How do i stop my horse throwing her head up when im riding her?

Question

my horse is a thoroughbred x cleveland bay and when i go onto a field with her she tries to run off woth me but when i wont let her she throws her head up in the air wot shall i do

Answer 1

A tie-down is what you need short term; long term  this mare needs training. Do you lunge her before you ride? Try that. Sounds like she has lots of energy. Could be you need to change her feed - do you feed high protein feed?

I'd say you were " in her mouth" too much when she tosses her head. Try pulling her to a walk, releasing and doing it over and over again until she gets the message instead of a long steady pull. I'd do a lot of ring work with her after lunging to teach her better manners, and ask your vet if you are feeding her correctly.

Answer 2

whenever you keep her from running off like that its best to try to keep the reins as low as you can to her neck so you arent encouraging her to throw her head back farther.  you need to be careful with that cause she could rear back and either hit you in the face with her head or throw you.

you might want to also try to turn her when she trys to run and walk in the opposite direction then turn again and continue.  it might help her realize your in control and not her.  its a strategy that works with dogs so maybe it will have the same effect on her.

Answer 3

What bit are you using on her?  You say that when you won't let her, she throws her head.  I assume that you're pullin the reins to stop her from running off, and then she throws her head up.

She is most likely trying to escape the pain being inflicted by the bit.

If you are using anything with shanks, you need a new bit.  A full cheek snaffle is my recommendation.  Work in an arena at walk, trot, then canter while using one rein, then the other, alternately to encourage her to accept the bit.  If you tighten one rein and her head comes up, release it and follow with a tightening of the other rein, and so forth.  If she tries to break into a faster gait, circle her to the inside of the arena and keep your circle small.  If she refuses to stop, circle her into tighter and tighter circles until you can stop her by using your outside rein (if you are circling left, stop by tightening the right rein while maintaining your circle with the left rein).

Start doing this at a walk.  When she is responsive, move to the trot.  Then go back to the walk.  Do that until you can't stand it anymore, and then do it more.

Don't canter her until she consistently responds to your one rein pulls by maintaining her head in a lowered position, then do the same exercises at the canter.  Be patient...good luck!

EDIT: I strongly uge you not to use a tiedown on this horse...it solves nothing.  Once your horse is responsive to the bit, and working in partnership with your more educated hands, you will be able to have control in the field.

Answer 4

a horse i leased did that when she didnt have a martingale on.

you can try a martingale.. it worked for me

im not sure b/c i dont have much experience with horses that do that so i dont have that much advice to help you with

Answer 5

Have you run full tilt with her through a field??  I have had many beasts do this with me usually it's because I've let them take off like a bat out of h**l through the field.....it's a sad sad sad little habit of mine..haha.

But you could put a martingale on her or a tie down, however, those are just cruthes.  What you need to do is figure out a way to teach her that you enjoy her enthusiasim but that you don't appreciate it ALL the time.  

What you could try is putting a hack or bosal on her.  Or you could bring your hands back to your tighs, giving her pressure on her pole and encouraging her to lower her head.  I would advise talking to her the entire time..and as SOON as she drops that head..even if it's a cm...you praise her..pat her neck..tell her what a GOOD girl she is...this may take a few times..you may have to to it the WHOLE way across the field for a while..and if you let her run through the field you'll prolly have to do this after that too.  

She sounds like a pistol..haha I LOVE those kinds of beasts..the ones with a little sas!!

Answer 6

get a tie down.

and to keep her from contolling you, back her up until she stops. then continue what you're doing. if she keeps acting up, back her up again. repeat until she can mind

Answer 7

Your horse is resisting the bit - in essence something is happening that is causing her to not respect the bit.

Any such thing as running through the bit, sticking the tongue out, head up too high or too far behind the bit are all signs of bit resistance.

It would help to know what bit you are riding with.

Here's the basic premise:

A snaffle bit (two piece with ring sides) is a starter bit.  As the horse learns to properly respond you go to a milder bit that communicates differently - more through bar pressure and other things.

Put your finger on your gum behind your teeth - how far can you walk about until it becomes uncomfortable?  Now put your finger in the middle of your tongue and press down - how far can you walk around now until it becomes uncomfortable?  

Pressing on the tongue gags you and causes discomfort much faster than pressing on your gums.  This is the difference between bits that use tongue pressure vs. bar pressure.

Two piece bits of any type use much more tongue pressure than any other bit and some can even pinch.  If your horse is under a two piece straight bit, it is likely that when you cue her, you are causing pain or high discomfort she's trying to get away from.

I always suggest to people that a better alternative to the cheap, simple two piece snaffle is a 3 piece with a roller - the perfect alternative in my opinon is a Myler Level 1 comfort snaffle.  These bits allow the full use of tongue pressure without the possible pinch that a two piece is capable of.  check these out on Myler's web page - while I know there are other bits that employ the same theory, I feel that Myler's product is the best on the market.

If you are riding with something else, there could be other problems.  I will be happy to strike up an email dialogue through this site, but I cannot continue as the possibilities for the root of the problem are endless.

I suggest that if you would rather not go through much back and forth - you will not get a single line answer that will fix your problem, there are simply too many variables.

For about $25 you can purchase the book and DVD from Myler.  Although these are geared to "selling" you on Myler bits, there is truly an astounding amount of technical knowledge you can gain about general mechanics of bits in order to assist in making good bit decisions for many different bits by many different manufacturers.

I feel I must also add that the bit is not the be-all nor end-all of the control of the horse.  This is a 1200 lb animal - OK, maybe a 900 lb animal if it's small, but the fact is he's MUCH bigger than you are and you can't unmuscle him - use of mechanical devices on equine headgear are also not the solution - they are tools you use to communicate with your horse, not control it.  If you're trying to control your horse with the bit, you will never truly succeed- you will only cause drop in confidence of your horse in you and diminishing performance.  You must find the tool that the horse is most comfortable interacting with that she will respect and respond to.

so many people come to me and say "I need a harsher bit" and I ask them would they respond better to my requests to something difficult if I twisted their arm harder?  Because that's the theory they are employing - they are not focusing on WHAT they are communicating and whether the horse understands the message via use of the right tool.

The old Vaquero cowboys had this methodology:  Start a young horse in a snaffle for a short time to teach only the basics.  When his wolf teeth and bit path are maturing, use a bosal (no bit) to further teach him the communication via pressure on the nose.  At 4 or 5 when the teeth are matured, they moved to a short shanked or snaffle bit and a pencil bosal (a thinner bosal than a standard one) - they would then communicate with the horse first with the bosal, if the horse didn't respond, they would engage the bit - through these three phases they would work on the message they were sending, ensure the request was getting to the horse so it knew what was really expected - then when the refinement was at its peak, they would switch to a full bridle bit with the ending being a "cathedral port" - one of those really high spoon mouthed bits.  Those bits, when the horse had learned the "language" used to communicate perfectly, were able to quickly and accurately communicate with only small movements on the riders part what the request was - the rider and horse had to be of the ultimate ability to work together - and the pinpoint communication possible by the heavy spade bits brought about a vision of miraculous performance.  Those big bits are only inhumane and dangerous in the hands of an under-skilled horseman.

Hope this helps

Answer 8

Check her back too.  This may be part of the problem.

Answer 9

Does she just put her head up so you can't control her? Or is it headshaking (persistent twitching of the head)? For the former you could try a running martingale. This will stop her getting her head above the point where you can't control her. Some people may recommend a standing martingale but personally I don't really like these, they are so restrictive and many horses fight them. Good luck, feel free to email me a few more details if you want.

Jen x

Answer 10

The only thing to do is to pull her head up with your reins and maybe give her a little pop with your legs. If you can't pull her head up then try giving quick pulls and releases to distract her from doing it.

Answer 11

she is resisting the bit and rooting the bit. if you stop her every time she does this, and back her up or circle her and try again, she will eventually stop this habit

Answer 12

O she sounds just like my bad girl:)  In the field she ALWAYS playing and tossing her head, well this yr in Sept she'll be 5 and just this yr she's trying it on the trail, well O no she don't what I've done (and only about a dozen times) is the second she does or if I can 1/2 stop it, is a Whoa, Back, Right, Left, whoa and good girl walk on:)  They don't like to do all that work, she quickly figured out that when tosses her head, weather it's out of frustration, bored or whatever Mommy don't like it and I have to work.  She was awesome last ride and not one correction:)  Hope it works for you, in 21 yrs of being with and owning horses she's the first for me and I thought I was alone:)  It does get better, but I also kept a great temperament, didn't get mad, just simply asked her to work.  Best of luck, don't let her head hit yours and I didn't want to have to use a tie down.  Know I don't but I'm sure she's not done and will try it here and there again.

Answer 13

get a running martingale, plus, when she tries to run off, this might sound mean but works, get both ya hands on one rein and yank her around, if you pull her to one side, she can't go forward because one side of her is moving to the side if you're pulling.

before all this, check her teeth, back and saddle are ok.

Answer 14

When she takes off, pull the reins back to your thighs to put pressure on her poll. If she is stubborn(like my horse)  you will have to pull until her chin bumps her chest or almost bumps her chest. If that doesn't work try pulling her head around hard to one side forcing her to turn and slow down. Put her to work imediately, that may make her realize that when she throws her head she gets put to work.  Put a tie down on her. You can also use the tie down when you make her do a circle and put her to work.  If you just want to try a tie down first, you can tighten it so she can't throw her head at all. Some horses throw fits, but they learn not to throw their heads.