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EZ2SPOT
Clinician
USA
3036 Posts |
 Posted - 07/12/2010 : 9:48:32 PM
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Well, I'm not going to give up on it entirely, but tonight certainly did't go well.
Such a nice evening! Hot, but not as unbearably warm & humid as it had been. And the bugs weren't too bad, for once! I figured I could take a nice, easy ride on Warsong, and then get to bed early!
Turns out there was nothing relaxing about my ride! It started out okay, but then Warsong decided she'd had enough, and was going back to the barn. I tried to get her attention back on me by asking for a sidepass, and she started doing these little half-rears; at that point, I honestly felt I had very little control of her with this new curb bit, and that there was no choice but to head her back to the barn, which I did.
But once we got there, I worked her behind off on the lunge line, then went & got her snaffle bit, re-mounted, and headed back out to ride. Oh, she wasn't happy about it, but she did go, and she behaved fairly well while we were out there. When I finally returned her to the barn, I did more ground work with her, and she is, as I write, tied up in her stall with the saddle on! I'm tempted to leave her that way all night, but probably won't!
Anyway, it is just as I feared, she is fine with the new bit until something goes wrong, and then I don't have as much control as with a snaffle. The new bit DOES have rings to attach for a direct rein. Has anyone here on the DE done that (used two sets of reins with a western bit)?
I guess I had better go unsaddle my little terror, since I'm not willing to stay up all night & make sure she doesn't get into trouble while tied up!
EZ2SPOT
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Arenadirt
Advanced Rider
USA
396 Posts |
Posted - 07/13/2010 : 2:28:01 PM
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EZ, have you done anything specific to get rid of that barn-sour act?
When Seven was three I started riding him on the trails around our place. He quickly became a handful every time we turned for home, and I knew I had to do something about it. Remembered reading something from Christ Irwin or Mark Rashid or someone - anyhow here's how it went down:
We rode a loop for about four miles. About a half mile from the barn, Seven set up in a trot then broke into a lope about a quarter mile away, and flat out galloped the last couple hundred yards. The whole time, I never picke up a rein, just let him do it "his way". I marked the spots in my mind where he had broken gait and once we were back at the barn I made him gallop back to where he started galloping, loped him back to where he started loping, trotted him out to where he had started trotting, then turned him around back toward the barn. Of course he did it again, but got a little closer before breaking into the trot and the lope. We did it again. And again. And again. Each time, making him travel FROM the barn at the same speed he had just traveled TO the barn. Pretty soon we were only about a hundred feet from our own gate and he was still walking. When he broke into the trot at that distance, I let him trot all the way to the barn, then backed him all the way back to where he started trotting. Twice we did that, then he walked calmly to the barn, head down (tired by now no doubt) and quite relaxed.
Funny thing EZ - that was the LAST time I ever worked with him on that. Now, even if I am urging him back to the barn he slows to a walk well before we get to our gate, and NEVER acts anxious to get home. It took about an hour and a half, but it was pretty much fun and totally solved the "problem".
If you haven't done anything like that, try it - you'll like it!
Your other question - yes, I've used double reins on a western bit with a big curb, when trail riding green-ish horses (I'm too chicken to ride a really green horse out on the trails) and found that it is a great solution - as long as you lay off the lower rein 95% of the time, the horses know to pay attention when you pick up that rein. Overuse it though, and all you get is a horse that is able to ignore more! The setup I use has a broken mouthpiece, and maybe a solid bit with some kind of port would be harder for them to ignore. I just don't trust myself to use that kind of hardware on a horse that isn't used to it, especially out on trails. |
Edited by - Arenadirt on 07/13/2010 2:30:35 PM |
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Red Hawk
Clinician
USA
4404 Posts |
Posted - 07/13/2010 : 9:34:01 PM
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I like that solution, AD, and it makes perfect sense. Terra has been trying me the last few times I've taken her out on the trails but with a completely different twist. She goes into spook mode, but I've discovered it's all an act. I get on her case when she does it going away from camp and take no guff off of her. She usually gives it up after two or three attempts doesn't get the desired results, and settles for the rest of the ride   .
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"God forbid that I should go to any heaven in which there are no horses"
--Robert Browning
Don't walk in front of me, I may not follow. Don't walk behind me, I may not lead. Just walk beside me and be my friend.
-- Author Unknown
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EZ2SPOT
Clinician
USA
3036 Posts |
Posted - 07/13/2010 : 9:35:11 PM
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AD, this is the first time she has acted like this at home. It wasn't so much that she was trying to hurry, as that she was acting like she was about to dump me & head back to the barn on her own!
She HAS, a few times, acted up when coming back to camp on a trail ride. I pretty much got her over that by continuing to ride her through camp for a while after returning, and also by leaving her saddled & tied to the trailer for a bit, rather than immediately pulling the saddle off & hosing her off. A lot of people did seem to think I was being cruel and nasty...
Although I don't have the room to ride that you do, doing a circuit around the pasture, up to the barn, and then around again, and make her leave a the gait she used to arrive, might work; good suggestion!
The last time I used double reins was 20+ years ago when I was riding English & using a pelham bit. Never tried it with a western curb bit. I'm thinking of trying it at home, but probably will continue to use the snaffle out on the trails. Good to know someone else has used successfully used double reins with a western bit!
EZ2SPOT |
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Arenadirt
Advanced Rider
USA
396 Posts |
Posted - 08/09/2010 : 09:26:23 AM
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| How has it been working out EZ? (Inquiring minds want to know!) |
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EZ2SPOT
Clinician
USA
3036 Posts |
Posted - 08/09/2010 : 4:04:03 PM
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Uh, it hasn't! That is, I've gone back to using a snaffle, and Warsong is doing fairly well in it. At this point, I'm not sure if I will try the curb bit again. If I do, I definitely will try using two sets of reins.
But, really, there's nothing I do that would require a curb bit, since I don't show. I just thought maybe Warsong would work a little better with a curb, which turned out not to be the case.
Nevermind that I'm 55 and have had horses since I was 13; I'm still learning all the time, and I'm finding out there are a lot of things I should have been doing to get better results with the snaffle.
EZ2SPOT |
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Arenadirt
Advanced Rider
USA
396 Posts |
Posted - 08/16/2010 : 11:10:50 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by EZ2SPOT
Uh, it hasn't! That is, I've gone back to using a snaffle, and Warsong is doing fairly well in it. At this point, I'm not sure if I will try the curb bit again. If I do, I definitely will try using two sets of reins.
But, really, there's nothing I do that would require a curb bit, since I don't show. I just thought maybe Warsong would work a little better with a curb, which turned out not to be the case.
Nevermind that I'm 55 and have had horses since I was 13; I'm still learning all the time, and I'm finding out there are a lot of things I should have been doing to get better results with the snaffle.
EZ2SPOT
I'm 60 EZ, and haven't even scratched the surface! We're back to a snaffle bit as well. The bit I was using has a moderate curb and port and I think it was bouncing around in Seven's mouth when he got going on cows, causing him to raise his head. Remembering a time or two I had him on the flag with no headgear at all and how wonderful his form was, we tried a curb bit that has a broken (snaffle) mouthpiece and he seemed more "level". So the next time on cows I put a simple ring snaffle on him and he worked SO well... I'm wondering what to get that will be show-legal.
Strange goings on at last weekend's clinic (someone else was riding, thank God) - a cow tried to run through the panels, and picked a spot that had an 8x8 post behind it. I don't know if she broke her neck or crushed her skull, but she crumpled in a heap and never got up, poor thing. Within a minute or two she was dead. I'm still trying to deal with it - bad dreams last night and a hung-over feeling this morning. But I have a new paradigm out of it; not thinking of the cow as the enemy any more. Seven's job henceforth will be to protect the cow - from the herd and from the fences. We cut a couple with that in mind after the accident, and (maybe it's foolish but) Seven seemed to pick up on it. Such a nice boy... |
"There is something about the outside of a horse...that is good for the inside of a man." ~Winston Churchill~ |
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EZ2SPOT
Clinician
USA
3036 Posts |
Posted - 08/16/2010 : 5:55:30 PM
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When you get right down to it, there is probably nothing quite as good as a snaffle for training a horse, and for maintaining that training later on. Although a good many people do ride in curbs every day, I tend to think of them as being for the show ring. Just my personal point of view. I've certainly seen others get good results with using curbs. Just seems like they don't work for me or my horses.
Not foolish at all! I think it is good to be concerned about the welfare of the animals that help us have so much fun with our horses. It is terrible about the cow, and I can see how witnessing something like that, could change your whole attitude about the role of these animals. Sounds like it was pretty much a freak accident, and not caused by something a rider did.
EZ2SPOT |
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So Much for the New Bit....
