> > Have you tried ear work to help him settle, lower pulse and drink? We > have > used this for years with great success.
I have not and this is a great suggestion. I came home with a goal of losing some weight, perhaps increasing his fitness a little bit and finding a trick to help him pulse down. With my Arab, his pulse dropped like a rock when I stroked his face. Hunter does not enjoy being stroked. I did notice that when he dropped his head, his pulse immediately plummeted. In your opinion, did he drop his head because he relaxed or did his heart rate drop because he lowered his head? I plan to work with dropping the head on command just in case. His heart rate also drops when he urinates and he's a champion pee-er. > > The other thing you might try is a balance rein when starting the ride to > steady him without having to use the reins. I'm not familiar with a balance rein. Is it discussed in either of the books I have - Getting in Touch and The Ultimate Horse Behavior etc ? I ride him in an Arab S-hack, sort of a short shank hackamore with a soft nose piece. He has had some kind of grizzly tongue injury somewhere in his past and has both vertical and horizontal scar tissue. I had seen the one near the tip of his tongue, but there's a much worse scar way up on his tongue (found during dental work) that looks like his tongue was nearly sevreed. The vet thought wire. I have heard stories about horses being tied up with a bit left in their mouth. Whatever the cause, he doesn't do well in a bit. In fact, he works his mouth in a fussy way even with nothing in it. Nancy
