Personal opinion: it doesn't look like she's being naughty. This does look like she is stretching down, especially if you can feel her back come up. My horse does the same on a loose rein in a relaxed trot. Is that a bosal or a snaffle bit? I just can't tell from the video.
Have you tried asking for more forward in your trot/is she at that level yet? I bet if you ask for more impulsion that head would come back up into a more neutral position.
She looked super relaxed in her laziness, LOL! I think it's a good thing, though. She doesn't look distressed, tense, or trying to evade the bit. She doesn't stretch at the canter (because of too much forward motion), and also doesn't try to evade the bit or be naughty there. So I think you're safe in that regard.
At the very begining I thought she was thinking "maybe a nice roll would feel good right now".
I agree that pushing her forward when she puts her head so low might help.
My other horse is completely opposite from this one, bigger and just loaded with power and GO. So when I ride this lazy little thing, it's almost a chore lol.
If it doesn't seem like a too bad of a habit to most people, I think I'll encourage it. It's probably doing her more good, and helping develop a nice topline too.
That I exactly what my big paint does at the beginning of our rides. He is also on he lazy side. He has some SI joint issues (stiffness mainly) and it seems to help his back loosen up, so I let him do it for a few laps each ay, then we get to work. He's never been naughty while doing it, so I don't think it's a behavioral issue, and though the first few times I thought he wanted a roll, he's never tried to.
So, I think she's just having stretch, especially since she doesn't seem to be playing up at all.
Reviving this thread because it's just too cool to see how far this little mare has come. I started her in a bosal shortly after this thread because I was finding it really hard to get her picked up so I could work on anything with how she was in a snaffle.
She's now in a 2 rein, packing a spade bit and I have rode her straight up in the spade a couple times. She's my #1 using ranch horse and has saved my butt more times than I could count on two hands.
So her constant stretching and yawning got to be pretty intolerable and made it nearly impossible to actually do any training beyond the immense amount of effort it took to get her picked up a little bit.
I started her in a bosal and had way better luck with it, and never rode her in a snaffle again. Over the last 4 years I've been pretty committed to learning about and how to use the hackamore and then about getting a horse into the bridle.
Once I started riding her in the 2 rein I was worried about running into the same issues that lead me to start this thread, especially because of how heavy the spade is. But, she took to it like an old pro and took to the bit right away, and has been a breeze to bring along, and has been really forgiving of me just doing my best and learning as I go.
Because I've spent 4 years on this and a lot of money, I'm going to share more pictures of the journey. Ok? Ok.
I don't really know anything about spade bits, other than they look 'scary', but that doesn't mean they are.
What lead you to begin using a spade bit? What's the benefit and purpose to them? How does a horse trained with a spade bit ride differently than say your average western ranch or gymkhana horse? If you don't mind educating, that is.
Well the main thing is that they are a signal bit, meaning that even though they have shanks they are not used as a leverage bit. Instead, the horse operates on "signals"/the slightest movement that travels down the rein. Having a horse finished in a spade is considered like the best of the best among people who are into this type of horsemanship.
I wanted to go the spade bit route because I had already started the first steps of getting a horse prepared to pack one. It's a long process over many years to prepare a horse for the bridle. Most people start with a snaffle, then the hackamore and then introduce the spade and ride in the 2 rein (using the bosal and bit together, slowly using less bosal and more bit) until the horse is ready to ride with just the bit.
I could type all day and not even hardly scratch the surface of it but im happy to answer any questions you have to the best of my ability.
@QHriderKE, Thanks for bringing this thread back. I have a 3 yo filly that I'm riding in a bosal and she does this occasionally mainly when trotting to the right in circles. It started when I changed from a 3/8 bosal to a heavier 1/2" bosal. At first I thought maybe the heavier bosal was causing her to lower her head from extra pressure on her nose. I changed back to the 3/8" and she still does it. When out pasture riding or working cattle she rarely does it. Only when there is no pressure and is relaxed. Makes me feel better that it has happened to someone else. Never before had a horse have such a low head carriage.
I'd probably look into getting some chiro work done if the low headset was only happening during a circle to one direction.
In my mares case, the only time she wouldn't be trying to stretch down was when she had a job in front of her (cows). It was worse in an arena but even to go out in a big field and try to trot some circles it was a huge pain to get her to do anything but stretch. This only happens with a snaffle bit, and I tried a few different ones. She still was lazy in the arena with a bosal but I could get her picked up much easier.
Ps. Young horses or even horses just being started in a bosal are typically started in a 5/8" diameter bosal (clearer signal, easier for a green horse to understand) and then progressed on to the 1/2" or 3/8" as they get more broke. I like to ride most of my more broke horses in a 1/2" for daily things.
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