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horse bit

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kathydavis

Member
Joined
Oct 15, 2007
Messages
17
Location
cabot,ar
:???: my brother brought his horse down last friday. he has trouble getting her to take her bit. i got her to take it once without having to force her. went out tonight and had to force her to take it. does anyone have some advice. she is just greenbroke.
 
kathydavis said:
:???: my brother brought his horse down last friday. he has trouble getting her to take her bit. i got her to take it once without having to force her. went out tonight and had to force her to take it. does anyone have some advice. she is just greenbroke.
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Put some liquid molassess on it everytime you ask her to take it...
 
What does she do??? Throw her head or back up????
I would put it on......take it off.......put it on.....take it off with lots of petting and rubbing the head and ears........Till it's no big deal......
IF she is throwing her head and backing up or being totally unruley then take baby steps in bridleing...... Rubbing the bridle around the head and ears till it's no big deal.......
Another thing is techniqic...... Do you force the bit? Or do you put your hand under the bit and push on the upper jaw, kinda where the 4 year old molars are with your thumb and ring finger and use your other hand to go over the middle of the ears to pull the bridle up? When she opens, very gently place the bit in her mouth....
Remeber free advice is just that.......free.............
 
I was just at my good friend Tom Wagoner's, who is a MASTER HORSEMAN and he puts a thick lead rope in their mouth and they take it really well. He does it so that the rope stays in their mouth for a little while. He says it feels so much better to them than the iron in a bit.
Soon they quit moving their tongue around and just accept it. Then
he puts the bit in their mouth and they take it just fine.

It is his contention that horses hold their face up when you are bridling them, because all the pressure is from below. So put your arm between their ears when you are bridling them and keep the pressure a little more
on the top of their head than you do by their mouth.

I observed him doing this on young horses and it worked excellently.
They just had no problem being bitted for the first time, or any time after that.

Good luck!!
 
Faster horses said:
I was just at my good friend Tom Wagoner's, who is a MASTER HORSEMAN and he puts a thick lead rope in their mouth and they take it really well. He does it so that the rope stays in their mouth for a little while. He says it feels so much better to them than the iron in a bit.
Soon they quit moving their tongue around and just accept it. Then
he puts the bit in their mouth and they take it just fine.

It is his contention that horses hold their face up when you are bridling them, because all the pressure is from below. So put your arm between their ears when you are bridling them and keep the pressure a little more
on the top of their head than you do by their mouth.

I observed him doing this on young horses and it worked excellently.
They just had no problem being bitted for the first time, or any time after that.

Good luck!!
Click to expand...

I'll go even further back...How does the horse halter?????? Do they almost put it on themselves? It takes a bit of work, but part of the ground work before ever going to the saddle is giving to presure. One area folks seem to not emphasize is presure at the poll..A young horse tends to try to raise thier head at first when there is pressure at the poll....With a little work, they will lower thiier head...and find it a safe place....

Eventually, taking a halter is a reward. If they do this, the taking of the bit is a lot easier as you aren't dealing with other trust issues at the same time,

Just my Thoughts......I don't have a lot of time to ride, but enjoy a lot of the things that prepare a horse for training,

PPRM
 
i don't know how she halters she's five years old and he's only had her for about three months. the people that hasd her before him just put her out in the pasture. she's wore her halter every since he has had her. the way she does with the bridle, i don't really want to take it off. you have to hold her to saddle her. other than that you can walk up to her and pet her in the field as long as you don't have a lead rope, then she moves away from you but you can catch her without running after her.
 
kathydavis said:
i don't know how she halters she's five years old and he's only had her for about three months. the people that hasd her before him just put her out in the pasture. she's wore her halter every since he has had her. the way she does with the bridle, i don't really want to take it off. you have to hold her to saddle her. other than that you can walk up to her and pet her in the field as long as you don't have a lead rope, then she moves away from you but you can catch her without running after her.
Click to expand...


This horse is living in a world where they feel the right decision can be to flee and that there are potential negative results to following along with you.....It does go back to a lot of basics is my guess.....

At this point, most people go to "Band-aid" techniques.....Mostly because they don't have the time to instill the basic foundations of trust AND respect......

I would never leave a halter on a horse. Never...... I am not trying to be harsh, just trying to point out this horses problem is likely not bitting. It is the behavior you recognize right now, because that is the task you are trying to acomplish. This horses problems revolve around trust, respect and realizing giving to presure makes life easier with no bad reprucusions...

I am not a horse trainer, just listen to some of the best............

My first bit of advice is to get the horse in a small pen and the halter off. Work with the horse daily as if it is any kind of a horse, it will soon start enjoying how you break the monotony of the day.......

A lot of what I do, I dunno if I can explain, because it is according to what the horse does. Basically, if both eyes aren't on you, one is looking at an escape route or something more interesting.... A big part of it is learning to read an animals body language. horses are about as honest creatures as there are....Women claim to be, but I am just not good at reading their body language, LOL...

Good luck,

PPRM

Wait, I just reread your post...You have to hold her to saddle her......Two things possible...

1) She has not the trust to be saddled calmly. This is a wreck waiting to happen. Get her to a competent trainer.....

2) She has learned if she throws a fit, she does not have to work...

On number two, I had a horse from a cousin who was like that. If you can read body language, it does not take much to get over it, but eventuallly the horse will try it again on someone....This horse has about the sweetest spirit and I can do whatever I want on her...

I personally think this is not a horse for a beginner.......Where do you live? There are people on this site with good broke horses that are a pleasure to get on. They wil also take te time to work with you a bit to make sure you and the horse are a fit...The hospital bills will buy a pretty good horse that is a pleasure to own....

I mentioned I am not a trainer. I do a lot with horses I raise as yealrings andthen send them off to a great trainer as two year olds. I mention this ecause it is very important to admit what you are and are not capable of doing or have the tme to do....If you can't you are not doing the horse or yourself any favors,

Just my thoughts,

PPRM
 
:D i understand fully what you are saying. i don't know alot about her background. i can tell she is not use to being messed with. she is a gentle horse as long as you don't get frustrated with her. i think alot of it is she doesn't really fully trust me yet. but she is making improvements daily. since she don't like to be saddled i don't try to do it daily. i know it will take time. i will take her halter off, maybe she thinks the bridle will be left on too. i never thought of it that way. where my brother had her they had a bear and mountain lion there i think they might have got after her. this is the first day she acually walked up in her stall fully and ate her grain. i live in cabot arkansas. i know we're not known for ranching here this is mostly city. not alot of open places to run cattle and horses. we're having a hard time finding reg. black angus without going out of state, then you have hauling expenses, if you know what i mean.
 
Without being there and seeing the horse it is hard to say what is going on within the horse of the way she is acting but sounds as if shortcuts and rough handling was in her past. It is going to take time and patience-no shortcuts-consistent 'fair' handling and she will come around.

What PPRM said of finding a trainer or different horse is good advice. But if you want to give it a go yourself-here are a couple of things I would do.

One thing I would do before ever trying to bridle her is teach her to drop her head and relax-do that by putting your hand between her ears and slight pressure-the isntant she drops her head even a half and inch-take your hand off-release the pressure and also say calmly and softly'down'. Eventually-maybe weeks, if she starts raising her head you can say down or put your hand between her ears and she will drop her head to any level you want and be relaxed. Also then when bridling and your arm is between her ears if she starts to raise her head she bumps your arm and will automaticlly drop her back down beacuse of what you had done earlier. --make sense? hard to explain in just words. It works-not instant- but lasting.

Also i would put her in a round pen and using your body language-get into her mind-thru her feet.--controlling when she goes, stops, speed and what direction and even which way she turns when reversing. Dont use whips or a longe line. Hard to explain the whole realm of the process but it works.
.
Good Luck
 
that's how i feel too, i don't think her previous owners were very horse savvy. i think she might have been mistreated that why i'm not trying to push her too hard. she don't know what to do on a loung line she just follows you like a puppy. she's good at following you like that. right now i don't have a round pen to work with but plan on making one. i don't want to give up on her not yet. i haven't had a horse since i was a kid trust me that was over fifteen years ago. i've never had to train one but i've been doing my research. i can't expect her to do something i can't teach. i may even be over my head. only time will tell.
 
PPRM said:
Faster horses said:
I was just at my good friend Tom Wagoner's, who is a MASTER HORSEMAN and he puts a thick lead rope in their mouth and they take it really well. He does it so that the rope stays in their mouth for a little while. He says it feels so much better to them than the iron in a bit.
Soon they quit moving their tongue around and just accept it. Then
he puts the bit in their mouth and they take it just fine.

It is his contention that horses hold their face up when you are bridling them, because all the pressure is from below. So put your arm between their ears when you are bridling them and keep the pressure a little more
on the top of their head than you do by their mouth.

I observed him doing this on young horses and it worked excellently.
They just had no problem being bitted for the first time, or any time after that.

Good luck!!
Click to expand...

I'll go even further back...How does the horse halter?????? Do they almost put it on themselves? It takes a bit of work, but part of the ground work before ever going to the saddle is giving to presure. One area folks seem to not emphasize is presure at the poll..A young horse tends to try to raise thier head at first when there is pressure at the poll....With a little work, they will lower thiier head...and find it a safe place....

Eventually, taking a halter is a reward. If they do this, the taking of the bit is a lot easier as you aren't dealing with other trust issues at the same time,

Just my Thoughts......I don't have a lot of time to ride, but enjoy a lot of the things that prepare a horse for training,

PPRM
Click to expand...

I tend to agree with PPRM and I rode for years with the BEST "The Bridle Man" (Movie) there was "Charlie Maggine"
 
kathydavis said:
owners were very horse savvy.
haveing been mistreated
Click to expand...

Long way from "not being Horse savvy" and "being Mistreated"


Pet peeve
Round pipe Corral = an exercise corral –
a True "Round Breaking Corral" has 8' slanted walls - HORSE CAN NOT SEE OUT giving you their compleat attention

Breaking%20Corral.jpg
 
Actually, I disagree on the not seeing out and having to pay attention to you...My thought is that They have to learn i am the most interseting thing in the world. If they have no other choices, how much of their attention do I really have?

Just a difference of opinion. There are different ways to get the same results...A horse that is responsive and safe,

PPRM
 
:-) i did take her halter off, and have since put it back on with no problem.she is now in the pasture with no halter. but now i'm working long days at my other job with my husband. so now don't have the time to work with her sometimes not even on weekends. i just don't have enough daylight to do everything i need to get done. haven't even had time to read ya'll responses. i rode her about 30 minutes saturday she did great. but man i need to get a wore out saddle the new one is eating my butt. it probably bothers her too. thanks for all your advice .and alot of my problem is she isn't use to being messes with she was just a pasture oranament from what my brother has told me. time time time
 
Shortgrass said:
Remeber free advice is just that.......free.............[/quote said:
I always liked to say free advice is worth every penny it costs
Click to expand...

I agree BUT some of us have the COMMON SCIENCE and EXPERIENCE to Pick Good From the Bad

I lesson to everyone and PICK WHAT WORKS for me! I also learn what NOT TO DO! That is also important!
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
PPRM said:
Actually, I disagree on the not seeing out and having to pay attention to you...My thought is that They have to learn i am the most interseting thing in the world. If they have no other choices, how much of their attention do I really have?

Just a difference of opinion. There are different ways to get the same results...A horse that is responsive and safe,

PPRM
Click to expand...

I can tell by my reads that PPRM can get the Job Done - There are different ways to get the same results...

Be smart learn ALL the ways, What works on todays Horse may not work on Tomorrows Horse
 

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