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Re: [RC] Training question for Cowboy Ed....or anybody. - Chris PausJody,
I really think a stronger bit would only exacerbate the situation until you have a real problem on your hands. It's hard to tell from here, of course, but my first suggestion in situations such as this is to rule out pain and discomfort.
Have his teeth been checked by a good equine dentist? Does he have soreness at his poll maybe from the bridle or previous tack used before you got him? Is his back hurting? A friend of mine has a head shaker who has terrible allergies. once she figured out what he was allergic to and removed that from his environment, he quit head shaking. Do his ears hurt? Mites in the ears can cause this.
MOST of the time these kinds of behaviors can be traced to pain. It's not very often the horse acts up just for the sake of annoying us. He's trying to tell you something in the only way he can. He doesnt speak English, so you have to learn horse.
I had a horse similar to this one once. He was a very nice and gallant horse, but he tossed his head something awful and got really seriously upset with bits. He had been passed from trainer to trainer, some of the best known in Kansas City. No one bothered to look at this horse's mouth! I called out my dentist. he showed me the hooks on the horse's teeth and the cuts on the inside of his mouth!
Even after we got his teeth fixed up, the horse had a phobia about bits after that. However, I could put a hackamore on him and he went just fine.
The other thing to check is does the bit fit the shape of his mouth? some horses have a low palate, or short mouth or other issue that makes bitting more of a challenge.
If he gets punished every time he tries to tell you that something wrong, he's either going to shut down completely or blow up completely. By putting on a martingale, you are only causing him to be claustrophobic and feel trapped with the thing that is causing him pain.
I am telling you this from bad bad experience. I'm 53 and have been riding horses since I was 3. Nine years ago, I had a horse who finally rebelled and reared up and rolled over on me. i just wasn't getting the message he was trying to tell me for months. Now I realize with all the hardware I put on this horse, I just made things worse. I needed to go back to the beginning with him.
I sold that horse and started over and really went back to the drawing board on what I thought I knew about horses. It really humbled me, but it has been a great learning experience. Too bad a horse had to practically kill me to get me to see the light.
chris
Jody Rogers-Buttram <dragnin100@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
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