Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

Let me just begin this post with the disclaimer that I am not an
expert on the finer points of collection or dressage, but I will add
my .02 cents.
For anyone that wants to learn more about collection-- I would
recommend reading the following link:
http://metal-rox-mk2/~tessan/dressyr/collection/true_collection.php
I learned an incredible amount from the articles on this site.

In another vein, I am debating switching from the bitless bridle to an
S-hack for my 8 yo. mustang/tb mare.  She rides in either a bit or the
bitless, but I rarely use a bit on her as I like to be able to let her
eat/drink freely when out riding.  I have never had a problem
controlling her in the bitless until this year.  She is very fit and
full of it and I find myself struggling to keep her from taking off
with me.  Since she's fit and it's now gotten quite cold, she is a
bundle of energy.  My last ride on her, she was a major handful and
was so forward I was having a little trouble keeping her under control
in the bitless.
Unrelated to this problem, she had a heart attack over some kids
sledding, bolted, the saddle slipped and I got dumped.  Fortunately,
the snow cushioned my fall and I was fine.  She is super smart and as
I watched her gallop away, I knew that she would go directly home.  I
ended up walking several miles in the snow.  When she got back to the
barn, the other boarders untacked her, threw a cooler on her and then
went looking for me.  When I finally made it back, I tacked her up
again and took her out for another 15 minutes because I didn't want
her to think that she could just run home and be done with being
ridden for the day.  My horse is usually fantastic, and I hadn't
fallen off of her in over a year, and have only fallen off of her 5
times in the 4 years I've owned her.  She's generally not spooky, but
she'd never seen people sledding before.  I was on for a bit after the
saddle slipped, but gravity won and I just hit the ground.
I am debating switching to the S-hack at least in the winter when she
is more of a handful because I think that it might give me a little
extra control in case of a major emergency.  I think that if I could
have stopped her more quickly, I might not have hit the ground when
she was at a full gallop and thus she wouldn't have run all the way
back to the barn (dangerous because she had to cross a road-- also
dangerous because there were lots of cross country skiers, kids and
pedestrians out on the trail).
I'm sure someone might flame me about my horses "lack of training" in
this instance, and tell me I shouldn't switch to something stronger,
that I should just train my horse better.  That said, I have very
quiet hands and am thinking about the S-hack more as an insurance
policy in case of dire emergencies, which, despite our best efforts,
happen at times.  I ride in a state park just 25 miles north of NYC
and there are tons of people there all the time that no nothing about
horses and I just can't afford to take any chance of my horse getting
out of control.  In the year I've been riding there, this is the only
incident I've had, and my horse rarely spooks.  Just wondering on
others' input about switching from a bitless to an S-hack or if
someone might know of a better alternative.  Also, my horse is
well-trained to a one-rein stop, but didn't respond quickly enough
this time-- probably because she was so freaked out.  Perhaps the
S-hack would help?

Thanks for any input,
Carol

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