my ultimate goal is teach my horse to collect but I thought getting him on the bit would be a good first step. I do most of my work at home without a trainer but I do have one so please don’t just tell me to get a trainer! If you could share any resources with detailed instructions or have some tips or pointers where to start I would really appreciate it, thanks 
I think don’t think about this concept too much right now. Go forward. Then go forward on even contact. Then come back here. Video is helpful.
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Save yourself five years and listen to the above advice. 
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I know of people who have their horses forward in an even contact and yet, their horses aren’t even close to being « on the bit ».
How is that suppose to save anyone 5yrs?
Watching videos, photos and books are ok, I do read a lot on riding theories, but that can’t teach someone feel.
I can understand and use what I read into my riding because I now have some sort of a real riding background from well, riding a lot, training horses and taking lots of lessons.
Applying riding theories isn’t as easy as it seems; especially when it comes to more higher level stuff like collection.
And even if the OP is just asking about putting the horse « on the bit » at working gaits, I still think reading random stuff won’t be that helpfull.
I think that once you understand or know how to perform something, you can then read about it and relate it to your riding, make changes and become a better rider.
Op, even if that’s not what you want to hear, you need to listen to your trainer, practice a lot outside of lessons and take lots of lessons.
Also, we can’t see how you go with your horse so it is a bit difficult to tell you what you should do. At your level, you need eyes on the ground.
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If you posted a video you would get better advice as we could see where you’re coming from. You might not like everything you hear, but I’ve seen some thoroughly good advice on this forum. Lets see how you’re doing!
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OP - Perhaps start with some basic information for us such as -
What is your horse’s age and training
What is your level of experience
Where do you ride - arena, field, trails
What is your goal - dressage, jumping, . . .
What type of tack do you use - bridle, bit, saddle, . . .
What is your trainer’s specialty and what has (s)he told you to work on
and yes, a video or even some still photos of you riding your horse would help.
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Maybe instead of thinking you want your horse “on” the bit as a first step, think you want your horse to “accept” contact & “seek” the bit. Don’t think the only goal is for your horse’s head to be on the vertical, as that could create false frame. Also, instead of thinking collect at this stage, you want to balance your horse better by getting them to take more weight on their hind end and less weight on their forehands. That might be a better mental image at this point.
something a previous trainer showed me was that she was able to collect/balance her horse from just seat, reins weren’t absolutely necessary.
Agreed with others, there is so much to this foundation that it’s hard to give advice over the Internet. Horses don’t follow a manual
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I will say not all trainers understand it. I wasted many lessons with no improvement.
As a novice my basics were forward STRAIGHT. What looks straight isn’t always straight. When your horse starts to become round then you are straight. For me and my left banana I feel light I am bent right not straight. As we get better I am going more what feels like straight. When my horse isn’t round and reaching I know I am not straight. I started with more contact the first few lessons.
Now that I am getting straight more often we are now on a slightly looser rein so she can round and reach. We are now getting some beginnings of on the bit. If a little slop in rein at the trot I take up the rein.
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Thank you, mydogs. this is a concept I wish more people understood. And, yes, it has to do with the basics, and the ability to encourage the horse to come from behind, engaging their hocks, lifting their back, and going forward into an accepting contact. It is not something capturable by the hand.
So OP while you work alone, that’s fine, but you first must be able to understand the path you must follow, and how to recognize and utilize your goal when you reach it.
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How I read what ladyj79 wrote [that RHRT was referring to ] is that before you are forward and on even contact there will be no ‘on the bit’… so first steps… forward… even contact… then come back and ask again about ‘on the bit’… basically what ChinaDoll wrote.
What am I missing?
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In order to teach a horse or rider how to go on the bit, a trainer (or internet advice giver) should set up exercises where the horse’s nose comes IN and his feet step OUT.
Such excercises include:
- come up the quarterline, nose IN, legyield OUT to the rail
- turn early for the first half of a corner, legyield out for the second half of the corner
- on curved lines, nose IN, legyield OUT. “blow your curves wide”
- spiral circles: when enlarging, nose in, legyield out to make the circle expand from the rider’s inside leg
Helpful imagery includes:
- the horse should feel like a “full sail” with the energy/wind blowing out to fill the curve to the outside
- ride like you’re inside a giant barrel and painting the walls by pressing the horse against them
- he should feel pressed into your outside thigh
Eventually the trainer or internet advice giver should set up exercises designed to teach the horse and rider how to switch rein - ie, changing direction with exaggerated legyielding so the horse is pressed against one thigh/the sail is full in one direction, and then this is switched in the change of direction to the other way around. Changing direction from E to B and riding bith turns legyielding OUT can be helpful here.
Learning riders should be warned in advance and subsequently reminded repeatedly to use an opening inside rein to bring the nose in, because every last person will initially make the mistake of crossing their inside hand over the withers the second they start trying to move the feet out.
Helpful replacement imagery is to ask the rider to bring their hand toward/over their inside knee to ask the nose to come in.
That should get the OP off to a good start.
This basic approach works for pretty much every horse and rider. It is not necessary to see video, the approach is the same. It is not necessary to know the age or prior training of the horse as regardless what the answer is the approach is the same. It is not necessary to lecture that it isn’t all about the head and the hands - just provide excercises that are all about moving the horse’s feet and ribcage laterally from the leg.
Rather than making dressage out to be a giant impossible mystery, it is most helpful to just for the love of Christ give the rider a series of specific and progressive excercises to follow and practice which will set them up for success. It does not have to be vaguely amorphous rocket science.
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I grew up riding arabians, and then hunters, and in my circles back then (which are not representative of those entire disciplines), we literally did train horses to “be on the bit.” Or rather, we trained them for what we thought being on the bit meant: an artificially created headset/flexion from repeated yank-yank-yank-give on the bit.
I started getting serious about my dressage work in the past year. I had struggle with dressage my entire life. Yet this time around, I lucked out and found the perfect trainer who was able to make the proverbial lightbulb of dressage turn on for me.
She was the first person to truly teach me straightness. It’s such an obvious concept, yet it was something I could not feel correctly despite an entire lifetime of riding and showing. All the lateral work and flexion in the world was utterly useless (and even counterproductive) when we were not straight to begin with. When I started riding straight, with the help of a properly fitting saddle and a comfortable bit, my horse was suddenly searching for contact and rounding to the bit like never before. And without me doing anything else differently or asking in any way.
For decades, I did not believe people who said the horse will learn to accept the bit on their own without the rider asking. Yet just a couple minor adjustments in my own riding (and tack) opened my eyes to what I had been doing wrong.
Pointers on where to start: make sure your tack fits. Find a bit your horse is comfortable in. Make sure you are riding straight and forward-- which may mean perusing Youtube/the internet for help or taking some video clips of yourself to assess what is going on.
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Yep, you understood exactly what I said. If you are asking this question I think you are at the beginning of your journey and trying to or not knowing you are skipping steps. Until you lay the foundation, don’t worry too much about building walls.
maybe I’m wrong and this is a skilled combination with a great trainer and an unusual issue though. In which case Alibi’s words are maybe more applicable.
until then, go forward, on even contact, then straight, and a lot of the pieces actually just start coming together.
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http://www.horsechannel.com/english-horse-training/dressage-mysteries-solved.aspx
You’ll notice Jane doesn’t even discuss the term “on the bit” (through) until well down the page.
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As others have (much more politely) noted, you have bigger fish to fry before you worry about on the bit. But I would like to add that when you said, “My ultimate goal is teach my horse to collect but I thought getting him on the bit would be a good first step,” you sort of put the lie to your other statement, “…but I do have one so please don’t just tell me to get a trainer!”
If you have a trainer who is OK with you “getting him on the bit” as a “good first step,” then you do not have a trainer who is educated in dressage. Full stop.
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It is a problem here with beginners who ask questions without knowing how huge and all encompassing the answer should be. They do not realize how long the journey takes and how many books it would take to explain. I think starting with exactly what the expressions used ie “on the bit” and “collect” mean, because I’m not sure OP understands, nor how much horse strength is required.
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I think the problem is more not knowing what questions to ask, because most people don’t know what they don’t know. That’s why my advice is predicated on this being a beginner, and providing steps one and like, 1.5. That’s enough for now if this rider is where I think she is. But again, without video, it’s hard to be sure.
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. I consider my horse to be riding “on the bit” when she is seeking contact with the bit and responding well off of any aid applied lightly. I need light, steady rein contact to get her to accept the bit. Some horses like more contact, but she is a sensitive mare I take twice weekly lessons with a fabulous trainer, and my goal for the year 2017 was to maintain light, steady contact though the reins. While it sounds simple, in my opinion that is something everyone can always improve on.
OP, you will notice this is a pyramid, so be sure you have rhythm and relaxation solid before worrying too much about connection It will be difficult to keep steady bit contact if the rhythm ins’t there (like clapping to an off beat song) and I don’t think many horses will seek the bit if the elasticity and suppleness isn’t there. Stiffness can make many aids difficult for the horse to accept or even “hear”.
[IMG]https://canterburyfarmchicago.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/dressage-training-pyramid.jpeg)
Aside: I love OTTB’s because they seem to have the Impulsion built in (at least the ones I have had the privilege of riding). If I can get the rhythm, relaxation and connection established their natural impulsion takes the ride to the next level I can then start working on straightness, whereas with other horses (like my sometimes lazy mare) I am still working on Impulsion. Though OTTB’s can be heavy on the forehand, I get the closest to collection on them than any other horse.
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All the basic exercises in the world will do no good, if not done correctly. LY, is not a collecting exercise. It is though one of the first exercises, that teaches the rider to simultaneously use different parts of their body to achieve an effect.
As far as being a mystery, there are many riders who are looking for someone to give them the magical key. But there is nothing magical about it. It is simply organizing your body and using it consistently to step by step explain to the horse,what it is you are asking. The magic comes when they understand.
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I’m sorry, were we talking about a collecting exercise or getting a horse on the bit?
In order to get a horse on the bit, the rider must ride the horse laterally FROM the inside leg TO the outside rein.
(Fully prepared for someone to explai. to me that this is wrong too now…)
Telling a rider to bring the nose in and send the feet out is the first way to teach both horse and rider this feeling. It works like a charm again and again and again.
Unless you have a different excercise to suggest?
Simply stating that exercises won’t do any good unless ridden correctly and you should ‘organize your body’ doesn’t give anyone anything to actually TRY. OP probably won’t get it 100% right immediately, just as you I’m sure did not and I certainly did not either, but if she keeps fiddling with an actual excercise or two she stands a good chance.
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