Bit Information (Snaffle and English-Type Bits)

It sounds to me like the horse just has a lot of extra energy that the instructor thinks you might be able to lunge off first.

So, that is a good plan to start with, but I would also add that once you are riding him, pull him into circles with only one rein if he starts to pull your arms out of the socket. You can also do this from the ground to help him understand.

When he is moving softly, reward him for going straight by releasing the rein a bit.

Hopefully that will help, but also is he getting any grain? Because sweetfeed can make some horses hot if they don't burn up the energy.

Another thing to try is to give the horse a treat at first when he does what you want, it can help to get the message across that riding is not a tug-a-war!

Good luck!

I wasnt harsh, believe me that was NOT harsh, just probably something you didnt want to hear.

Going up through the harshness of bits just beccause the horse isnt listening = schooling issue.

Any instructor who advises a stronger bit rather than schooling is not someone I would want teaching me. Getting a horse lighter in the mouth takes time, effort and schooling.

Lunging before riding is Ok short term however:
1) most competition centres wont let you lunge on site
2) all it does is get your horse fitter and fitter and then you end up having to lunge for longer and longer and your horse gets stronger and stronger. Believe me I lunge my pony before I get on him and it is a vicious circle.

Oh my goodness, why do the bits at the end of the list even exist?! What kind of cruel person would ever use one of those? Breaks my heart even thinking about it...

Thanks for posting this thread; it has helped me learn more about the types of bits. Now I can go and study them more in depth with a little bit of knowledge beforehand.

Ok maybe this should be another thread but...what are everyone's experiences with different metals? Like copper for example?
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Oops!!

I always longe my horses that are being schooled before riding them even if only for five minutes. For one thing, it tells me what kind of mood they are in. In preparation to building a mouth on a green horse I begin teaching basics in just a halter on the longe. Move forward. Stop. Transition between gaits on voice command. Back. If a horse cannot do these things on the ground then it is not ready to be ridden. I progress to a broken mouth snaffle. It doesn't really matter what type so long as the mouth piece is not severe or fat. Horses tend to lean on fat mouthpieces. Many people like the French link bits. I have never used one. I do the same things on the longe in the bridle that I did in halter. Lastly, I begin bitting up the horse to teach it to give to the pressure of the bit and travel on the longe in a rounded frame. I gradually shorten the reins as the horse becomes more willing to submit. The goal here is a soft mouth not a false head set. A German martingale will encourage submission without flexation behind the poll. One of the first things I work on mounted is to teach the horse to stretch it's nose to the ground. This is a stretching and relaxation exercise I learned many years ago from Bruce Davidson the Olympic event rider. This is accomplished by lowering your hands and alternately playing with the corners of your horses mouth while applying give and take light pressure. You don't want to ride normally in this frame but the exercise will encourage your horse to lower it's head and come into your hands without having to reef on it's mouth. It's also a good reward after asking something of your horse that is stressful at first and will calm it's mind. This week I brought an off the track, eight year old Standardbred pacer home. These horses are famous for traveling with a high head carriage and they are taught to lean into the bit when they race. After two riding sessions this horse is walking with his neck horizontal with his withers and is beginning to submit with his mouth. It is essential to know what you want from your horse, where you are going to go and how your are going to get there. People get into trouble with a horse when they do not have a road map and don't know how to drive. Develop a sequential training program where one step logically leads to the next step and you will soon be a horse whisperer. Put it down on paper in outline form. It's the difference between being a rank amateur and an accomplished rider/trainer.

so gadgets is how you approach this rather than riding the horse forwards from behind

otherwise known as seesawing on a horses mouth! Not good, produces a horse that lowers its head but does not stretch accross its full top line.

Seesawing also means that you are concentrating on the horses head and not where you should be concentrating which is on the horses arse.

I am not really sure how lunging came up in this thread about bits, but I will put in my two cents in with the hope it will aid someone, especially if they find themselves spending all their time lunging their horse instead of enjoying riding.

I only lunge horses that are unstable or new before riding. Once a horse is riding well, I see no reason to lunge before mounting up. As Faye mentioned, lunging before riding can just make a horse fitter without treaching them self-control.

I have found with some horses that like to test me or try to shorten my ride in some sort of violent way, I begin by lunging them hard & long before and AFTER I ride. I make sure my ride time is very low-key and the most enjoyable part of the session.

I do this for a couple of weeks, decreasing the lunging time before the ride every day, while increasing the riding time in length and intensity, while still retaining the hard lunging after the ride. The horse learns to conserve energy and really doesn't want me to get off his/her back.

Once the horse is willing and cooperative under saddle, I decrease the time lunging after the ride too.

My goal with the method is no lunging at all, and the horse sets the pace based on his/her behavior as to how soon the lunging ends.

Done correctly, it works every time, and then I don't have to lunge them at all and can focus on riding & enjoying it.

It seems there is one in every crowd. Faye. I haven't yet learned how to ride from behind while I am longing a horse. The purpose of bitting a horse up before riding it for the first time is to introduce it to pressure on it's mouth. Aside from this being a safety measure, when it is the horse that is applying the pressure through it's own resistance it will submit to it much quicker and with less resistance than when a rider is pushing a totally green horse onto the bit with their seat and hands which would be poor horsemanship to say the least. Playing with the corners of a horses mouth to encourage it to lower it's head is not see sawing. It can be accomplished with only the little fingers. I specifically stated that this is nothing but an exercise. Watch the Grand Prix jumping horses. At the end of a course many will lower their nose almost to the ground at the end of a course. They don't just naturally do this. It has been taught to them in order to calm them and to keep them from becoming wired. I haven't been here in a long time. Do you ever offer anything that is positive or do you just lurk and criticize those who make the effort?