you can ride him forward into the contact as you normally would and not use them to winch him in - not suggesting you would but some do and it gives a useful aid a bad name.

good luck

 

[Oldred]

My way of looking at it would be - is his back up or down? A horse carrying a rider with his back down, i.e. hollow will never 'go on the bit' or take a correct 'contact'. If his head is up, his back will always be down but forcing his head down does not make the back come up. He will also become sore if ridden like this. First I would really make sure the horse had no sore joints and a really comfortable saddle as a sore or uncomfortable horse cannot work with a round back. Next, I would check that I am riding correctly. Most importantly I would ensure I was supporting my own weight with good muscle tone in my torso, letting my weight be borne down my thighs and not using the horse as a chair.

Next I would concentrate on transitions from walk to halt, walk to trot, halt to trot concentrating on keeping the horse straight and waiting for the feeling of the BACK coming up. When the horse starts to do this he will round correctly in front and its more a question of just taking up the slack in the rein.

This is brief I know but hope this helps - I can expand further if you want!!

 

[spotty_pony]

Thank you to both of you!

Scarlet1980 - I will speak to my instructor about using draw reins and see whether she thinks it will help him.

oldred - I have had him checked and there is nothing physically wrong with him so I know it is just cheekiness and occasionally he works really well so I know he has it in him to be able to work correctly!

I think he does hollow his back sometimes but when he works well and accepts the contact I feel his muscles come up and he rounds his back.

 

[Ziggy_]

IME a lot of instructors advocate having far too strong a contact and expect the horse to give in to it eventually, which doesn't work.

I would second what the others have said about riding with a much lighter contact. I would start with your hands quite wide and low to encourage him to stretch, with the reins as long as possible. Make a concious effort not to use the reins to stop and steer. After 20 mins or so when your horse has had a good stretch try shortening the reins gradually and bringing his head up slowly, still keeping your hands soft and a light contact.

Rein back can be a good exercise to get your horse to yield to the contact too - but be sure to keep your hands light and reward him immediately when he gives.