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Q Bridle nightmare
: I have a 15.2hh gelding. He used to be my almost-perfect horse, then I had the local farrier shoe him. According to the farrier, he had never been shod before.
The farrier put an anti-rearing bit in his mouth, although he wasn’t rearing. He is now afraid of the bit and is very difficult to bridle, especially as I am short. My riding instructor told me to put a treat under the bit and give it to him when he took the bit. This had been working well, but lately he has become stubborn. He tosses his head, pulls back and barges forward. He is fantastic in every other way and we had been going so well. I would really like to fix this problem as I do not want to find another horse. He seems to trust me and will go any where I ask, even if he is a little spooked. He is not head-shy, as you can put anything else on his head.
What can I possibly do to convince him the bridle is a good thing? Any help would be much appreciated.
Stubborn, Taranaki
A
: Hmmmmmmmmm. I’m not sure that ‘Stubborn’ is an appropriate pseudonym for your horse. It sounds as though he has a genuine reason for not wanting a bit in his mouth and that he’s apprehensive about any attempts by you to force a hunk of metal between his teeth.
I reckon the best way to gain his confidence that bits on bridles are okay is to break the way you approach him with a bit down into as many steps as possible and to talk to him about what you want every milli-step of the way.
I’ve recently begun to think that horses don’t need to hear what we have to say – WE DO. Every time we think a thought and then vocalise it, we hear it and then our bodies start to “speak”. This is the magical “body language” that horses respond to.
Were you offended by my statement, “he’s apprehensive about any attempts by you to force a hunk of metal between his teeth”? If this statement didn’t annoy you, I reckon it’s annoyed him and perhaps that’s exactly what he feels you’ve been trying to do.
Try talking to him (yourself) in a series of questions: “Are you confident enough to allow me to do “this”? The first “this” should be a really simple ie. stand beside you with a bridle in your hand. Challenge yourself to see how many milli-steps you can invent and punctuate each step with an exhalation of breath as you say to him (yourself) “That’s all I wanted.”
This question and answer highlights how we, as humans, are inclined to belittle things. The task of putting a bit in a horse’s mouth might be very simple for most horses but your gent has developed a “thing” about it. Respect his concerns and treat the subject as though he has an “absolute phobia” about the bit and quietly talk yourselves through the phobia.
Change his pseudonym from “stubborn” to “apprehensive” and you’ll be amazed how quickly he responds when he realises that you respect his fears and concerns and are going to patiently work through them.
One last thing… breathe calmly and slowly the whole time.
Q Show day drama
: I have a 12-year-old thoroughbred gelding who is a simple delight at home. He does everything perfectly. But when we come to horse shows he explodes. He gets off the float and has a look around, which is fine. Then I tack him up and ride him out into the open with all of the other horses. Then he starts playing up: cantering (suddenly), bucking, head flicking and tail swishing.
My mum and I have tried a lot of herbal products to try and keep him calm; sometimes they work and sometimes they don’t. At dressage he always plays up in the first test but then he’s fine in the afternoon.
It’s really frustrating and I want to know how to control him before my mum decides to do something crazy like sell him.
I am a 14-year-old rider who does everything herself and I really want to know how to perhaps make my performances better.
CB, Taranaki
A
: It sounds as though your guy gets excited when he gets to a show and then when the novelty of being out at a competition has worn off, he settles down and goes “normally”. So, I think the answer to your question is relatively simple. Factor an extra warm-up session into your show day to allow him to settle and relax.
This extra warm-up session could even be at home before you go to the show.
I think it’s better if you approach your competitive performances with the idea of doing whatever’s necessary to make it as stress-free as possible, don’t worry if you and he aren’t quite as shiny as you normally are. The quality should be in the performance, not the trappings.
You say he has “a look around at the float”. Is he excited at this stage? If so I’d leave him until he settles. If this is going to take some time – arrive early.
You mention that riding him out into the open with all of the other horses upsets him. Is there any way you can arrange to ride with other horses in a non-competitive atmosphere so that the pair of you train doing this so that when you get to the show the only thing that is different is the competitive atmosphere?
When he starts to “play up: cantering (suddenly), bucking, head flicking and tail swishing” he is actually trying to get out of the stranglehold you have (very understandably) on the reins. By restraining him you are making him shorten his frame and the excitement of the situation turns him into a coiled spring. However, as you two don’t do your everyday work in coiled spring mode, he’s not fit enough to maintain a short frame for very long so he “explodes” out of the frame by bursting into canter, bucking, head flicking and so on. Unfortunately this makes us humans want to hold on even tighter and keep the horse on an even shorter rein.
CB, take the time to watch the top riders. Note how they work their horses in. Note how they train their horses in coiled spring mode so that the horses are fit enough to hold these poses for long periods. Note how good riders, when their horses get excited, soften their rein contact and allow the horse to extend the neck. They do this deliberately to make it easier for the horse to stretch and interestingly enough, when you stop interfering with the length and the shape of how the horse holds his backbone, everyone’s energy levels subside.
So, to summarise, when preparing for your competitions give yourself heaps of time beforehand so that he can even have a quick nap at the float before you put on his clothes on. Give yourself time to dawdle though the tack-up process and ‘hours’ to just slouch around before you start your ‘proper’ warm up.
I think it would also be a good idea to make sure mum packs a book to read and a good supply of coffee. Tell her to enjoy a bit of time doing nothing, because until you and your equine friend are chilled nothing is going to happen.
Good luck.
