From: Lisa
Hi Jessica, This is about the third time I've written to you, so obviously I enjoy your column! I've got a 2 1/2 year old Thoroughbred gelding "Woody" that I have just recently started under saddle. My vet did a thorough exam and felt there was no reason not to start him with slow and gentle under saddle work. I am doing 90% of my riding at the walk and a tiny bit of trotting. I am still focussing on ground work and only ride 2-3 times a week. I have owned this horse since he was eight months old and I'm trying my best to work slowly and carefully with him.
I have been riding him in a rope halter with clip on reins, and he does great! He stops every time and is very responsive. I have put a bit/bridle on him about half a dozen times now, but never riden in one. The first couple of times I used a D-ring, French link snaffle and longed him in it. He tossed his head and chewed the bit a little, but no major problems. I guess I should also mention that I leave a thin rope halter on under his bridle and longe him from that so there is no pressure on his mouth. After just a couple of times, he wasn't fussing about the bit at all anymore, but I started having trouble getting the bridle on him. I had my trainer check the fit of the bit and I had my vet check his teeth. My vet said that Woody is the right age to be teething, but that there didn't seem to be any problems that would interfere with the bit. I switched to a "Happy Mouth" bit, a loose ring with a center roller. It is a nice, light weight, hard plastic bit, and is even apple flavored! I longed him in this bit a couple of times and he was great. No head tossing, or chewing. I thought my problem was solved, but every time I try to put the bridle on him it becomes more of a battle, until now it is almost impossible.
I have tried teaching him a cue for "head down", but it only works when there is no bridle in sight. I hid the bridle and snuck it up a couple of times without him seeing it, and gently rubbed it on his cheeks and face until I could slide it on, but then he got wise to that. Finally, I tried putting the bridle on with the bit only attached on one side, and then pulling the bit through his mouth and attaching it after the bridle was on. That worked twice, but not any more.
I can't think of any kind of trauma that he has had related to the bit. The whole thing has been a very gradual and gentle process. Is this a common problem? Do you have any ideas? Everyone keeps telling me he needs to get used to the bit and to stick him in his stall with a bridle on for a couple of hours. My feeling is that the bit is for working, and that is the only time I want the bridle on him. I did let him graze with the bit in his mouth on a lead line a few times because that seemed to help him relax and get used to the bit. My problem isn't when the bit is in his mouth, it is trying to get it in!
Sorry this got so long. I've tried hard to keep it short, but I wanted you to have all the details! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! for the help and support you give us all with HORSE SENSE! I hope you make it to the Austin, TX area for a clinic one of these days! (Actually, I would love to get information on how much you charge to do a clinic, your format and that kind of thing to present to the owner of my barn. We frequently have different trainers visit and it would be great to have you!)
I look forward to your response.
Lisa
Hi Lisa! Thanks for the kind words, and if you'll send me your snail-mail address, I'll be glad to send you a clinics information packet.
Bridle problems aren't unusual with very young horses. I would look at the tooth issue first -- I know you've thought of this already, but your horse is, indeed, at the age to be teething. This DOES often cause a problem -- when your vet comes back for spring work, ask him to check for retained caps and also for incipient wolf teeth. A lot of babies have trouble with bits, bridles, head tossing, etc. at this age.
Remember that the horse knows more than you or the vet about what hurts! A small sore spot or a tooth that "may need floating in six months" can cause a good deal of pain -- let the horse be the final arbiter here. Some horses, like some humans, have lower pain thresholds than others. And any good vet will tell you that sometimes a vet can't find the source of a problem -- but that doesn't mean that there ISN'T a source. Some horses dislike their bridles because the rider takes the bridle off quickly, or puts it on too quickly, or doesn't undo the cavesson -- and the bit bangs the horse's teeth on the way in and out of the mouth.
The second thing I would want to look at is the bit itself! Be sure that it fits him well, and double-check to be sure that you really do have a French-link. It's not easy to find a French-link D-ring snaffle, but D-ring Dr.Bristol snaffles are very common and sometimes the staff at the local tack shop, or even at the catalogue outlet, will mislabel or confuse the two. When that happens, if you are using a Dr. Bristol mouthpiece in mistake for a French-link, the horse may react strongly to the severity of the bit. Remember that with a Dr. Bristol, the center link is long, thin, and flat -- with a French-link, the center link is short, rounded, and shaped a little like a peanut or a fat figure-eight. There's an enormous difference in their action.
The third thing I would look at is the headstall of the bridle. A horse doesn't have to have a single traumatic experience to become bridle-shy -- it can be reacting to a series of annoying discomforts. A horse that doesn't want to be bridled may indeed have trouble with the bit itself, or with its rider's hands. It may have sore or sensitive ears because of something inside an ear -- ear fungus can make a horse very head-shy. It may have sore or sensitive ears because of something OUTSIDE the ears -- I've "solved" several "bit problems" in horses that didn't really have any bit problems, but who hated their bridles because the browband was short! A too-short browband is very painful. It presses and rubs against he base of the horse's ears, and hurts whenever the horse looks at or listens to anything, and tries to move his ears.
Similarly, a too-tight cavesson or throatlatch can interfere with a horse's mental and physical comfort. Keep both loose -- you should be able to put several fingers under the cavesson, and your fist between the throatlatch and the horse' jaw.
The next thing I would consider is his level of comprehension. This is a very young horse, just being introduced to the bit. He doesn't know what the bit is for, and he doesn't understand how he is supposed to respond to it, although he most certainly does FEEL its action! Remember that no horse is born with an understanding of the bit, or of any of the aids -- he is born with the capacity to learn to understand them. If he associates the bit with pain for ANY reason, he's going to be unwilling to accept that bridle.
My suggestion is that you check everything listed above, then consider the possibility of riding him in a well-fitted headstall attached to a hackamore noseband (the English kind made from leather-covered rope and ending in two rings for the reins). One of the reasons I don't generally advise starting horses under saddle at this age is that this is precisely the age at which they are having tooth issues!
When someone like yourself, a conscientious, caring rider, is being very careful with a home-grown horse of two-and-a-half, doing only short rides at the walk, I worry much less. ;-) But you won't lose any ground by riding him in a hackamore noseband for a few months; after the first few weeks, you can use a bradoon carrier attached to your headstall and just let him CARRY a bit without your putting any pressure on it. Then eventually you can add a second pair of reins attached to the bit, and ride him with both reins (but most of the pressure on the ones attached to the noseband) while he learns to associate light bit pressure with what he already understands about signals from the reins. Then, over a few weeks or months, whatever works best for you and your horse, you can make a gradual shift so that the pressure is equal on both reins, then more on the bit rein, and finally, when the noseband-rein is just hanging there, you can take it, and the noseband, off and just ride with your single rein attached to the bit. By then, he should be having fewer teething troubles, and he will have learned what he needs to know without pain or fear -- which seems to be the way you are handling him anyway. ;-)
Good luck!
Jessica
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