Answers to your questions

Hi Zoe,


Thanks very much; the videos came out just fine!  Let's get started by answering some of the questions you had, then I'll create another post that outlines some suggestions for performance and an assessment of your pattern.  Please let me know if you have any other questions arising from this!

Q -When warming up, I never know what to do! I walk around a bit, do a few pivots, stop and then jog and do the same. Do you have any good excercises to do to warm him up, or is what I'm doing ok?
A - What I have come to realize over the years is that different types of horses need different types of warm-ups.  I want to give them each the opportunity to focus their mind and prepare their body for what I need to accomplish in my ride.  That said, I don't want my warm-up to take up my whole ride either!


I have some horses in my barn who are very fresh when I first get on; I don't resist that and I make sure that I channel their energy and give them a ''job'' right away and try to get their minds on the task at hand.  Others are more laid back, may be older or have some looming physical complications - I give those guys a lighter warm-up and make sure that I zero in on any specific problem areas in their body by using suppling exercises to keep them soft and mobile. 


I save transitions, tight turns and stops for later in my ride, and stick to lots of suppling and body control work in my warm up.  I also trot, trot, trot!  It's a great way to expend energy and get them loosened up.  A very important aspect of my training is roundness - gaining control of all individual parts of the body to create a form in the horse's body that is more functional and balanced.  For some ideas on warm-up exercises, try this article I wrote on  Body Control for the Ribcaage.  I use Exercise #1 for all of my horses, every ride, every warm-up! 

Q -In our jog/lope transitions he always throws his head up. Is there a reason for this? Should I worry about it, or will he stop once he gets more training?
A - A lot of times, horses will elevate their head in transitions in effort to catch their balance.  Naturally, they carry atleast %70 of their body weight on the forehand.  When we ask for a transition of any sort, a horse needs to take that weight and transfer some of it onto the haunches in order to have a soft, smooth transition with no elevation. 


We can fix Joey's transition by getting him lighter on his front end and encouraging him to carry more weight on his haunches.  For that to happen, we have to create a stronger core that blends those two parts of his body together.  That core will be his back, belly and ribcage muscles!  When he elevates and flexes his back, belly and ribcage muscles, he will become round.  Roundness will automatically place his body in a position that helps him become lighter on the front end and balance better on his haunches.  You will gain flexion at the poll, his croup will tilt down, his hocks will travel deep under his belly, and he will become lighter in the face.  Not only does this look super cool, but it helps to make every task easier - transitions, stops, turns, lead changes - you name it!  Exercises #1, 2 & 3 will help you get started on roundness.


Q -He loves chewing and playing with his bit. Is it good or bad? and if it's bad what should I do to get him to stop? (I've tried about 5 bits and he does it with all of them)
A - Some light gumming of the bit while at the beginning of a ride or while at rest is acceptance, and that's good!  Continual chewing, opening and closing the mouth or otherwise playing with the bit is usally a sign of resistance.  I'm sure Joey has had routine dental exams, and your vet can tell you if there is anything looming that may possibly obstruct his ability to quietly pack a bit.  With that eliminated, let's talk about the mechanics of a bit and how they effect a horse's performance. 


A snaffle bit is designed to give direction to the left and right side of the horse, with each side independant from the other because of the joint in the mouthpiece.  It's a bit is designed to introduce a western horse to direct rein pressure at the beginning of his career.  As a western horse progresses in training, we begin to use both direct and indirect rein, lending to neck reining and guiding with one hand on both reins.  A snaffle bit is condusive to english riding through out a horse's life, because direct rein pressure can always be used as the rider works with 2 hands on the reins.


Joey is very receptive to the bit when you use one rein at a time in your warm up video (ie, bending his nose to the inside of your circles, asking for his face to the left and to the right while standing still, etc).  That's because the bit is divided by the joint in the mouthpiece, and is allowed to either work on the left side, or the right side of Joey's face. 


The only time I see a whole lot of resistance to the bit is when you use "dual" rein pressure - both hands working at the same time.  (ie, in your turns, your back-up, softening him on the circle, etc).  Sometimes Joey's head elevates, or it drops down quick and bobs back up again.  Or sometimes, he chomps and plays with the bit.  This is because when we use 2 hands simultaneously on a snaffle bit, the sides of the mouthpiece no longer works independantly.  The joint of the mouthpiece folds, and both sides of the bit become activated.  It can pinch on the tongue and add pressure to the bars of the mouth, creating what some folks call ''The Nutcracker Effect''.  This same thing happens with Tom Thumb bits (a snaffle with shanks), but to a more severe degree because of the added shank leverage.


Now, just because this sometimes happens in your ride does not mean that you need to move Joey into a shanked bit to work on dual pressure.  Also, it doesn't mean that snaffle bits are bad!  The important thing is that we understand the mechanics of each bit, and why our horses react to them.

A great alternative to a traditional snaffle bit is something with a Billy Allen style mouthpiece.  This allows you the same direct rein pressure as a snaffle, but because of the swivel at the centre it cannot fold on itself when dual rein pressure is used. 

If you have already tried a bit like this or you are currently using one, I have some other hints for you too.  Please tell me a little about the other bits you have used and what kind of a reaction you got from them, and I'm sure we can figure that out. 

I hope all this stuff makes sense, Zoe!  Please fire away any questions you may have, and I will get back to you with some other suggestions shortly.  Cheers,

Holly