which bit

curio

curio

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ok my ride and drive cob 16yrs was broken in in a rubber straight bar snaffle as he has a very low palette and very big tongue and hated jointed bits he then progressed to a mullen snaffle and then a liverpool bit which he rides and drives in very well 99% of the time on your fingertips with excellent control but now and again when excited can sometimes get a bit strong coming above the bit and setting his neck
He ignores the mullen snaffle has done for years since he was in a rs for a while now I can hold him in the liverpool on the snaffle ring ridden and driven but occasionally add another rein on the next slot for extra breaks when he has been particularly fresh or ignorant this is for 2 rides max once or twice a yr then he is ok again
but the problem is he now has a new rider who cannot cope with two reins and when he goes a little strong struggles to hold him she is also quite nervous out hacking as hasn't done a lot of it spent years in a rs with 4 walls . If she would only use the voice a little more he would come back to her with no problem
so the question is this what would you try in his mouth without going to strong but possibly has a bit of movement in the mouth piece to get him to release his jaw and lower his head
 
This is because he has got his "go"button on,you need to polish up his "stop" button.Put a bridle on him,then stand in front of him with a dressage whip.Ask him to back up by using the reins in one hand.If he ignores you keep the pressure on and tap repeatedly on the cannon bone of the leg nearest you,(that will be the one that takes the next step.) When he takes a step backwards immediately release bit pressure and stop tapping.Reward him.Ask him again and make the bit pressure very light,he has to respond to just a touch.Once he does it on the ground then do it from his back ask with reins,tap him on the chest the same way.Thr reverse is an extension to the stop.If he gets strong in walk,trot or canter,stop him immediately,release then ask him to reverse.Keep it up until you can ride him with next to no bit pressure.It will turn into self carriage.
Let us know how you get on.
 
Can you not get it though to her how important it is to understand he's voice trained its must be like loosing the most important aid he knows , it took me well over a year to get one of my driving horses happy with out the voice when I stopped driving him and I still revert to it at times.
Bit wise how about a Pelham with a thin mouth piece and roundings .
You could try roundings on the Liverpool that might work.
 
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yep that might work he is really trained to the voice thing is Ive had him since he was 6 months old and always used my voice i hardly ever have trouble with him but ive even put a martingale on him to help her, it seems generally frowned on to use the voice at riding schools and its a shame as its such a valuable aid
hadnt thought of roundings as really using two reins on the liverpool makes it work like a pelham
 
That's what I would try and firmly explain about the voice and driving horses it's really hard on him to expect to give up the voice .
No one telling her she has to talk to all of them just him as that's how he's trained.
She a human with a big brain he's a horse with a small one it's more fair that she amends the way she does things to suit him rather than the other way round.
 
When he has decided that he doesn't have to respond to two reins on a pelham or Liverpool bit what bit are you going to go to then? Why not teach him to respond in the snaffle and teach your rider to be very light?
 
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