Re: RC: Re: head tossing

[TddWil@aol.com]

The horse I've been riding for the past 2 months seems to 'talk' by bobbing 
his head up and down. He does this with a bit or hackamore, in the round pen 
with no tack or even halter and in the stall. He doesn't do it constantly, 
just when he's trying to tell me something (let's go faster, I'm out of 
breath, or feed me etc.) He never gets his head so high as to get near my 
face, so I haven't worried about it. A different horse I took to rides would 
put his head up in the air and sling it up and down so hard I would be pulled 
up on his neck, and he would bolt to get to the front of the pack. Teeth 
checked out OK, and by himself he was OK. A snaffle had no control, even with 
a running martingale, and a curb, which I used with a standing martingale, 
made him angry if I/he pulled hard. Then I tried a mechanical hackamore with 
no martingale or other 'helps'. It controlled him with a light touch on the 
reins and allowed me to work on his bolting problem. The first horse I 
mentioned hates a hackamore, so I guess its all trial and error until you 
find what works.

                                                       Shelly in DE