How do i stop my horse from pulling on the bit?

Question

hey guys i was just wondering if anyone could tell me how to stop my four year old arab from pulling on the bit? its getting really hard 2 stop her and i dont want her to have a hard mouth later... at the moment im just using a mullen eggbutt snaffle. any help would be great! thanks=]

Answer 1

My halflinger had the exact same problem, so I totally get what your are saying.  Does she trot really fast or walk, canter fast?  Is there a certain rein she hangs on more?  If she does hang on one more, do you have problems with letting go of it?  How do you have to end up stopping her?  It took about three years to break him of it, he still does i some times, but it is easy to stop now.  Mine never had much training till we got him, he was a 9 year old stud (we gelded him when he was 10, he was very well temperd), so he didn't know much of anything.  He had a habit of hanging on the left rein in preticular and it was hard for me to just let it go.  He trotted so fast, in order to stop him, you would have to run him into a wall.  We had to work on slowing the trot and stopping for so long.  It gets stressful and seems to be impossible sometimes in training, but if you have patents and understanding of your horse, you can do it.  

Since your horse is only 4 years old, she doesn't have much understanding of what she is doing.  You can't say she doesn't respect the half halt, because she obviously doesn't know what one is to understand it (she might not have very much balance either).  So we can safly say "she doesn't know, what she doesn't know".  I don't know how she is with your legs touching her, because mine would just run out from under you if you put your leg on.  I also don't know if she puts her head down when she hangs either, but if she does, put your inside leg on and apply outside rein.  She might go faster, and if she does, than that I think would be out of the question to apply leg.  I'm speaking of trot this next part.  When she is trotting,how fast do you post?  Maybe too fast, try to slow it down (if you can't on your own, you can buy a metronome watch).  Now for you main question (sorry if I said things that you didn't need to know, but that's what I had to do with my pony with the same problem).  I took a clinic from a man that changed my pony so much.  He told me just to sit up strait as I could (shoulders back, ect.), and to just to relax, take deep breaths.  Give your horse rein until you can't feel her mouth or until you can only slightly feel it.  Just walk and then halt (use your seat as much as possible, talk to her as well), if she doesn't halt, just keep walking and giving her the cue for halt.  You might be aproching a corner of the arena, don't turn, keep asking for halt, and she will eventually stop when she reaches the corner if she hasn't stopped all ready.  If she has stopped, praise her, even if she has stopped in the corner, tell her how great she is.  After that you move on to trot, it might be challenging for her.  Keep the reins the same, so you can't feel her mouth(or ever so slightly feel it), and ask for trot, remembering to stay relaxed and keep your posture.  Post slow and consistint, don't even think about touching her mouth.  If she is not hanging (she might be streching down and out, it's what my pony did, and he started to use his back end more) or going fast (I don't know if she does or not, I'm just guessing she does), give her a pat and praise her.  Do trot walk walk halt, halt walk, walk trot transitions for a while (transitions are very important).  Eventually you can move up to canter transitions when your ready.  Don't expect everything to be butiful and easy, because trust me, it is far from easy.  When your horse is going round nicly, you can slowly start to pick up the reins, but if she starts to hang on you agian, imediatly let the reins down agian.  I found that once I started to pick up the reins, that my pony didn't want to bring his head up.  I did inside leg and outside rein and he pick up his head, he wasn't pulling on me, trotting uncontrollably, and I could stop him with my seat alone (walk halt still needs work).  I was so proud of him and glad I did this exercise.  Your horse may not trot fast at all, but this exercise can help with that horrible hanging.  I use the same bit on my pony as you are using on your horse.  You don't need to change the bit, people told me that I should change it and they might tell you, but don't do it if you don't think so.  As I said before, she doesn't know what she doesn't know, and using a stronger bit as a quicker training route doesn't work; take your time and don't rush it.  Perfection takes time.  I hope this awnsered your question and helps you with your problem, it worked wonders for me.  These type of horses and ponies are so hard to ride. I have had a clinicin apologis to me after she got on my pony and rode him around for like 30 seconds.  It will be hard work, but the results are amazing.  Good Luck.

Answer 2

The best way to stop this most of the time is to do a ton of transitions this will get your horse more on its rear end instead of plowing down. If your horse doesn't respond to the lightest of hand aids to stop, enforce it quickly within 2 steps They'll eventually figure out what your asking for.  Another thing to do is work on keeping your hand planted do not allow your horse to pull your arm away from your body because it will make them pull harder and harder. Obviously horses are super strong so if you need to actually grab onto your pants and do transitions like that.

Hope something I said will help

Answer 3

hey there well what i would do is everytime she pulls on the bit give a little tug on her mouth so she knows you dont want her to do it. if she stops then give her a pat but if she starts again then keep pulling her mouth. what you could also try is grass or side reins, they can stop horses from pulling there heads around.

good luck!! :)

Answer 4

The best advice I can give you: Don't fight with him or play tug-o-war. He is stronger, and she will win.

Maybe try a snaffle bit that has a little more kick to it, but not a mean one.

When you ask for a downward transition(or stop) if he pulls pull back with a "check." Pull back quickly, then release. Don't hold him or get into tugowar.  If after a few, there is no response, get more aggressive about it, but don't abuse or mistreat your horse.

Good luck. :)

Answer 5

maybe you should try a Nose band and tie down. i have a three year old who does the same thing but when ever i put the nose band/tie down on her she stops pulling on the bit... when you start useing a nose band/tie down make sure your horses head it relaxed when you adjust it and make sure your horse can put its head up a few inches so he/she wont panic and the new tack...

Answer 6

i ride a horse that deos the same thing my friend (riding teacher told her) said to yack back and shortin the rains every time she pulls(losin them after a while and pat her neck) good luck

Answer 7

My horse used to do exactly the same!

I recommend using a martingale, pulling the head down (not uncomfortably) to stop him from moving his head. Also, try using a flavoured bit e.g happy mouth.

Don't fight with them because they are alot bigger and will always win.

Hope this helps x

Answer 8

Get its teeth done.

Answer 9

Do not use harder hands to get a softer mouth like some are saying,  that will just make the horse fight more.

Its a take and give, ask and reward thing.

What i do with my mare before i ride to remind her to give to the bit is bends.

I turn her head in towards my knee and i hold it there until i feel her give into the bend. (when there begins to be a little slack in the reins. she will be holding her own head there instead of you holding it there) then i release and do it on the other side.

this teaches the horse to give into the bit instead of pulling against it.

you could also start from the ground and do some walking, trotting and stopping in hand (use all voice commands so she actually knows what you want her to do when you're asking her to do it under saddle.)

and for the stops;

start at a walk and sit really deep and saw whoa. if she doesn't stop right away back her up to where you asked her to stop the first time. if it takes a lap around the arena to get her to stop, back her up 1 lap around the arena. then reward for every stop that is better then the one before it (even if it isn't perfect.)

good luck and hope this helps :]

and never ever ever ever ever use a harder bit to fix ANY problem. and martingales and forks and all that jazz dont fix the problem, they are just a way to bypass them. once you take the c**p off, the horse will not be "cured". trust me, i use to ride in a martigale all the time for a nice head set but then my horse couldnt function without it and i was back to squar one.

Answer 10

Don't use an eggbutt snaffle!!! That bit is too light for a horse that pulls. The best advice I can give you, is to not fight with him, and be very patient. Try some groundwork with a curb chain and a halter. Your 4 year old needs to learn that you are the boss, and you cannot take that from him. :) Good Luck.

Answer 11

maybe try some exercises to make her more supple and reward her when she gives in...transitions, longing, etc  

Answer 12

here are a couple of suggestions. Do not yank a horses mouth though.

Noseband. They help offer support and control to help stop your horse but dont really do anything.

Standing martingale. These are used to stop horse throwing their heads around. When a horse tries to get their head about they are on kind of like a short lease connected to the nosebands that doesnt let the head get away. Great for controlling horses and it works on my horse :)

Curb bit, This is used for horses that have trouble pulling up or have a hard mouth. It offers support at the back of the muzzle to help with the control of the horses head. Here is a picture of what they look like. Dnt worry they dpnt hurt the horse i've used one on my old pony and have to get one for my new horse because he has been getting yanked and has a hard mouth.

http://visual.merriam-webster.com/images...

You would want the jointed mouth bit or sliding cheek bit :)

Anways i've used all of these things on troubled horses that have that habit and they have all done well with the horses and havent caused the horse discomfort :)

Answer 13

well ur probably hanging on her mouth, horses who devlop stiff mouths most likley are from a rider who is hanging/balancing on the reins so  make sure you can stay in balance without the reins, if not then go back to the lungeline.make sure she is staying on the bit and in a frame too.also somthing that i do with all my OTTB's is typically they will come from the track with a less than supple jaw and a stiff topline so i will tack them up and before i mount i put my thumbs through the bit rings and tickle their mouth a little until they give me some submission put their head down and release the pressure themselves and this greatly helps but remember not to pull on the bit just tickle it =]]

Answer 14

well, first i would put her in a regular one linked snaffle.. still eggbut or D ring if you'd like..

then.. don't give her anything to pull.  If your constantly on her mouth then she won't be able to tell when you want her to stop, if you riding on a looser rein and only touching her mouth when turning, changing gates, or stopping then it'll make more sense..

You say shes an arab, so i assume shes rather high-strung (don't get mad at me for the generalization.. its true most of the time..)  but you need to remember that shes not going to run forever, so if you loosen your reins and she speeds up, let her go for a little and then give a slight tug on both reins, like a double half-halt...

If you don't want to loosen both reins you can ride a little bit of inside leg to outside rein, when you hold your outside aids and ask her to move from the inside into the outside, this way you still have your brakes/slow down button (outside rein) and you have the inside rein to play with, get a bend, and then add to REALLY make a point that she has to stop..

Good luck!

Answer 15

tighten your reins, and tighten your shoulders while letting your lower arm and hand be loose, that should help