Bosal Suggestions? (Horse dislikes a bit)

Looking for suggestions for where people have purchased bosals? I want to buy the headstall separate and am looking for one that is black.

Trainer has been working with my mare and she doesn’t like to bit but goes quite well in a bosal. Just from a google search I’ve found some that come with a headstall but looking for suggestions on what people have bought / places they like. Minimal bling is okay :slight_smile:

If anyone else has had a young horse that really dislikes a bit also curious know what you did and if they eventually accepted the bit? She has had her teeth done recently so that is not the issue.

Are you sure it’s the bit she’s saying no to or is it she doesn’t know how to carry the bit and respond ? It takes a long time to properly introduce the bit to a youngster and there are specific steps and progress expectations before advancing to the next step. There should be quite a bit of print and video material out there as well as good, qualified Pros experienced with his phase of training you can work with or, better, send the horse to until they master it then have them teach you.

Its not rocket science but you don’t just hang it on and expect them to respond as what they used to call a “straight up bridle horse”, they don’t know how. Perhaps instead of spending on a black headstall for a bosal (do you have a bosal or is it your trainers?), you could look for more help teaching your horse to carry the bridle and you to use it?

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She doesn’t want a bit in her mouth and is constantly trying to spit it out while pulling the reins out of your hands so that you do not move the bit at all. Originally we thought it was because of her teeth but she has since had them done and is still presenting the same. She’s been in training for quite a while and both trainers have tried different bits but she reacts to them all the same.

I’ve ridden her in a bosal which is what the trainer has been using and it is like riding a completely different horse. I’m not looking to try and make her accept a bit when she listens and is happier without one. I’m looking into getting a bosal at the trainer’s suggestion since it’s what she works best in. :slight_smile:

What kind of bits have you tried?

Nothing wrong with using a bosal. I ran across some good sites a short while ago. If I can find them again I’ll post the links.

I’m not sure of all the different ones but I know they have tried rubbber, single joint, double joint, plain snaffle, myler with a roller,with a french link, with a lozenge. Different types with D rings, O rings, eggbutt. I’m sure they have tried other kinds but those are the ones I can think of off the top of my head. From the moment it is in her mouth and you use the rein she doesn’t like it. I think we have exhausted the bit collection and I’m okay with using a bitless option. For all I care she could go the rest of her life without wearing a bit as long as she behaves in bitless. :slight_smile:

If you can find the links I’d appreciate it! I think I found one at 20 hooves tack that we like. Just the bosal part with reins to attach to a separate headstall. :slight_smile:

When I bought my first horse in the late 60’s, I had a mentor, Forest Knott. He was a saddle maker in Southern California. He suggested a large stock, maybe 5/8" braided bosal and added a standard mane hair mecate, but for the headstall, he went to his workbench and in about 10 minutes, fashioned a custom hanger. He said the typical headstall doesn’t hang properly. It worked on all my horses since and I still have the hackamore. I expect that stock headstalls have greatly improved in the last 50 years, so finding a stock setup shouldn’t be a problem. I have always liked the look and if your horse is going well and is happy and you are happy, who’s gonna complain?

Those bosals on that site are crap.
You mentioned two things that are important to you. Color, and some bling. That’s a sad place to start in my opinion…
And a bosal is not a “bitless bridle’” i hate when its referred to as that.
I don’t know what you want to do with this horse. But get some education on hackamore training and good bosals. Look up Bill Black, for a starter. Look at utube videos. Richard Caldwell,(now deceased) had some good info on hackamores and their use.

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http://www.customrawhide.com/cgi-bin/store/agora.cgi?page=bosals.html
http://www.customcowboyshop.com/bosals_mecates.html
http://traditionalrawhidebraiders.com/
http://www.calclassics.net/php/buy/bosals/
http://outwestsaddlery.com/horse-gear-for-sale/hackamore-gear/htmlmecates___bosals-html/
http://www.buckarooleather.com/shop/bosals,-hackamores-rawhide-gear

Can you provide a little more than just that they’re crap? Any particular reason? Have you had one?

I’m not looking to spend hundreds of dollars on one and am looking to get nylon reins already attached. Not that the expensive ones aren’t worth it they just aren’t in the budget. :slight_smile:

Imaginique - Thanks for the links I will look through them!

Forest Knott made my show saddle. He was an artist of the kind you don’t see anymore, like Garcia for bits and Ortega for bridles, reins and bosal. Next to their work and a very few holdouts, everything today is crap.

How fortunate you are. I would love to have one of his saddles. I look online from time to time, so maybe I will find one. They are quite coveted.

For one thing, the nose button on those are too long, which but the hanger way too low on the face, which effects the balance and the way they work. Also, they are way to round in shape. They should be narrower at the top. You also do not know what kind of core they are made of, rawhide or rope or cable., which is important. You don’t want cable.

Reins are not “attached” to the bosal. You wrap the macate (the rope that makes the reins) above the heel knot and pull through a loop which makes reins, leaving you with the tail end coming out the left side. Most folks untie their macate after using it, so that it doesn’t kink, or put a twist the bosal. Once you learn how to tie it, it’s no big deal. So you don’t want a bosal with “reins all ready attached”.

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Had it for about 17 years, sold it for more then I paid around 1990 Replaced the suede seat at about 10 years, the guy who did it was amazed at the workmanship, particularly the strainer to narrow the twist. Forest welcomed you to come watch him work and was a regular fountain of knowledge. Anyway, my saddle had laced swells and cantle, diamond shaped conchos and a matching breast collar with one large and two smaller diamond conches. Four leaf California Live Oak with acorns tooling pattern. Probably still out there somewhere.

Just because the reins are already attached doesn’t mean they cannot be undone though! Why do you not want a cable are a core? Not that I’m disagreeing with you I just do not know the differences between them all.

I was reading about them and I was unaware that you’re supposed to remove the reins and hang them around a circle to maintain shape. My trainer just has one that hangs like a normal bridle and never detaches the reins (I’m sure I made someone out there cringe a little, sorry!)

Some of them are cheap to make and replace so it doesn’t make much difference. They are mass produced, little thought to balance or fitting to the horse.

You don’t want a cable core in a bosal, its supposed to have some flexibility and subtlety, nothing about cable helps either. Of course the natural materials require more skill and man hours. It’s been years but have used both and even I could feel the difference in give and response. Slight to my uneducated hands but I felt it, so did the horse.

There are different diameters and softness to bosals. Some are really soft and raggy, and some hard. But you want some flexibility and malleability to them, so that you can adjust the shape. Really good bosals you can shape in your hand and just use them. You don’t always have to put them away in a stretcher or shaper. The point is there is nothing like a good twisted rawhide core. That’s the way they are supposed to be built, although some are built around a rope core.
But cable is stiff and unyielding. You might as well forget the rawhide and just ride in a steel loop around your horses face.
As far as untying one every time, you don’t have to, and a lot of folks don’t. I don’t like getting a permanent twist in my macate. Helps when you need to put one less wrap or change your rein length not to have a kink in it. Drives me nuts.
There is an old book called “Hackamore Reinsman” by Ed Connell. Worth a read. It’s old school. I say that in a good way.

Back to OPs bit search, QHs often have smallish muzzles and shallow mouths. It could be the mouthpieces you have tried are too fat for her and some might have too many moving parts. My experience with horses fussy about bits is experimenting with thinner mouthpieces with no more then a single joint hung a hole lower then standard can solve a lot if problems…or hung a hole higher then standard. Often get into trouble with too wide a mouthpiece too, some don’t care, some spend the whole ride trying to spit it out. I used a 4 3/4 on one QH, which is Pony sized in other disciplines. Measure her mouth where the bit sits-use a piece of string then measure that.

Bits we think they will like often aggravate them, which aggravates us. That big fat mouthpiece we think looks soft is actually uncomfortable for them, My fav bit is a small custom, loose ring with thin mouth and small rings, copper laced blued steel mouth intended for schooling Reiners. I used it at home on my stout TB show Hunter with dainty muzzle and shallow mouth. A hole loose, horse picked it up and carried it well, never got fussy in it even though it did in just about anything else. Showed in a mullen mouth dee ring with no moving parts.

There is an old technique of tying a light snaffle onto the halter and letting the horse live it it to get them to accept its presence in their mouth. They learn to eat, drink and sleep in it. It works quite well. Obviously…there are some safety considerations, I used easily breakable thin cotton shoe laces and colt was confined to stall or small corral/pen with nothing to snag on and out of reach of nosey neighbors

Sometimes the root problem is accepting the bit itself in their mouths., not the signals and pressure it delivers. Worth a shot.

The issue with staying in a hackamore is its not acceptable on a mature horse in many competition arenas. There’s nothing wrong with staying in a bosal if OP doesn’t want to compete in those after the horse “ages out”

If she were my horse, i would explore riding her in a simple snaffle and ONLY riding on the buckle. Don’t ask her for a headset or anything. She should be able to laterally flex in both directions, and bend to a stop, but she needs to be ridden straight on the buckle if she isn’t being ridden on the buckle already.

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I think she is missing some foundation work if she is acting like she is. I would do what luvmydutch says and go back to the beginning. As soon as you pick up on the rein she should soften, not pull the reins out of your hands. If a dentist has checked out her teeth and her teeth are fine, then I can only see a behavior issue.