From: Jenny
Hi Jessica and thanks for a great newsletter. I have a 9yr old TB that I use for jumper classes. We take lessons twice a week (one flat, one jumping). When we ride on the flat I use a Dr. Bristol snaffle bit and when I ride over fences I use a pelham. My problem is my horse still gets strong sometimes over fences. My trainer says we need to continue working on slow work over fences and he will improve, but in jumper classes we need to go faster sometimes. I wonder if a stronger bit like a gag or something similar wouldn't be a better choice for us. My trainer doesn't think so but i feel like I need the control. Do you have any suggestions for us? Thanks so much. Jenny
If you are having one lesson on the flat and one lesson over jumps each week, you're under your instructor's eye a lot of the time, and you're not likely to fall into bad habits. Take advantage of this. Give yourself and the horse a few months off from jumping, and put the focus where it needs to be right now: on your flatwork. If you were riding with me, you would probably spend this winter doing intensive flatwork with your horse in a very mild snaffle such as a French-link. Why not suggest this to your instructor? A few months of focused flatwork and seat development will help you a great deal. When your horse is balanced, obedient, maneuverable, and easy to "rate" - when you can lengthen and shorten his stride easily and smoothly at all three gaits, do smooth, prompt transitions between and within the gaits, and stop easily from any gait and stand on a loose rein (all of this using a gentle bit, not a Dr. Bristol), it will be time to start working over jumps again. When you do, you'll find that you and the horse are both amazingly improved.
When you start jumping again, ask your instructor to set up gymnastic lines for you. When these are easy and smooth, start jumping individual fences, short lines, and small courses - and keep all the jumps low. Make the courses more tricky and complicated - and keep the jumps low. When those courses become easy, you can start raising the jumps OR increasing speed, but don't do both at once. Your instructor is right about the benefits of slow work over fences. Your horse needs control and accuracy and power, not speed - not yet, anyway. Go for accuracy, control, and power, make the courses more demanding in terms of distances and turns and complexity, then start increasing the height. Increase the speed LAST. By the time you're asking for real speed, you and the horse should have a very strong partnership based on mutual trust, and you should have a clear understanding of what it takes to lengthen and shorten your horse's stride and to increase and decrease his speed. All of this is "building-block" work - start at the bottom and build up! Once your jumper is trained and conditioned, you should be able to change your position and aids very slightly and get a very strong response from your horse. There should never be a pulling contest between you. The stronger and better balanced your horse becomes, the easier it will be to send him on AND bring him back just by shifting the position of your upper body.
If you get your horse smooth and easy on the flat and over fences at home in a simple snaffle, you'll be able to save the Pelham for use at competitions, fox-hunting, or other venues where your horse is likely to become excited and quick.
Incidentally, there are a few things you should know about a gag bit. It's very strong, and it isn't a brake - its purpose is to make a horse lift its head. Gags are generally used only on horses that tend to drop their heads and necks low and fall on their forehands - WHEN those horses are being ridden at high speeds over jumps and uneven terrain. If you're thinking that those issues sound more like matters of conformation, training, and strength, you're right - but those are the only circumstances under which it could make sense to use a gag.
A gag puts pressure on a horse's mouth AND on its poll, and as long as there is any rider contact with the gag rein, the horse will be experiencing that pressure. That's why gag bits should ONLY be used with two reins, one rein attached to the gag, and the other attached to the bit rings in the normal way. The normal rein should be the primary rein, and the gag rein should come into play only when needed and only for as long as it is needed, which is generally for about two seconds at a time.
Gags, like many bits and auxiliary reins, are very often misused by people who either don't know how they work, don't care how they work (or IF they work), or who saw one on a horse at a competition somewhere and thought "Wow, that looks cool, I want one!" I've attended competitions, especially low-level combined training events, and wondered whether there had been a huge sale on gags and martingales just before the event! One of the most grotesque (and sadly, most popular) combinations I've seen is a gag being used with a single rein (already wrong) AND a running martingale. The combined effect of this clashing message ("Get your head up! NO, NO, don't get your head up!") creates an uncomfortable horse that tries to hold its head and neck in one place throughout the ride. Dropping the head or reaching forward puts painful pressure on its mouth and poll; lifting the head (in obedience to the gag) puts painful pressure on the mouth and poll. The horse, jammed between the gag and the running martingale, attempts to canter and jump without using its head and neck at all - and pays the price throughout its body, as joints, bones, muscles, and support structures elsewhere try to take the strain. In the long term, the horse will become unsound. In the short term, it may begin to rush or run out - after all, it's going to be in pain anyway, and it knows that. In the very, very short term, the rider may have the impression that the equipment has "put" the horse under better control... and the rider will be wrong.
Here are some suggestions that you can use throughout your riding life:
Don't use any equipment you don't need. Don't use any equipment you don't fully understand. The more you learn and the better you ride, the less often you will think in terms of equipment changes. When you DO change something, it will be ONLY because you are replacing something severe or ill-fitting with something more gentle and better-fitting.
Solve training problems with training so that the horse understands what is wanted; solve problems of balance and strength by using good flatwork and gymnastics to help the horse become stronger and more balanced. And when you find - as you have - an instructor who understands these things, stay with that instructor. Generally speaking, your money will be better invested in lessons than in hardware.
You're very lucky to have an instructor who doesn't reach for equipment to "solve" every problem. Good instructors use equipment only to solve EQUIPMENT problems - if your saddle doesn't fit or your bit is too strong, they'll ask you to make a change so that the horse can be more comfortable. Good instructors know that training problems must be solved with better training, and riding problems must be solved with better riding. I know that it can be very tempting to look for a "solution" on the bit wall at the tack shop, especially if you see a lot of other riders who obviously do just that - but that's not where the valid solutions are. Work with your instructor, be patient, take your time, focus on flatwork and gymnastic jumping for maximum precision, flexibility, and control, and you'll be ready to have a great time jumping at competitions next spring. You may even find that you'll be able to do it all on light contact in a snaffle!
Jessica
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