Ridecamp: Re: [RC] Speed Control

I have a 12 year old ex-racehorse who has taken me on a wild ride or two.  This 
may sound nuts, but it works for me.  First, I switched to The Bitless Bridle 
because I felt that he would grab the bit in his teeth and go, giving me no 
controll at all.  We worked in our pasture 'arena' with it first and he got the 
hang of it quickly.  We also have specific areas where he is allowed to go as 
fast as he wants.  One area is up our driveway to go home.  It's .25 mile, 
gravel with two substantial hills and a flat area between.  There's also an 
1/8th mile stretch of grass where I'll let him go.  For some horses letting 
them go in an all out gallop on the last stretch to the barn may not be a good 
idea, but this is a horse that will pick up his pace when we get to the 
driveway, so he can go by it instead of going home if he's decided we haven't 
ridden long enough.  All I need to do is get up off his back,two point, tell 
him he can go and he's off.  The GPS has read 20 mph up the hill.  I also grab 
a little mane and lean way forward.  I found that since I let him go fast on a 
more regular basis he hasn't tried to runaway.  I'm not that experienced and 
I've only had him 2.5 years, but that's what worked for us.

Anna
 
>  I have a ten year old ex-racehorse who is a speed freak also.  He to
> scares me, I refuse to go to anything other than an eggbutt snaffle, but
> I will use a running martingale for leverage.  I am also looking for
> advice on this matter, so all you experience people, speak up.
> 
> 







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