Jim62":196an1t4 said:
I always try to ride with a loose rein, but with his wandering instead of just going straight, he needs a lot of direction. I switched from the snaffle to the curb bit in hopes of getting a little better response out of him, but all I got was the head-tossing and acting antsy. I was wondering if he will get out of this as he gets more used to the curb bit? He does not neck-rein very well, but we've been working on that, and he seems to be getting a little better.
I never have totally understood when the different types of bits should be used. Seems that you start out with a snaffle and then move on to a curb bit?? Or is it just a matter of preference? Or just whatever works best?
I've had him for almost 3 years, and for the last few months, we've been making some real good progress, but the last few rides have been some real giant steps backwards. I hate to let him win, but he's wearing me down pretty fast. Every little thing I try just seems to turn into a battle of the wills.
Thanks for the help.
You usually move the horse onto a curb when he's got the basics of what being a broke horse is...your horse doesnt have those basics or hes pretending he doesnt because hes got you figured out.
Id get his teeth checked again(once a year at least for young and aged horses) and then put him in a snaffle that has abit more bite, like one with a twisted mouthpiece. Get the larger twist at first, I cant remember the size off the top of my head..dont go right into the teeny wire though. I say a snaffle as a snaffle is used as a schooling tool, even on my finished reiners, I will put them in a snaffle if I need to correct something. You can "pull" a horse around in a snaffle and not scare or upset him..a curb you usually cant do that.
His weaving isnt bit related..its related to the fact Im thinking hes been doing it for quite some time and you just havent started to notice it til now.
Horses are funny critters, they start off real mild like in their "pushing" and sometimes, we as riders either ignore it because it seems "teeny" or we arent far enough in horsemanship to feel them push their shoulder out or veer a pinch to the right in a run down to a stop. Gradualy, the horse becomes lazier and lazier and then one day we get on and we FEEL the horse doing this, because hes been allowed to get away with it and its become worse and worse. For example, your horse takes one step when you mount up, then stops, on his own..you think "eh, its one step, no biggie" and go ride...next day he takes a step and a half..again, no big deal, you let it go..by the 4th or 5th week, the horse is trotting off as soon as he feels you put your foot in the stirrup and you are going "What the heck, this came out of no where!" But it didnt! He'd been doing it the last 5 weeks, you just didnt "nip it in the bud".
For his veering, this is what I would do.
In the most basic form, I would pick a "point" and ride directly to it. Pick up contact with your horses mouth and make sure he he is "up" in the bridle and between your legs. Ride two handed, if you feel him start to veer, bring him back, dont fight, just correct and go on, keep focused on that point. He you feel him start to wander mentaly, I would pick up my reins and bump him forward with my legs, not into a trot, this pushes him up into the bridle.
I dont know if they has confused you or not..
Some other exercises I would do, work on him "giving" you all parts of his body, his shoulders, his ribcage and his haunches. This allows you to "loosen" the horse up, get his attention on you and it allows you to reposition that part of his body, should he fall out of line(for example, I ask my mare to change leads and she lags. I can stop her and move her haunches around, as haunches are the basis of a lead change, to help free up her hind to allow her to perform a better, more effortless change)
Also, getting him to move up into the bridle. Your hands set the boundry, your legs are the gas. You want that horse soft in the bridle. What you do is pickup contact onyour horse's face, and use your legs to drive him up, he shouldnt trot off, as you hands should be stationary boundry and he cant go past them. keep asking him to move forward, while setting the boundry. When you take your legs off, he should either stop or move backwards..depending on how you want him trained. Mine go back when I take my leg off, but maintain the contact with their mouth.
All this is TERRIABLY hard to explain via internet, but I hope you got something from this long post. Good luck and if you need further explainations, Ill do my best!