How do I stop my horse locking his head in the air

Question

I have an 8 year old, 16hh gelding who is very 'complicated' to ride when you first get on. He is pretty lazy until you get him going. I always walk him for a little while and let him stretch and loosen up. Then when you first put your leg on and ask for trot he will lock his head very high in the air, bend himself like a banana and refuse to go forward. Sometimes he'll kick out when you put your leg on. This is very difficult to counteract! He will then do that every time you ask for trot, usually for about the next 15 mins. Eventually, he will settle and work beautifully. He is perfectly capable of carrying himself in trot and going with a light contact, although he is a bit unbalanced still in canter. His trot is lovely and eventually his head carriage is very settled. He has had a clean bill of health from the vet and his saddle fits perfectly (made specifically for him). I personally feel he is evading work at the start!!

Answer 1

Show it an piece of sugar in your hand and it will look down!

Answer 2

try a martinagale, if this does not work you can get bits w/ ports such as a pehlem and kimberwikc. These bits when you seesaw (move hands back and forth) will apply pressure to the top of the mouth and get his head down.  

Answer 3

You could try lounging him in sidereigns before you get on him -- that way he will have to lower his head in order to move correctly.

Every time he kicks out, take a bat and smack him on the rear or the leg he kicks with.

When he locks his head, practice backing with his head collected so he will have to listen to you. Do some serpentines to get his attention. You could throw him in draw reigns or a martingale.

Answer 4

try a martingale, also yes what other people r suggesting, lunge him before you ride him both ways, this works very well with my horse who was very strong, would throw her head up, and try to tank off

now she is rather lazy and is so much easier to work with, i have now taken the martingale off her and she works perfect

think you might just need to break the bad habbit, it took me a week of spending 2 hours a night lunging and schooling my horse to get her 2 loosen up :) good luck x*x

Answer 5

I agree with Galluppal - as weird and silly as it sounds, your horse needs lateral flexion work before you can get the vertical flexion.  I would work on bending his nose ALL the way around to his girth on the ground with a rope halter first.  Do both sides, and pull his head around about 3/4 of the way and HOLD it there, no slack in the rope, until he gives the rest of the way. Stand right next to his ribs, facing his head, your near arm resting on his back with the rope in your hand near his withers.  Your other hand pulls the rope around - the hand on his back is just like an anchor to keep him from pulling away. As soon as he touches, let go of the rope with your far hand (the one that is doing the pulling and giving).  If he moves in circles, DON'T let go even the slightest bit in the rope.  Do not give him any release until his feet stop moving and his nose touches his girth.  

Also, do the ground work for moving his body like Galluppal said - work on moving his shoulders by walking towards right where his neck and shoulder tie in, clucking, and "waving" your hands at him (like you see the people on runways do who land planes).  If he doesn't spin on his haunches (or at the very least move his forequarters away from you more than his hindquarters), you may need to employ the end of the lead rope.  Don't just start whomping on him - twirl the rope at his shoulder, if he doesn't move, lightly let the end of the rope hit his shoulder.  If he still won't move (all this time you're walking towards him and clucking) hit him a little harder.  Keep getting slightly harder until he does move.  Once he moves, even just step, release and stop asking him to move.  Do the same with his hindquarters (they're usually better at this than the forequarters).  Make him pivot on his front legs while you move his hind end around in a circle.

This also teaches him great ground manners.  Once you  have him giving to you like this, work on poking him just behind the girth to get him to move his front end, a little farther back for his whole body, and even further back to get him to move his haunches.  Then do it all in the saddle (I suggest spurs to let your horse get to know the exact position that tells him to move what - If I pushed you with my whole forearm, you wouldn't know where to go, but if I poke you in the back of your ribs with a finger, you'd move forward. . .).  Work on bending his head around from your toe to your other toe - make him touch it and hold it there for a second before you release, and make sure he's not leaning on the bit, only release when he puts slack in the rein.  Then work on moving his forequarters around, his hindquarters, and sidepassing.  THEN you can worry about his head.  

These two exercises teach your horse to give to you.  After he has the concept down, work on keeping his head tucked while you do them.  Then you can walk.  LOL.  I do all of these exercises under saddle standing in one spot.  My horse doesn't get to step one foot forward until he's done all of these.  These exercises will also make his ground manners so much better!

Sorry it's so long, but it helped my hollow-backed, head-tossing horse round up and give.  I'm not big into the clinicians, but most of this comes from Clinton Anderson, who you can watch on RFD-TV, and I think his website has free videos.  It just helps to watch someone do it, rather than just read about it.

Answer 6

If you have the room to do it I'd suggest either lunging him for a short while ( in both directions of course) before you ride or working him in a round pen.

It could be stiffness or plain stubbornness but if he stops it once he's warmed in I'd suspect the former.

Gadgets like martingales etc are not going to help if that's the case.

Answer 7

you should invest in a martingale! if hes in snaffle please don't ruin his mouth with a stronger bit.... the martingale would only be a short term thing!! and wont affect him to much!

Answer 8

He is resisting at the poll.  When you get on, before you move off, do flexion exercises to soften him at the poll.  Just take one side at a time, and bring the rein out to the side with your arm extended.  When he gives to the side, even slightly, relax the pull and praise him, then immediately do it again, with your goal being to get him to rotate his head around and touch his nose to your toe.  Be sure to release every time he stops resisting.  He should be doing this both to the left and right, with one continuous movement and very little pull on the rein before you begin the walk.  Next, work on the same thing as he walks, keeping him moving forward as he does it.  Work on this and have it consistent before you attempt to trot him again.

The bit I recommend using is the full cheek snaffle (sweet or copper mouth), which will assist and allow for the lateral pulls needed to train him.  Once he is doing this easily, he will be much more flexible at the poll and then you can work on vertical flexion at the poll.

I would not use a martingale which ultimately develops the wrong muscles, and is a crutch.  Longeing in side reins will help this horse, but I'd do the lateral flexion exercises first.

He is also resisting leg aids, which can be worked on during ground training.  With him on a halter and lead, work on putting your fist into his side where your heel would go, and put pressure on....hold the pressure until he steps sideways away from it with his hind legs only.  Keep his forehand planted.  Praise him, and do it again...releasing the pressure every time he takes one step.  You can use voice cues to assist in getting a response. Do this on both sides until he responds promptly to the pressure.  You don't want 5 steps when you do it...just one step...release....another step...release, and so forth.

Answer 9

i ride a horse that had the same problem... my best advice os to do work in the round pen, AND definetly get a martingale

it helped me there is no doubt it won't hepl you two!!

Answer 10

Well what kind of bit do you use? If you have a very strong bit then he might not like the pulling on his mouth. If it is a a bit like a snaffle, then the bit isn't the problem. I would either get a martingale or lunge him until he gets nice and loosened up. =]

Hope this helps a little =]

Answer 11

It doesnt sound like he has a physical problem, he is just testing you to see how far he can push you hoping to get you off. i would suggest you lunge him for 10-15 minutes, maybe using side reigns whilst on the lunge to encourage him to relax down.