How to i get my horse to work "on the bit"?

Question

my friend says you hold the inside rein normally, but pull back and forward gently on the outside rein... is this right? cause it sounds sorta weird...

Answer 1

Neither hand should be held firm or be being ignored while you work only with the other hand. You want to use your legs to drive the horse's hindquarters up underneath himself as he rounds up his back.  The only thing you do with the reins is lightly maintain enough feel to keep the horse from moving into the next gait (walk to trot, trot to canter)  I curl my fingers on the reins and open and close them to lightly maintain it.

The seesawing is done just by alternating from one set of fingers to the other...this keeps the horse from resisting the pressure on the bit.  Once the horse is moving with the hindquarters under him (engaged) you can begin to tighten the rein contact as you continue using strong leg pressure, until the horse is moving with his head almost on the vertical, not dropping his shoulders, collected in a nice frame and responsive to your hands, or "on the bit".

Answer 2

it sounds right but i do it sorta different.

i do the same thing bt alturnitly whith my hands.

it also helps if u work on a circle

Answer 3

Well remember that its not all rein. Acctually if you want to drive your horse on to the bit and get them in a frame you need to always make sure that you have your horse stepping forward! once you have established the "working walk" you will close your contact on the OUTSIDE rein and gently squeeze the INSIDE rein , but the squeezes are gentle and very subtle, then you will push the horse forward into your rein aids with your leg, remeber to strech your shoulder up and keep your reins even. Then once your horse gives with his head it will feel like your reins just got light dont take more contact insteat lighten your hand as a reward for going on the bit and see how many steps he will do ( usually not to many for the first little while so dont get frustrated ) then if he comes out of his frame and off the bit just gently squeeze your leg and squeeze the inside rein making sure that your outside rein is still firm.  Remeber that he will work better on either the left  or the right so dont get frustrated if he is harder one way. Good luck and keep up the learning !

Answer 4

It depends on the training you horse has had. With my horses I work the bit  and that gets them to soften their head and give to the bit and I am always checking them with my outside rein using soft give and release pressure but like your friend said I keep my inside rein still with only as much contact as needed. My horses know to respond to leg pressure as well so I keep my leg on or give constant soft nudges with my heel. I use leg pressure becouse when you only work with your rein then you are pulling them into frame but when you use leg you are pushing them up and this looks more graceful and smooth in the show ring. These techniques will only be truly effective if you have quiet hands and a good seat. Keep your hands soft so you arn't giving you horse mixed signals and keep you seat in position becouse since you are pulling back on your horses mouth it's possible to pull your self forward in the saddle and that will mess up your balance and leg cues. Above all try to remain soft and quiet in your cues but at the same time firm.

Best of luck with your riding!

Answer 5

Keep your outside hand very firm, as well your outside leg. Then with your inside hand and leg, squeeze repeatedly. This is what a lady at our yard who produces show horses (( she won at olympia last year so she shud know..!)) said to me ..Hope this helps! xx

Answer 6

What is all this about kicking and sea sawing? to really get your horse to work off her hindquarters is to have a firm, even driving seat. This way, the horse will be even more accepting of your leg and hand aids. And the horse uses his hindquarters the best when he is working on the bit, which doesn't simply mean his head is down. His whole back, from his poll to his dock, should be long and strong, and his tummy should be short and tight. You can check if this is happening if you can clearly see the bottom outline of his ribcage. It takes a lot of work and time to get it right, so don't get too frustrated.

Be very strong in your stomach, butt, knees and thighs (your seat.) Firmly hold one rein and slowly and stongly draw back towards your hip on the other rein. When the horse gives, give back, and if he starts to come off the bit do the same thing but draw on the OTHER rein. Keep doing this.

You should only be working on this when you have optimal or extra forward from your horse. Eventually, your horse will come onto the bit with the lightest pressure of the bit. Do not get frustrated and resort to draw reins and martingales, these do not do the good that everyone thinks they do.

By the way, as a word of advice, your legs work at the peak of their ability when your seat is working at its peak, and your hands work at the peak of their ability when your legs and seat are working at their peak.

Unless you get advice from a reputable trainer, it is probably best to practice this particular excercise in a snaffle bit.

Answer 7

Well, you certainly have been given a LOT of advice on this : ).  The correct answer is that if you want to get a horse to work on the bit, you should both take dressage lessons.  Even if your dream is to be a hunter/jumper, it can really help you out to have dressage training...perhaps at least every other week for a while?  I just started dressage about 3+ months ago, and it has helped me so much.  You have been given a lot of good advice, but it is best to have a professional dressage trainer help you with this.  She can tell you what and when to do to get the most out of your horse and have the most chance of getting your horse on the bit.  Even if you don't stick with the lessons, it'd be nice just to have some limited knowledgek such as 5/6 months work.

The best equestrians have knowledge of all disciplines, and the best jumpers ride with dressage knowledge in-between jumps.

Answer 8

Nope. As one person said, hold the outside rein firm and still. If your saddle pad has straps to attach to the top of your billets, take the outside one out and hold it to keep your hand still. Then, your inside leg should be slightly farther back than your outside leg, and your inside leg pushes "towards the outside rein". Sorta forwards, but not faster. Your inside hand can lead, and, if you're having trouble, "pump" on the rein. Pump=squeeze and release. this should get your horse to bring his back up(yay!) and round his neck. Back up being key. Back down is bad. bad bad. no good. Get my point yet? I'm sure someone else has other ways to help!

It's easiest to do this at the trot, then canter, then walk. Trot = easy.

Good luck, sorry for the confusingness!

Answer 9

put a bit in your mouth and get someone to see saw with the reins. what would you do you would tuck your head in to avoid the pain. what a load of nonsence see saw your horses mouth how cruel are you lot. i have 2 heavy horses which are meant to work on there forehand so to make them work on the bit was a long haul but we did it they both do dressage and both gain good scores for the acceptance and paces.

the correct outline is one that is driven from behind, if your horse is tracking up and coming underneath from behind the back has to round and the head will naturally drop into selfcarriage (those of you who see saw will not understand self carriage when the horse hold itself correctly and is not forced into an outline). with self carriage you will have no weight in you hands and your horses head will be straight and correct.  How to achieve.  work your horse on a 20m circle in trot, open your inside rein to show him the way, keep the contact on the outside rein (thats a still contact) this controlls the pace. use your inside leg on the girth to produce the bend and the outside leg behing the girth to stop him falling out.  when you think you can't use any more leg use a bit more (do not kick but squeeze) always make sure that you are sitting tall and straight and rise to the trot not sitting trot as this dosen't allow freedom of horses back.  do lots of transistions between walk, trot and halt always riding transitions forward, do lots of figures of 8 and changes of rein, remember to change to new inside bend. do not canter until trot has been establised.  this may take weeks or months it is not a quick fix but it means that he horse builds up his muscles and learns to carry himself.  when he is working correctly he will go light in your hand and it will feel as though someone is kickin you in the bum, thats his hind quarters  powering through correctly, when this happens soften your hands and ride him straight into the still contact. he will only manage a couple of steps at first and your legs will have to work so hard. this will get easier the fitter he gets and the more he understands.  good luck keep focused and please do not see saw his mouth. all this should be done in a snaffle. for all you who say his neck muscles will be stiff  the constant changes of rein will flex his neck muscles

Answer 10

To get a horse on the bit you should squeeze your horses sides and sea saw the reins frequently this will encourage your horse to except the bit and put his head down. Make sure to sea saw on your horses mouth gently because you do not want to hurt your horses mouth. By the way see sawing is just little tugs with your reins. Make sure to keep squeezing your horses sides, because your horse might take from you pulling on the reins as telling them to "woah"... I hope this helps answer your question.

Answer 11

there are a couple of really good answers, especially about taking dressage. it doesn't matter which seat you ride dressage is VERy helpful! Your hose needs to be engaged and driven  forward. i think the best question for you to ask is what does it feel like. once you can feel if your horse is on, over or behind the bit. then you can answer for yourself how to get your horse on the bit. There are several techniques, and a lot depends on your horses training and experience. It is more of a "feel" for the rider but your horse will not perform 100 % if you don't have him where he needs to be. and you really shouldn;t ever pull on your reins. you should be able to just squeeze and release your fingers and achieve amazing results. the more you are pulling and moving that bit around your horses mouth the tougher their mouth will become and it will be hard to get that completely engaged horse.

are you feeling a tough rein? or do you get little response when you move your hands? does your rein feel rigid, hard? do you feel like you are moving a brick? or does it feel like air? you should feel a very elastic rubbery feel. it will be firm but not rigid. sorta like playdoh.