Hi Hi >Good horsemen will tell you that we don't control a horse with a bit. We >control a horse with his mind. We will never be strong enough physically >to stop a horse, but what we can do is create the desire of the horse to be
>"with" us, to let us use his legs. I am all for working with a horse from the ground, in a ring, in controlled situations to get a connection with the horse and improve your ability to communicate - we have been working to educate people for 30 years. Add to that checking out the saddle, teeth, feet etc - also improving ones skills as a rider. I also think that sometimes once we get into a group situation - things can change - the horse is more excited and forward - this can be from the group and in some cases because the horse is a bit nervous about the other horses and the rider can be more nervous and tense - therefore being conveyed to the horse. I have horses that are totally relaxed if Christine or I ride them out and more tense with riders who are less sure. Not all horses respond well to a snaffle - or might respond better to one than another - some horses respond in a more relaxed way to a bitless bridle - which even though is not in the horse's mouth does apply pressure to the nerves in the poll and jaw; so why is it so terrible to consider a mild bit like a Tom Thumb Pelham. For me the biggest problem with any shanked bit is riding them with only the bottom rein. Another suggestion can be to use a balance rein at the base of the horse's neck - stopped the rider from hanging on the reins as well - or a rein attached to the noseband. I try to give people suggestions that allow them to continue riding as they solve problems and improve their riding. Robyn Icelandic Horse Farm Robyn Hood & Phil Pretty Vernon BC Canada www.icefarm.com What we try to do is get to the goal through horsemanship. > I have been advised by the barn manager to get a stronger bit. My barn > is geared to western riding and so they recommended a western bit, a > Monte Foreman bit which I have been using. It does seem to give me > extra control but last time I rode, he decided he wanted to run up to > another horse that was a ways away and when I reined him in he started > bucking and crow hopping and spinning, something he has never done > before in the three years I have owned him.(although he has bolted on me > once a long time ago) It scared me and I dismounted and walked him > back to the farm. The escalating behavior is predictable. Horses will start in the beginning giving you little signs of communication, maybe that something is wrong. Then their tries at communicating their problem to you, will get louder, to the point of bucking, rearing, spinning, etc. > Is it possibly the bit is too strong for him and hurt him. Is there > another bit I could purchase that would be a step up from the old one I > used (loose ring french link snaffle) and not a severe as the Monte > Forman bit. Can we take a look at Gormur and try to figure out what his basic problem is? what he is trying to convey to us? Judy http://icehorses.net http://clickryder.com "The greatest enemy of the truth very often is not the lie- deliberate, contrived and dishonest -- but the myth -- persistent, persuasive and unrealistic." "All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident." ~ Arthur Schopenhauer [] The video every Icelandic Horse owner should have: http://IceHorses.net/video.html [] Lee Ziegler http://leeziegler.com [] Liz Graves http://lizgraves.com [] Lee's Book Easy Gaited Horses http://tinyurl.com/7vyjo [] IceHorses Map http://www.frappr.com/IceHorses [] IceHorses ToolBar http://iceryder.ourtoolbar.com/ Yahoo! Groups Links
