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Discussion on Bit Chomping/responsiveness | |
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Posted on Friday, Jul 27, 2001 - 12:34 pm: Hi, all.I have a 6 yr. old quarter horse whom I've owned less than a year. The problem I am having is that he is constantly chomping his bit and has become less responsive to my cues. I feel like I am having to "haul" him around and don't want to ruin his mouth. When I got him, he was in a Tom Thumb snaffle. I continued to use a Tom Thumb and had decent response from him, but he would still chomp on the bit and even get the shank (approx. 4") in his mouth! Recently, however, he is becoming less responsive to my rein and leg cues. I know he has been trying to get away with stuff lately, but I really have to steer him (forcefully sometimes even with alot of leg) to get him in the direction I want him to go. He also has decided he doesn't want to back up. Last night when I rode I did get him to back several times, just for a few steps. I immediately released him and praised him. I recently changed to a bristol snaffle upon recommendation from a friend, but he still chomps and is not any more responsive. I don't know what else to do. Because of his age, I will have to ride him in a curb bit to show him. Should I go ahead and try this? What should I expect? I have a full cheek snaffle that I am also thinking about trying. Also, his teeth have been floated twice this year, last time in June under sedation. Any advice would be appreciated. This horse has always been "mouthy" with his bit(and any thing else you leave within his reach!), but I don't want to be heavy handed with him. Thanks. |
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Posted on Friday, Jul 27, 2001 - 7:27 pm: Hi, Lisa,I don't know how judges view chomping the bit in the show ring. I do know that a horse that works the bit in its mouth and produces excess saliva reduces the friction from the bit on his bars, tongue and lips. I have seen various styles of chomping. Some appear in extremely high-strung horses that just seem to need to expend excess energy (Ritalin horses). In others, I might look first to see if there is some physical discomfort from the saddle or bit. Some horses will grind their teeth when they experience pain. I have a couple of questions for you. Please don't be offended. I don't mean to be offensive, but hope the questions may serve to help you think about how you are asking for responses from your horse. (I ask myself these and many other questions, when I encounter horses that don't respond to my cues as I think they should.) Was your horse originally responsive to very light cues from your leg and rein? If so, did you "reply" by ALWAYS RELEASING THE PRESSURE IMMEDIATELY to let him know his response was the correct one? If we fail to IMMEDIATELY release the pressure from our hand against the horse's side to ask him to move over, our pull on the lead to ask him to walk forward, our push of the leg to ask him to move over or go forward, our relaxing of the backward pressure on the rein once he starts to turn or halt, then we teach the horse to ignore the pressure and we will have to ride with increasingly "louder" aids as a result. Another question: Are you keeping the lessons interesting for your horse? Horses need variety and new challenges to keep their work interesting. Often I see horses that are required to do ring work repeatedly in preparation for shows. Ring work CAN be interesting, but we have to make it that way for our horses by adding new obstacles and challenges and offering a variety of transitions interspersed with lots of praise. (1/2 hour in the ring and 1/2 an hour on trail makes a great lesson.) In response to the belief that horses only have a 15 minute attention span, John Lyons says that we can keep our horse's attention as long as we are interesting to the horse. I have found this to be true. If we are getting bored with the work, imagine how bored our mounts must be. If you are sure you are responding to your horse in a light manner whenever he responds to your cues, then I would look for some physical reason for the horse's lethargy and unresponsiveness. As an aside, I use a full-cheek Dr. Bristol on my best trail horse and find that it gets the best responses with the lightest pressure. I have heard some folks say that it is a very severe bit, but I can't see it that way. The link in the middle gives relief to the tongue when both reins are pulled back, unlike the regular snaffle that works with a greater "nutcracker" effect on the horse's bars and tongue. The double joint of the Dr. Bristol seems to allow for freer movement of either side of the bit in response to the lightest pressure on the rein, and I know my horse is feeling it. I use a full-cheek on all my guys and on every horse I train, no matter what bit the owner has previously used. I find that it works amazingly well especially with stubborn horses that would rather argue over the rider's chosen direction, or with spooky horses that want to whirl and run. I have trained and retrained many horses and gotten them light to my cues, but unless I train the riders to ride with light cues and give immediate releases of pressure, the horses will return to their heaviness within a couple of weeks. Do you still have contact with the previous owner of your horse? I would ask him/her to help try to figure it out and have him/her come ride and compare my style to theirs. Good luck. Holly |
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Posted on Saturday, Jul 28, 2001 - 8:35 am: Hi, again, Lisa,I lost the first letter I wrote to you because my computer decided to freeze up in the middle, so when I wrote again, I forgot to include another important point in riding and training. Are you very specific with your directions to the horse? In other words, do you say to yourself, "When I get to that post on the fence, I want to have my horse stopped with his nose on the post," or other specific directions like that? The reason I ask is because if we are not very specific with our directions, then we can't know when our horse has accomplished exactly what we want. If we are unspecific (I want my horse to stop somewhere on that end of the ring.) then we don't give the horse what he needs to give us the response we think we want. Or If we decide one second before we get to the post, that we want a halt, it isn't enough time for us to send the cues or enough time for the horse to process the cues and we may end up being heavier in our cues than we need to be. Again, if none of the above applies to you and your horse, I would look for a physical reason for the horse's chomping and unresponsiveness. Holly |
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Posted on Monday, Jul 30, 2001 - 12:13 pm: Holly,thanks for your response, and I am never offended by another's offer of help. First of all, this gelding was never light on leg cues. The previous owner rode in spurs and suggested I do the same. I have never ridden with spurs so this was new to me. I am very careful not to get into him, and since I have a long leg and keep my heels well down, I have to make an adjustment to use the spur. However, it seems that he was more willing to work off lighter rein cues than he has been recently. About keeping my lessons interesting, I don't have an arena to work in so I work in a large mowed field (about 5 acres). I have not had time to work him more than 2 times per week so he doesn't get overworked if you know what I mean. As far as being specific with my cues, I am not new to riding, however, I have not owned a horse for the last 15 years, so I definitely need some improvement myself! I dont have the benefit of being in a barn with other riders, so I mostly have to wing it. Looks like some lessons are in order for me. This horse is not high strung, I just think maybe he is trying to get the better of me (horses never do that, do they??) Ha! I think I might try the full cheek snaffle and do some ground work perhaps, or start with baby steps to get this gelding working for me. I appreciate the time you took to respond to me. I will reread your suggestions and make sure that I am asking correctly and releasing immediately. Thanks, Holly |
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Posted on Monday, Jul 30, 2001 - 8:21 pm: Hi, Lisa,Whoa!!! Spurs, huh? That explains why he may not be working off of your leg cues and moving forward as you may have seen with the previous owner. The more severe the aids and the more pressure used with the aids, the more the horse will wait until he feels that level of "pain" before he responds. Just as you can tune out certain constant sounds or irritations, so can a horse tune out certain cues unless you make sure to get his attention somehow and then make sure you don't give up on your cues until you get what you ask for. You CAN make a "heavy" horse light again. It just takes time and CONSISTANCY and working on really basic things first so you can be sure you are getting what you are asking for in the easy things. For example: Say you want to weave through some cones on the ground. Ideally, your horse should be able to do the weaving to the left and right on very light cues from your legs and reins, without having you pull or push him back and forth. If your horse refuses to move off of your gentle cue, just keep asking over and over for one simple turn with that gentle cue until finally the horse says to himself, "Oh, for heaven's sake, alright, already. I'll move to the right and forward." When he finally does what you ask, you can stop asking and praise him as if he just won a National Championship. He'll find that it pays to answer your light cues, because: #1) you won't give him any peace until he does it and #2) you will make him feel so very special once he does the simple thing you are asking. Sometimes it will seem as if you are making progress and then it may seem as if your horse is regressing. Just don't give up or change. Be consistant and give lots of praise and the release of pressure whenever your horse responds to your direction. You may end up teaching your horse to do things he already knows how to do using different cues. That is very common whenever people buy a horse that someone else has ridden. No rider or trainer does everything exactly the same, so give your horse time to learn YOUR language. For horses that get shuffled around a lot, I liken it to a child spending a couple of years at a time in several different households. All of the families have homes, all eat and go to school and work, all clean and do laundry, etc, but imagine how confusing it is for a child when it is okay to eat a couple of cookies and watch TV before dinner in one household, but then to be told that it is unacceptable and be punished for doing it in another household. You can imagine all the different scenarios that would ensue, and unless each family was extremely kind and empathetic and gave the child time to learn the family's rules, life would be unbearably confusing for the child. I'm sure we have both seen times when we knew the horse was trying its best to do what the rider was asking, but just kept choosing the wrong answer and the rider thought the horse was being disobedient and punished the horse. So again, #1) Know what language you are going to use, i.e., know what you expect from the specific cues with which you are going to speak to the horse and #2) Be consistent and don't give up until you get what you ask for. (Sometimes we ask for too much, too soon, or we ask for something that our horse just cannot do; in that case, stop and ask for something you know your horse can do well and give lots of praise and end on that positive note.) A mowed field is a great place in which to ride. If you can buy some athletic cones or make some obstacles from weighted, painted milk cartons, it will help give you some focal points for your lessons. Have fun. Holly |
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Posted on Tuesday, Jul 31, 2001 - 1:52 pm: Thanks, HollyYour analagies are excellent. Most of the time we tend to overlook the fact that we are not dealing with another "adult", but a "child" when we deal with our horses. I think that cones or obstacles would be a great help in my situation, as I have only a fence on one side to "guide" me. I think it will be much easier to explain what I want him to do if we have some obstacles to guide us. I am looking forward to trying this. Thanks alot for your help. |
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