Thoughts?

newforest said:
http://www.second-opinion-doc.com/training-aids-for-horses-de-gogue.html

I looked it up as I haven't ever used one.

I can see both sides of this because I am annoying.
The Pony Club actually is the place to teach children about tack and gadgets and what they do and don't do. The gadget in question does appear to be aimed at the accomplished rider who knows what they are doing. However since I have no understanding of what they do, I haven't used any, probably never ridden anything in more than a martingale. I am the rider who definately shouldn't be reaching for something to fix a "problem"
If the pony Club didn't teach this, they grow up into people like me who don't know things.
I get the schooling without gadgets ideal but some riders need a hand and so does the horse, very short term and probably not in the above though. Seeing both sides is annoying :)
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That is a good and valid point if they do indeed explain it's use and the young rider using it is taught properly the pros and cons. Just don't know if that is the case?
I too definitely should not use gadgets! Lol
 
Just opened that link. It does sound quite a seriously harsh aid. Specially if the horse can't cope with it from a conformational point of view?
 
The only thing I can think is that the pony sticks it's nose in the air and runs, and that this perhaps would stop that. However a martingale would be far more appropriate.

I also have no idea how long it's been in use for, if a while then it's clearly not building up muscle as the neck is under muscled
 
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Jessey said:
a gag which is an elevating bit
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I have a gag in Toffee and weirdly he goes in a better outline with it lol He drops straight away. I only got it to assist with his brakes but it's the best bit I have ever had, he goes amazing in it, I can have such a nice light contact and he's so responsive. :)

I don't personally like to see training aids like this. They look so forced and I always feel sorry for the horse. Maybe I'm totally wrong but I always thought that outline and head carriage came from time and work, not a gadget..... but I'm not an expert so I might be totally wrong there.
 
If the pony needs that set up to be ridden then it isn't a child's pony, if it doesn't need it then get the darn thing off!

If it's being used purely for demonstration purposes then maybe it has a place at PC, but I'd be more impressed if they were teaching members how to ride & school well enough that such gadgets were unnecessary.
 
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SeeingSpots said:
I have a gag in Toffee and weirdly he goes in a better outline with it lol He drops straight away. I only got it to assist with his brakes but it's the best bit I have ever had, he goes amazing in it, I can have such a nice light contact and he's so responsive.
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A better false outline, a bit can't make a true outline. He may drop/tuck his nose better from the leverage a gag gives, especially if being ridden with a single rein, but if you take enough contact to action the mouthpiece, it physically jams it upwards in the mouth (hense the name gag) and causes elevation.
 
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Just a couple of points.

There is a current obsession about horses working with heads on the vertical,this is nothing to do with horses working corrrectly which stems from the hind end and works throught the spine to the neck, no gadget is going to produce this.

Pony club is not just about children and ponies, at 14 my daughter had an older 2* eventer with international experience as a schoolmaster and her Pony Club horse, within her branch there were several more experieced combinations!!
 
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eml said:
Just a couple of points.
There is a current obsession about horses working with heads on the vertical,this is nothing to do with horses working corrrectly which stems from the hind end and works throught the spine to the neck, no gadget is going to produce this.
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Sadly eml this current obsession has been the majority view in BHS schools and indeed on NR since I started to ride 16 years ago. You and our old RI are the exceptions. I have rarely ridden out with a UK trained escort who didnt firmly believe in it.
Reading your post made me wonder for the first time why this is? Might it be that it provides young RIs and the students in a group with a visible sign of how the horse is going? And that is why it seems so important in dressage competitions? You give marks for what you can see?
 
eml said:
Just a couple of points.

There is a current obsession about horses working with heads on the vertical,this is nothing to do with horses working corrrectly which stems from the hind end and works throught the spine to the neck, no gadget is going to produce this.
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I don't know if it's a current obsession. It seems to be what most riders are aiming for. The correct way of going I mean not just the vertical.

Mine isn't built for it and I was glad my RI said work with her natural way of going, I just don't get this head business. I do understand about working from behind which requires impulsion but to fix the head which I guess that gadget thing is doing, you could still have trailing bum without them being uphill.
 
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