I have a 7 yr. old Rocky Mountain Horse mare born from a mare and stud I owned. I trained her sire and now I am training her. I have handled her from the moment she was born and when she was young did quite a bit of groundwork with her such as lunging/join-up, getting her used to potentially scary objects, and setting the saddle on her, though she was a bit too young for the girth to fit. Nothing has ever fazed her and she is very calm and loves people. For various reasons I wasn’t able to work with her for a number of years. She just turned 7 this month and this past year I have been training her again. She has come along quickly, more than any horse I have ever trained. Now she is under saddle. I use a simple, Sweet Water Snaffle bit and got her used to both the saddle and bridle separately before ever getting on her. I have also worked with her using plow lines, which she does well with. She joins up with me, responds to all my ground cues, and is a dream until I get on her. She was fine when I initially got on and she was led by someone on the ground. Now I can mount her alone in the round pen and she will stand still, but right before I get on her she will start tossing her head. I don’t think it’s a problem with the bridle because she wears it when she is doing the ground work without problem. It’s only right before I get on her that the head throwing starts. Once on her I cue her to move forward and that is when she gives me problems. She tosses her head and swishes her tail, especially whenever she is given a command she doesn’t want to obey. There is a spot on the round pen she wants to go to and not move away from, but the various tactics I’ve been trying aren’t meeting with much success. When she tosses her head too much I turn her in a circle, both to keep her under control and to encourage some movement, and I try to get her to move forward out of a turn, since that can be easier than a dead stop straight on. I have a switch which I use sparingly because she responds better to it than tapping with my heels. My goal is to get her to move in the circle. I believe she knows what I want from her, because she does it perfectly with the plow lines. I don’t think the head tossing is pain because of the way it happens, not when the bridle is on, or the saddle, but just when I go to get on. The way in which she does it comes across more as her resisting to try to assert herself. The reason this is confusing is because on the ground she accepts me as the lead horse, but the moment I climb on everything I cue is challenged. Each session becomes a battle of wills and I don’t want it to be something she dreads, which will only make the nervous part of the head tossing worse. With the other horses I’ve trained, they have all been feistier or more stubborn, but I never encountered this particular problem, because this is such a basic, simple step in the training. Nothing fancy, just moving forward. It becomes a matter of if I say its black she says it’s white, so to speak. I don’t want to hurt our bond, which otherwise is fine and, as I said, she accepts me as lead horse when I’m on the ground, but I don’t want her to get the idea she can get away with doing whatever she wants. Anyone have a similar experience that was resolved?
It sounds like the saddle doesn’t fit and/or your mounting technique is putting too much pressure on her and you need to use a mounting block. I would first rule out saddle fit and back pain. Call a vet, chiropractor, massage therapist–whatever is needed to get her pain free. Do you know how to check saddle fit? If not there are plenty of youtube videos and horsesaddleshop.com has lots of good information.
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Agree with suggesting it sounds like a saddle fit issue. If she’s as biddable as you say in everything else, then you’re dealing with pain when you ride her. 99% of the time the saddle is the culprit.
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Thank you! I will be sure to look into that and see if it helps her!
