Try going back to an egg butt snaffle and start her back doing the
fundamentals of flexing, giving to the bit, etc. It's as boring as
watching corn grow but hours of this will pay off in the long run. A
few "shutter" dressage lessons would not be hurt her in the least and
would probably help.
If she's off the track she learned to grab the bit and go and that
dinky little "S hackmore" might as well not be there - your bloody
hands are eveidence to that. After she has been schooled than maybe you
can go back to the S hackmore. However, considering it is a mare I
would not plan on that- mares have their own agenda and most of the
time they don't share it with their rider or even give too hoots what
thier rider thinks about it ;-).
Good luck.
Truman
Catfish Daniels wrote:
Hi,
Believe it or not, I've never ever
used a bit on my horses before. Somehow I've had great results with he
good 'ole Arabian S hackamore, and my gelding carries himself quite
impressively.
Now, my young mare is a different
story. Off the track a little over a year ago, she still carries that
stiff neck when she's excited, and at this week's endurance ride, I
realized that I'm not helping her with the hackamore. So, I'm breaking
down and inquiring about bits. (Yikes, I never thought I'd do that)
Here are the issues I'm trying to
address:
When I ride my mare on my
conditioning rides (usually by myself), she carries herself very
nicely, neck and all, with just the hackamore. At an endurance ride -
different story. She's a rocked straight out of the NASA program - I
swear.
Anyway, any useful bits that
properly "aid" a horse, and reminding them of what the
"correct" response is, even if a herd of other horses go galloping by?
Catfish
(Still recovering from raw hands and
numb fingers)
