Tips for correcting head tilting?

[Foxford]

I've ridden a few horses who have a "habitual" head tilt in the past (I'm asuming it was a habit and not through pain/teeth etc). I've always been taught to lift the hand to correspond with the direction of the tilt i.e. if horses nose is pointing to the outside lift up inside hand. A couple of instructors have told me to do this.

So my point... Are there any better tips for correcting it and also what is the horse evading by doing this? Is it the hand or the leg?

 

[black_horse]

Dee does this due to tension. I find lowering my hands and widening them stops her from tilting, also, if i give with the rein she has nothing to tilt against.

 

[Foxford]

Thanks, I think the widening of the hands will help but if I give the contact he goes all pokey-nosed! It was better tonight but I'm sure he'll pull it back out for when I'm least expecting it.

 

[black_horse]

Thanks, I think the widening of the hands will help but if I give the contact he goes all pokey-nosed! It was better tonight but I'm sure he'll pull it back out for when I'm least expecting it.

Are you riding him into the contact? Pokey nosed isnt so bad, its better then BTV which might develop as head tilting is an evasion. Work on getting him between your legs and hands. Work with the horse as a whole.

Too many people are too interested on whether the horse is on the bit. To get a horse truely over the back you need the engagement of the hind quarters. Work on circle, play with the placement of the shoulders and the quarters, lateral work, tempo changes etc. Once he is working properly, his head tilting should stop.

 

[LEC]

I had an interesting discussion about head tilting and the conclusion was that its the horse refusing to be true in the contact. They are avoiding the contact in one rein hence the head tilt. I was told that the rein they are avoiding is opposite to the way the head is tilting and that actually you need to work on getting them true into the contact.

My horse is a swine about the right rein contact and guess what used to tilt to the left! Lots of work on shoulder fore, flexion, circles and self carriage have pretty much stopped this problem now and he is getting closer to being even in both reins.

 

[robthecob]

Do you think head tilting could also be pain related so eg pain in the left fore say rather would cause the right eat to drop left eye to look at the sky as the horse try's to transfer the weight to the right, obviously this could be weakness rather than just injury and op I'm not directing that at you it's something I have been thinking about with my own girl.

I find that staying off the outside track helps with head tilting, it certainly becomes a lot more obvious in your hands when you havent got the wall or fence to brush along. Also leg yeilding from 3/4 line helps push the horse into the rein.

 

[PaddyMonty]

I would also look at your wrist. Often when a horse tilts its head the rider has turned the hand in at the wrist changing the contact.

 

[bananas_22]

Thanks, I think the widening of the hands will help but if I give the contact he goes all pokey-nosed! It was better tonight but I'm sure he'll pull it back out for when I'm least expecting it.

This would suggest to me that he is evading a contact that he hasn't fully accepted yet. If he loses his frame when you give the contact, he is not in self-carriage and not working correctly into the contact. I would suggest you spend a while not worrying at all about what his head is doing and just have a light but even contact with his mouth (more than likely this needs to be lighter than what you currently have) and then work on transitions, circles, serpentines and basic lateral work. After some time and patience, you should start to feel him seek and accept the contact more and his correct frame will return without the head tilting....in theory

Also, what Juno says about checking the orientation of your wrist is well worth noting as it is simple things like this where we are all slightly crooked/uneven that can have an impact on the horse's way of going.

Good luck

 

[PaddyMonty]

Now before anyone jumps on me I will state up front that I PM'd benjis-girl and asked her permission before posting this.
Her sequence of photos from dressage test demonstrate beautifully the effect of twisting the wrist.
In each of the pics except last one her wrists are straight and so is the horses head. In the last her left wrist has twisted in and the horses head has tilted to the right.

...And her big brother Alfie Moon:

 

[Foxford]

Wow, lots of ideas and thoughts here!

Juno, it's funny you mention about the wrist as tonight I got on with two schooling whips and the difference in his way of going was incredible. Possibly because I normally use one and so there is a slight difference in the way I carry each hand.

He is a bit of a kickalong so it's always as effort to get him working into the contact properly but once he's forward he can go beautifully. That's why I knew it was an evasion as he is going through the classic young horse repetoire of tricks!! Tonight he was fantastic - but who knows what he'll think of tommorrow!

It did get me thinking though about the horses I've ridden in the past (who did it to other people as well) and why they did it, as I was fairly confident with my horse it was an evasion and not pain. Teeth, saddle back etc all fine as I have them checked regularly. I guess position is everything!