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Re: Bridles



Linda said:
>Once it is in his mouth, Major picks up the bit wih his tongue and holds
>it in his mouth.  Mike snaps the bit hangers into place.  No fuss, no
>muss.  I suspect that this would be a little more difficult with a
>jointed bit, but certainly possible if you were dexterous.
>

I'm using a jointed pelham with 2 sets of reins temporarily right now since
Blaze still occasionally needs some brakes -- I ride with the snaffle and
only pick up the curb reins if he doesn't listen or I need emergency
stopping power!  This is a bit awkward for me to put in with the
halter/bridle combo since I rarely use this bit (I normally don't like
jointed curb bits) but Blaze, at age 11, was totally green to the trails
this last spring and was very enthusiastic, to say the least. ;-)  If he
got too excited, he would ignore the standard snaffle, the french link, and
the Kimberwicke when it came to getting him under control .  I also tried
both snaffles (one at a time, of course <g>) in combo with an English
hackamore but I was still dealing with 2 sets of reins so I decided to try
the pelham...which worked.  Since he's a schooling horse (classical basics
dressage) and I don't have time to ride him a lot at home, I use a lot of
our trail time to work on different aspects of his training.  I want him to
be in a snaffle since this is what the students use when learning to ride.
After I get another horse (special *for me*!! <g>), Blaze will become a
schooling horse on the trail and will be doing at least LD with a student. 

On the up side of this -- I didn't have to pick up the curb reins at all
last time out (he hadn't been out for a while due to the weather and was
*very* enthusiastic <g>) so we must be making progress! ;-)  He was still a
toad for the "installation" part of the bit, however -- at home he drops
his head when he sees the bridle coming!! 

Tracy said:
>I hold the tops of the bit hangers in my right hand.  Put right hand
>over nose (from underneath coming around the top..does that make
>sense?)  Open mouth with left hand <just like a normal bridle> pop bit
>in.  hang on to both bit hangers and snap one at a time, not letting
>either side fall down too low.

I'll concentrate more on my hand positions since this may be part of the
problem.  I think he knows that when the bit goes in, we're ready to go
(whether we actually leave at that time or not)...combine that with my
being awkward with a jointed pelham and he abandons the calm demeanor that
he has while being tacked up.  

Nancy said:
>How about some carrot pieces?  I trained my youngsters to take the bit by
>rewarding them with a bite size piece of carrrot (those baby carrots work
>great, but are a bit expensive --- you can always cut up a carrot & put the
>pieces in a pocket).

Truthfully, I'm not a big fan of this practice.  I've had to deal with
several horses over the years who were trained to respond to bribes.  All
of these horses would feel free to get into your space looking for
treats...which, in turn, creates a horse that doesn't have respect for your
space at other times also.  This part is bad ground manners in my book and
unacceptable for me since I teach beginner riders, both adults and kids.
They get quite intimidated when they see a horse head coming into "their"
space looking for treats -- to them, it appears that the horse may bite.
(Mine don't, but these folks are not used to normal -- or abnormal -- horse
behavior yet.)  The horses get lots of treats but *after* they've worked,
when we do "carrot stretches", or when we're out in the barn just visiting.
 While we're tacking up or working, they get a lot of pats, scritchies, and
"good girl (boy)" comments but nothing encouraging them to come at you with
their mouth.  Their ground manners improve tremendously -- they learn to
stand totally quiet and cooperative while being groomed and tacked.  When
they're done with their session, they know THEN they get their treats --
and they'll scarf down just about anything when you tell them it's okay (a
plus on the trail ;-))    

So, in conclusion, I think my problem is a combo of Blaze being excited to
go (he loves his job, both in the arena and on the trail...he's very good
once I get in the saddle and he's much better reinserting the bit later on
when he's toned down his excitement level) and my being a KLUTZ with the
trail set-up!! <vbg>

Thanks for all of your suggestions.

Sue




sbrown@wamedes.com
Tyee Farm
Marysville, Wa.



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