What would you do.

[littlen]

I am having a little dilemma with horse and I dont know what to do.

The main problem is with his breaks. Cantering in company in particular I have no chance of stopping. He gets excitable but I can hold him most of the time. He is pretty much unschooled and sometimes dosent understand what I am asking.
He has took off in canter (or wild gallop) a couple of times and he has really knocked my confidence in him slightly. I would love to take him to fun rides and shows but at the moment couldnt trust him.
His tack has always been a straight bar happy mouth snaffle, cavesson, gp saddle.

I asked advice from an experienced groom and she put him in a jointed hanging cheek snaffle. I have ridden in it twice and to be honest I have not noticed much difference.
Some other suggestions have included pelham, kimblewick, dutch gag etc. I dont want to whack a harsh bit in his mouth if i can help it.

I then tried a martingale. It made a small difference but I think it could have been too loose which is why it wasnt as effective as it should of been. I hate additional tack though.

If he was yours what would you do?

I want to change him back into his happy mouth but he also went well in the hanging cheek, so how do I know which one to leave him in?
Should I leave the martingale or is it a waste of time?

I would like to start back to basics but I am unsure of what I am doing. I am in the process of looking for an instructor though!

 

[phoebeast]

firstly, have you had his back, teeth and saddle checked? could it be down to pain?
you've said it yourself however, it's down to schooling. a horse needs to listen to you. practise lots of transitions in between halt, walk and trot, to engage your horse and get him listening. try and avoid being in a situation where he is going to take off with you until you are confident he is listening to you.

 

[floradora09]

If he were mine I would definately invest in some lessons from a really good instructor. If you find a really good instructor- don't let price put you off, what I find is with a good instructor that you pay more for, you can learn way more having one lesson a month than a cheap lesson every week! Good luck, and I would say lessons before changing tack, because it sounds like it's down to his schooling xx

 

[dwi]

While I completely agree that you're better to get an instructor than change your tack don't feel that a stronger bit is necessarily the wrong thing in certain circumstances. Daisy used to go xc in a pelham despite being snaffle mouthed for everything else. I would rather use a stronger bit and have to use a very light touch than to stick determinedly to a snaffle and end up hauling on it or out of control.

 

[Baileyhoss]

I was very lucky that the first yard i kept b at when I bought him as a 4yo was a riding school and as i helped out there, i often used him as a lead horse to take out hacks with customers.

We used to take instructional hacks, where we did exercises like:

Trot or canter from the back, overtakign the ride to take up the lead, each rider taking a turn at being behind, middle & lead.

Whole ride stop and individually take it in turns to canter away, trot back, or variations of that going from trot away and walk back for beginners or those lacking control, to canter away on the left lead, canter back on the right lead, perhaps a simple change half way for the smarty pants.

Do you hack out with helpful people, who might stop and do these exercises individually rather than all cantering in a line?

As a result of this start in life, bailey is brilliant in company, doesn't get wound up by other horses at all. They could all gallop off and leave him and we would just follow at our own speed.

For the safe of safety or hauling his gob off in a snaffle, I would suggest a stronger bit would be perfectly acceptable if it allowed you to ride safely with sympathetic hands.

 

[littlen]

His teeth, back and saddle have all been checked this month- That was my first thought!
He has only just started to have more asked of him though, as before he only was ridden once a week, now its 5 days so he is obviously getting fitter.

His bit is the confusing part for me. I have always used soft hands and light aids. He has been in a happy mouth snaffle for a year and even with that bit he has been 'fussy'. He tends to pull his head down in an attempt to unseat me, and he also has a tendancy to stick his head in the air when trotting in particular, hence my thinking a martingale might help? People ask when he is taking off what does he do... but I cant answer that as his head is in its normal position so I dont think he is evading the bit?
I can ride in a happy mouth snaffle 90% of the ride with no problems. He stops and slows down lovely, but once he gets excited that is it all listening to me goes out the window.
This is why I dont want to put a stronger bit in straight away, I would rather work on it first.

Since he has been in the hanging cheek he has stopped pulling his head down as much but he still sticks it right in the air when trotting or doing faster work. You can tell he does not work properly by the lack of muscle and topline, but I dont know what I am doing to correct this. He is not well schooled and finds it hard to bend and gets himself frustrated. I am getting an instructor out to have a look when she has a space (next week at some point) but I have to ride him until then.
I dont know whether to leave him in the hanging cheek longer or just go back to the happy mouth?
Also the hanging cheek has a jointed bit, which I dont like really.

There are two groups of people i can hack with, slow or fast so no helpful inbetween people!
Also he will not canter without a lead first.
If i ask for canter in the school i get faster and faster trot.

Sorry for the essay but I am stumped at the moment!

 

[Pearlsasinger]

TBH it sounds as though he is uncomfortable with the bits you have tried so far. In your position I would try as many bits as possible, borrowed from friends or from a bit bank until you find something that he not 'fussy' with. I would get lessons from a good instructor and work on schooling him until you can ask for canter and get it reliably and stop reliably (by the way it's 'brakes' you need rather than 'breaks', we none of us need those!).
Also, I have found that lessons on a mechanical horse are brilliant for working on your own skills, without worrying too much about the effect you are having on the horse. If you have one in your area, this could be useful for you too.

 

[Gentle_Warrior]

I would change him back to his happy mouth bit, have some lessons and maybe think of a noseband change rather than bit. If he has a habit of throwing his head in the air then yes keep the martingale (plus it gives you something else to hang onto !)

unfortunately to have a happy horse out hacking it involves schooling , schooling and even more schooling. Is he calmer when he hacks alone, in which case try incompany with him leading ! I have to with H as otherwise he bucks for england !