Motormouth mare

[glenatron]

Iris has always been quite busy in her mouth, tending to chomp at the bit, especially when she is anxious. I noticed it particularly when we were working on riding out the last few times and I realised that it wasn't just a manifestation of anxiety, there seemed to be a stereotypical element to it as well. So I set down and asked her not to. Just

Comments

[re_vised]

Interesting! Madrid does this when I first put the bridle on... Makes me wonder if he's anxious about our rides. Thanks for this!

[glenatron]

Doing work where you just hold the bit rings and use them to gently but consistently direct the horse - through basic bending to moving their feet and following a feel - is actually a pretty good exercise to go back to from time to time just as a reminder. I have no idea why I haven't worked on it more previously, though.

[re_vised]

There is always so much to work on, and it gets pushed around and forgotten, I think. :)

[joycemocha]

That's why some old-timers like to bit the horse up (tie the reins to the saddle like side reins). Enough for the horse to get a feel but not be restrictive. I've watched young horses wander and fiddle with the bit as part of this technique. Eventually they get over it and learn to carry the bit. The other thing is that this can be an indication that they don't care for the type of mouthpiece they're carrying.

Also a good idea to do this when introducing a solid bit, no reins, without the typing of reins to the saddle--and obviously all this is supervised!

[glenatron]

Martin would bit them up with just a bit on a piece of elastic while he did everything else. I think the horse would often have so much going on that they didn't really have time to worry about the bit.

[joycemocha]

I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't revisit that concept off and on during the first year or so when working long-term with a horse. Done right, it is a nice tool for letting the horse teach itself about bits and mouth pressure without human interference. Maybe it's just my experience with Quarter Horse and Arab temperaments, but it seems like things like that, where you set the horse up to study and think about human equipment and make its own accommodations with it without direct human involvement appear to be some of the deepest learned lessons. It gives them time to relax into it.

[glenatron]

I agree on that- it's one reason I would quite like to work Iris with a high tie- she ties up well enough by British standards but I would like her to learn how to tie up properly like a working horse and a fair number of people I respect seem to suggest that is a useful tool in that direction.

[puddleshark]

Interesting! I wish I'd known that back in the days when my dressage instructor was strapping Charm's poor mouth tightly shut with a flash... (Though I did eventually learn enough to chuck both the flash and the instructor away).

[glenatron]

It's all about the timing of the release. Everything with horses. Amazing how much easier that one piece of information can make things.

[serennig]

I'd say that's pretty observant of you to figure that out. Thanks for sharing!

[joycemocha]

Oh yeah, another comment. Stereotypic behavior like that is why some Western riders resort to solid bits with a cricket. It helps horses who would otherwise be tense to relax and salivate (crickets or rollers are usually copper. Old Western riders really like sweet iron and copper because it promotes a wet mouth).

Another thing about giving to the bit rings. I'm realizing that there's a lot of people who don't know about 4-H and showmanship in the competitive scene. Showmanship does a lot of foot control. It's halter competition on a pattern, with all the points going to the handler. Horses have to stand square consistently (or slightly stretched for some breeds). The handler has to be able to cue forehand turns and haunches turns very precisely.as well as sidepass. I think one reason I get so bemused by why so many people consider natural horsemanship groundwork to be a big revelation is because some much of it is similar to what good, consistent, Showmanship training is. I started with that type of work because my first horse was a

[glenatron]

I don't think it's coincidence that the whole "clinic" format was pretty much invented by Ray Hunt teaching 4H students. There is a connection there for sure.

I would love to get to a point where I had a horse who was ready to be straight up in the bridle - I wonder whether that was more common in the south-western tradition because until they horse had a bridle bit they would have typically have been worked in a hackamore rather than experiencing a bit previously.

[joycemocha]

Um, actually the progression is snaffle, hackamore, two-rein, then straight up in the bit. I have a Californio friend who learned it from her uncle who was an old spade bit hand. Perhaps in the 19th century the hands used hackamore to spade but the current hands usually follow that tradition.

The spade bit is not a Southwestern tradition but a buckaroo/California tradition. Think Eastern Oregon/Idaho/Western Montana/Northern Nevada/Northern California. Southwestern riders used grazing bits. The tradition has spread a little bit but the riding style and the spade training really is a Great Basin/California thing. Details, details.

Mike Bridges is a Northern California horseman who teaches a five year progression program for horses going into the spade bit. He also has some really nice videos out there. I recommend his stuff. Benny Guitron also has good stuff.

[joycemocha]

Oh, and the rationale for moving from snaffle to hackamore and starting in the snaffle as opposed to a bosal is to a.) keep the nose soft in the bosal (a HUGE thing), and move to the bosal when the horse is shedding teeth.