Change bits or otherwise how to train!?

lotty&chez

lotty&chez

Chez+Cass=MyBabes4eva
Jun 12, 2009
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Linc Fens, Or as I call it - Flat Land
Hi
I do not know that much about bitting tbh! (Despite have earned a badge on bitting at pony club lol). I ride Chez in a loose ring jointed egg-butt snaffle.

When we are at shows, and start show jumping, she becomes really hard to steer. She just wants to carry on in the direction she is going and doesn't respond when you ask her to turn. We have ended up running into the edge of the ring several times now!

She only does it at shows, not at home. At home she is responsive when you ask her to turn, and she has a soft mouth. As she is only 6, I really do not want to put a stronger bit in, but wondered if there is a softer bit that would still improve her reaction when being asked to turn?

The other option I suppose is to just keep trying, and hope she 'grows out of it' :confused:

Thanks, and ideas/tips appreciated!
 
It's a training problem, possibly also being aggrevated by pain - of the saddle, of the bit... Ensure you eliminate or alleviate any pain issues before going on.

Single jointed snaffles aren't gentle, and if used with force, particularly if both reins are pulled equally, are quite strong & painful. I would use either a double jointed(french) snaffle, an unjointed bit, or bitless. I will not use a bit on a horse until they've become reliable and soft in a halter/bitless. That will help lessen the discomfort, lessen the likelihood of causing strong pain when needing to control her.

If she's bracing against you & just running through the pressure, then she's likely just reacting, not thinking. Getting 'stronger' with her is likely to exacerbate the problem, making her more reactive and unresponsive.

Why is she good at home but not in competition? For a start, horses don't generalise well & just because she understands something at home doesn't mean she 'knows' it in other environments. You have to train them in a variety of settings for them to begin to generalise. Perhaps also her training in jumping has been rushed or she doesn't enjoy it & gets stressed with it for some other reason. Not only is it a different environment, but it's also likely full of other stressed horses & you may be stressed yourself & probably behaving at least a little different than you do at home. I'd be treating 'show time' as purely training time & forget competitions until she's confident & happy about it all.
 
We know she has had problems in the past with badly fitting saddles, but have had several opinions on the saddle she is in now, and everyone seems to think it fits well. Could it be remembered pain?

She has never really been ridden bitless before (a couple of times in a Parelli halter, and once in a Dually), and it is not allowed at most of the shows we do. Also I am not very practised as riding in a bitless bridle, and would be scared of hurting/scaring her!

She does enjoy the actual jumping, as far as I can tell. She pricks her ears up, goes forwardly, but not rushing towards them etc. I have always thought her jumping has perhaps been rushed, as she is 6, but when we brought her was jumping 2'6"/2'9" (she is 13.3hh btw)

We are trying to take her out as much as possible, to get her used to it! Pony club camp is in a few weeks, and I think that will be a good experience, we will be able to jump a full set of colored jumps, in front of people, without me being stressed as though at a show :)
 
lotty&chez said:
We know she has had problems in the past with badly fitting saddles, but have had several opinions on the saddle she is in now, and everyone seems to think it fits well. Could it be remembered pain?
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Yep, definitely. They learn by association. If she was in pain or stressed when she originally learned, then the jumping may have become associated with those feelings.

She has never really been ridden bitless before (a couple of times in a Parelli halter, and once in a Dually), and it is not allowed at most of the shows we do. Also I am not very practised as riding in a bitless bridle, and would be scared of hurting/scaring her!
Click to expand...

While bitless headgear does have a different feel for the horse, & horses not being good at generallising, may therefore need a couple of lessons to be sure they understand that your cues mean the same as with a bit, there's not really any more likelihood of confusing the horse with a halter as with a bit. You don't need to be afraid of hurting her with a bitless, but be afraid of doing so with a bit. That's my whole premise for teaching them in a halter/bitless first, before moving to a bit if you want one. It's far less likely to hurt the horse, even if used with some force. (Of course you could still hurt the horse if you got harsh & esp. if you were 'bumping' with the reins, and a dually or such has additional leverage, which is one of a few reasons why I disagree with their use.) You can teach them to yield to pressure in all ways with a halter, then when they're reliable, move to a bit which you will then not need for control, only for communication & show rules:rolleyes:.
 
I understand where you are coming from... my mare is 7 new and still pretty green when it comes to shows and jumping. From one class to the next she went from very sluggish and barely making any jumping effort to loving it and getting so excited we lost all steering and brakes... and she added in a buck for good measure.

I'm planning to have my lessons more focused on jumping now as while she is great to school on the flat, she obviously isn't listening to me that much when we jump... I've ridden her in a loose ring fulmer and she doesn't have a martingale or anything, so can't help thinking more schooling might help you?

Could you get an instructor to go to a show with you, so you can get advice right when you need it? Although small fences, clear round might be a great way to practise with no pressure?
 
Chez is sometimes ridden in a martingale, she after we got her, when we found she poked her nose schooling on the flat. However it seems to restrict her jumping, and she does not need it schooling any more.

I guess it is just a case of practising it then! I was half hoping that for once there would be some magic way to solve it!
 
Chez sounds a bit like my daughters pony Zebedee.

Zeb is 6, my daughter can ride him at home in a head collar no problem, but take him any where exciting and he becomes a bit of a handful.

We have been taking him to PC rallies at our local EC for about 6 months now.
As he is alot calmer in that enviroment we decided to take him clear round jumping there last weekend. Jumps were tiny, did two at 1'3, then went into 1'6 class. There were only 3 entries in the 1'6 so very quiet, Zeb won.:)

Zebedee can jump alot bigger at home, but we need to jump small when out to make it easy for him so that he can gain confidence.

We will only progress to 2' class when he does the smaller class completely calm.

My daughter is taking Zebedee to camp on the 27th, I hope he is a good boy.

Have a great time at your camp.:)

BTW Zeb is in a french link.
 
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