Seeking bit ideas! I’ve been riding an OTTB who is still quite green. He loves job, just a bit too much. We are trying to do hunters, but he has a tendency to pull against the hand and speed up to jumps. I try my best to half halt him to slow him down, but he still gets away from my hand and goes too fast. He tends to avoid the bit by tossing his head and opening his mouth. He’s currently in a segunda d ring, but I don’t think he likes it very much. I’ve tried a Waterford but it didn’t give me enough brakes and control. He’s been looked at by vets and is physically fine, just a bit too excited about jumping. Does anyone have any suggestions for hunter bits to try? I have also tried him in the cartwheel bit just for fun and he seems to have better bit acceptance when his poll is engaged. I’ve been wanting to try the ported Myler snaffle but am not sure it would give me the brakes I need.
This is more a training issue than a bitting issue. Horses that rush jumps are anxious rather than having fun. Do you have a coach? Can they recommend exercises to make him relax? Like jumping and then halting? No bit will make a tense rushy horse into a slow moving balanced hunter.
And indeed many excellent show jumpers who have balance, rhythm, consistency, are still too “fast” for hunters. Jumping horses tend to excel in one or the other, not both.
This is what I was going to say. Rushers are usually anxious and/or weak and using momentum to get over the jump.
I’m not a fan of the segunda, but a low port Myler snaffle type has been a hit with a lot of my TBs. Careful with curb action, you can teach him to curl behind it and hide from the bit very easily (and this is NOT easy to undo). Most of mine have gone in a simple French link or thinner low port Mullen, but I’ve had good luck with throwing a hackamore or Pelham into the mix on occasion.
How’s his flatwork? Does he have a good half halt, respond promptly to transitions, can he do some basic lateral work? If not, start there. Install some voice commands. Do sets of trot and canter poles - hills too if you can. I like to do lots of trot jumps and little grids before trying to canter a course. Teach him to slow his feet and use his hind end, and get him strong so he doesn’t feel like he has to launch. Then, once he’s ready, start throwing in random jumps during a ride. Walk, trot, pop a crossrail, back to some lateral work, canter, hop a small vertical, back to canter work, trot a grid, work on transitions.
One day you’ll wake up and have a horse that can canter a line without going at Mach 1. And a good coach can expedite the experience by massive margins!
Yes, and no. My mare got more and more uncontrollable, even over grids. She - as a youngster - loved to jump, but was controllable. She never, ever, ever refused, ducked out, hung a leg… nothing. But around 8 she began to get really strong over even a baby cross. Rushed, massive rear-end action, “back cracker” etc.
She was dx’ed with ECVM (unilateral malformation of C6, possible transposition to C7). The mare was running jumps because she felt it was the only way she could get through it. The last time I took her through a tiny, tiny grid was super scary and I lost any confidence I had in jumping. She was dx’ed not long after.
Horses that get strong over jumps MAY also have physical issues that no amount of gridwork can solve, especially in thoroughbred or horses with thoroughbred lineage.
She was the best jumper I ever rode and I’m devastated at having to retire her. The TB line that we think carried the gene was Man O War.
OTOH! I found WTP (Winning Tongue Plate) bits are the ducks nuts for OTTBs with tongue issues. Get the “normal” one, not the extended plate one. My new mare was super agitated in the mouth due to possibly being tongue tied. She chucks her head, reefs, gags, and breaks so badly at C3 that you can see the muscle bulge. Since getting her into a WTP she is much, much happier, quieter, beginning to stretch out into a contact. She was so jammed up that she would nap and quasi-rear rather than move forward into any sort of contact.
Find a bit that the horse is comfortable in, and teach the horse to carry the pace you have set without interference from you. It may be a balance problem. Work it out on the flat before going to the jumps.
My hot horse who when I first got her sounds a lot like yours, was put into a segunda and it was a huge setback in our training. I rode with a prominent hunter trainer and my first lesson he had me switch bits. He was very kind and kindly said (in other words) to throw it away and not look back.
I see you’ve tried my favorite bit with no little/success (waterford). I flat my mare in a snaffle waterford, but jump her with a gag. If you want to try that route, I’d suggest two reins to start with so you have control on the pressure and to get the horse used to the gag.
It took years to get my mare to sit back and not rush the jumps. Years of circles. Years of half halting. Can you lesson with a dressage trainer? That would be my next recommendation.
Have faith & good luck!
I stopped reading at Segunda. Those are AWFUL bits. They put immense amounts of pressure on two very small points on the tongue. He is avoiding the bit because it hurts, those points dig in when the reins are engaged, and there is no true release of that pressure.
Often times the lack of good brakes (in any situation) is a hole in his foundation somewhere. There is no shame in taking him back to square one to do a restart. Find those holes, fix them, and focus on ground work and flat work. If you can’t get a nicely traveling horse on the lunge, you’re not going to get it under saddle, which definitely means you’re not going to get it over fences.
Another thing to consider is diet. If he is only working 3-4 hours a week, he doesn’t need to eat like a horse that’s working 6-8 hours a week or more. I know OTTB’s can be hard to keep weight on, but there are "cool energy’ options that won’t contribute to anxiety or tension.
Many, many anxious horses who lack confidence and are overfaced do this. Assume that’s the issue, not that he loves his job.
Meaning - back way, WAY up in his training. Back to a single pole on the ground if necessary. Back up to the point it’s totally quiet but still with energy, and add poles in more and more complicated patterns before introducing even a small X. Then add the X at the end of a set of trot poles that he’s trotted through quietly.
Somewhere along the way there’s a gaping hole in teaching him how to quietly and confidently work through gymnastics
