I put my 8 yr old under saddle last year. We started with a snaffle,
but I always rode with the rope halter under the bridle and with the lead rope
in my hands along with the reins. It didn’t take long to notice that
Sonny was very quick to respond to light pressure on the lead rope. It took a
couple of months for me to trust Sonny enough to change the reins from the bit
to the halter, and initially I always had him carry the bit. Now I occasionally
have him carrying the bit “just in case” such as at the start of a
50. And we still do some training with the bit, but he’s just a tad more
responsive with the halter. He does spook just a bit when in the lead, but
having a halter for control doesn’t make him any worse. Luckily, he only
does a little side step, rather that any bolting, bucking, rearing or 180s. We
use direct reining most of the time, but he is starting to respond to neck
reining as well. He is a cooperative little guy and tries hard to figure out
what is being asked of him, so he’s made training an easy job.
I trained my mustang years ago the same way, but she was in the bit for
much longer. She did spin, bolt, rear initially, so I felt I needed the bit to
get her back under control. It took about 3 years for her to be trustworthy in a
rope halter.
I have another horse, Storm, that acted like
he didn’t like the bit, so I put him in a little S hackamore. Well, his
chomping at the bit behavior continued, it wasn’t the dislike of the bit,
just a nervous habit that he’d developed. It’s very funny to see
him going down the trail chomping at the bit that isn’t there. He is a
very mouthy horse and actually likes to get his reins into his mouth to chew on.
I still use the little S hack on him because it’s easier for him to eat
& drink with. He was 12, and in a kimberwick when
I bought him 3 or 4 years ago, but he accepted the little S readily. Storm did
already have good brakes, so I never had to go through any transition period.
Kathy
Hi,
I have a 5-year old green-broke arab.
he's spunky but not particularly bad, a little spooky
at times. I am looking for advice on bit-alternatives: bosals, vosal, bitless, sidepull, hacks.
he doesn't like a bit, just not totally comfortable, he opens his mouth a lot,
and pushes against it with his tongue, however, no head tossing, and he's
sensitive to seat pressure and voice commands. He has a tongue deformity,
I have had his teeth checked, he's normal otherwise (well, as normal as a 5-yo arab can be!!).
ANY advice is appreciated, please include what you use, how it is
designed to work, what settings you use it in, and relatively how it steers (he
does NOT neck rein), brakes and the pain factor relative to a bit. Please
keep this to horses that were trained with a bit and have made the switch to bitless.
