Reasons for reaching down

My horse DiDI has a persistent habit(?) of reaching down to the ground.

I have experimented in many ways to get her to give up this move - which sometimes is powerful enough to pull the rider out of the saddle.
It comes on about a half hour into the rider.
It happens when she is being ridden in contact or on a loose rein.
It will continue if the movement if resisted or if the rider allows enough rein for her to reach right down almost to the ground.
In half an hour , she can reach maybe ten times

The bit is a french link
There is no martingale fitted
Her teeth have been rrecently checked and rasped
Her saddle was fitted professionally
Her back has been checked by a physio therapist and McTimoney practitioner
DiDi has a soft mouth - she must accept considerable pain to make this move
Both of her riders are experienced and sit well enough.
Every now and again she'll go into a phase when she doesn't do it.
She salivates profusely - sometimes the reach may be associated with a need to expell foam - in which case she spits it out - but this is not always the case.
This is an intelligent, gentle , sensitive mare,

Vets, farriers, physios, horse trainers, rider trainers, behaviourists have not come up with a workable solution.

Any suggestions as to why she does it gratefully received.

Barry G

I little more work at it and you will be ready to show Western Pleasure!

Is She Stretching Down?

"Stretching", "reaching" what is in a word?. It is a positive downwards lunge of the head and neck to the lowest point she can reach - almost to the ground.

You'll be riding along at the walk or trot and suddenly - wham - down she goes. If you have the reins firmly in hand, you will be pulled out of the saddle - if you have left some slack by folding the reins over - then the slack takes up the movement of the head.
If you leave the reins long and loose, then she'll still do it. But it is unwise to ride for long a skittish horse on a completely loose rein

Once she starts there will be a tendency for it to happen again not so long afterwards and as I have said, she will continue to do it.

On some days she won't do it at all - on others the evasion is often enough to make even a patient rider, turn for hime.

Rarely does she do it in the arena when schooling
It is mostly out in the lanes when hacking

Sometimes she has been working and is a little warm - sometimes she is cold.
She always foams up at the mouth but the suspicion is sometimes to do with tension - but there again, sometimes she'll foam at the bit before the rider has even mounted.

It has been going on for twelve months and despite repeated experimentation and questioning of various "experts" there has been no
identifiable cause found.

The all of a sudden, it will stop for maybe a week or so.

There are two riders involved - both get the same symptoms. Both sooner or later get wound up. It is impossible not to tense up.
It is a really infuriating evasion(?) or habit(?) or sign of discomfort(?)
or what???
and why????


Barry G

If she is streatching the reins down and rounding up her back, it is a good thing. I let Sunny go around on a nice loose rein as he stretches and lifts. However Dancer, another horse I am riding, will yank the reins out of the riders hands because contact irritates him.

Do you have a video?

Stretching - yes OK - no problem with the occasional stretch to relieve the stress of being in contact. In fact during any ride, I'll always give her time to do that.
This is a repeated lunge to the ground.
Note it also happens when my wife rides her.
We are not novices, this is the first horse we have had this problem with
over 33 years of riding.
Both of us will ride in contact but not necessarily tight contact.
We both "follow thru"
We both have hands independent of the rest of the body
We both have steady hands

DiDI prefers to ride with contact.
If you leave her with her head, then you are at risk -she is skittish.
I had an "inspection of my hands" by a respected tutor - she gave me a
good rating.

Sorry no video, this happens only when out on the road hacking.
In the arena it is never a problem.

Barry G

Could she be bored? Trying schooling while your on a road hack. Do some shoulders in/out, leg yields etc.......

Is she lunging to the ground looking for grass? Im trying to picture what you're describing here.

I am as well. It sounds like something one of my QH's used to do when he was ridden in a bit. He wouldn't do it too often while working but as soon as you stopped down his head went. You had to really tug to get it back up. What we discovered is he has a very low pallet (sp) so he's ridden in a jumping hackamore now...............problem went away. He'd suffer through the work part for the most part, he's that kind of horse, but given half the chance down his head went.

I have been taught that when a horse puts his head down in a manner other than stretching, to really push him forward with your seat and legs, and it solves most of the problem most of the time, but as with any bad habit that a horse has that has no medical problems, ect., it is very hard to get the horse to permanently stop the behavior, and most times they never do end up stopping 100 percent. I personally do not like grass reins, but it might benefit you to use them for a few weeks, or a month, and see if that doesn't help. The only thing to keep in mind, is that you are not trying to keep her from moving her head at all, you are just using a device that essentially makes her pull on herself (the saddle), and not on your hands, as your hands have lots of give, so when she pulls on your hands, you end up releasing the reins so you don't get pulled off, and she learns that her behavior results in you dropping the reins, but if you allow her to pull on herself, then there is no give until she puts her head back up. I would definately alternate between pushing her forward when she does that, and the grass reins.