How to be on the bit

[CFFarm]

Try to reverse your thinking. Instead “on the bit” try thinking “riding through”. Get the energy to come from behind, over the back and through the poll to the reins. Hard for we humble humans because we are so “hands” ingrained.

[TheHotSensitiveType]

@OdieJump

If getting my horse to ride on the bit is not a good step then I would be more then willing to hear what I should do! Currently I’m working on having my horse be a lot more responsive to my leg, he’s an OTTB and is extremely lazy and has no impulse at all.

Responsive to your leg is definitely an excellent first step while you wait to connect with this trainer. When you ask your horse on a loose rein to trot, do you ask once with a light aid and he moves off or do you have to ask multiple times? When your horse is trotting, does he keep going at the same pace you asked or do you have to keep reminding him to trot? Really, really pay attention to your aids! It is so easy to be nagging a horse to stay trotting and not realize it. All of this applies to the walk and canter too.

Is he responsive to seat cues for whoa or are you having to pull him to a stop? In other words, on a loose rein when you use seat cues for a whoa does he stop and stay stopped? For trot to walk transitions? Canter to trot transitions?

Does he move off your leg when you apply light pressure?

These are all so very important and will set you up for success in your dressage journey. My mare and I had to go back to these very basics a few years ago before even thinking about on the bit, and it has helped so much!

@OdieJump

Also, I can’t seem to upload the videos so I tried to just do a picture but that won’t work as well

Can you upload your video to youtube and then post the link?

[mydogs]

I am going to try my best to explain what my thought process is when I ride, but because there is so much that goes into getting a horse through/on the bit/listening to the aids (choose whatever set of terms that you want), I always write things down after my lessons so I don’t forget.
Note This is what works for my horse and I. Previous horses had different goals and exercises.

My goal is to get my horse listening to my seat (he has to bring his back up, not hollow his back for this to happen), taking more weight on his inside hind (also by having his inside hindleg step under the center of his body), sitting more on his hindend (therefore lighter in the forehand), & bending around my legs. If he does all of that, then he can be “on the bit”. But if any of those do not happen, he is not properly “on the bit”.

Step #1) Warm-up Evaluate
During my warm-up in each of my ride, I evaluate four things:

• Tempo
• Bend
• Outline
• Mental State

This what my trainer and I have discovered works for me in determining how my horse feels that day and gives me a guide on what I may do with my horse in that ride. I view each of those similar to the goldilocks porridge. Too much, too little, just right.

Tempo: too slow, too fast, just right (but not just how much energy is coming from his hind legs, but how is he listening to my leg & seat when I ask him to go forward or slow down, because “slowing down” comes from my seat, not my hands)
Bend: no bend, overbent, just right (but not just how much is he bending in his body, but how is he listening to my leg when I ask him to bend)
Outline: arched back, over curling, just right
Mental state: is he focusing on my aids/seat, ignoring my aids because he is tired/lazy, or ignoring my aids because he is too hot & spooky.

Step #2) Exercises
If any of those are not right, then I know I will have to keep that in mind throughout my ride to see if my exercises are helping him improve.

I will do any of the following exercises:

• 4-6 full transitions on a circle (walk/halt, trot/walk, canter/trot), then 4-6 half transitions on a circle (transitions within the gait)
• Spiraling in & out on the circle
• Changing bend to the inside then outside on a circle
• Serpentines of different sizes
• Different sized figure eights
• Leg yields

Then I spend a few minutes riding around on several large circles to re-evaluate my 4 criteria. What has improved, what still needs more work? Mainly because I don’t have the mental ability to do the exercises and think about my 4 items in detail for evaluation.
I let the exercises do the work of getting my horse more through instead of thinking “I have to make him more through by half halting a bazillion times”. I have finally learned that the exercises can improve my horse and I don’t have to feel like I am physically forcing him to do it myself.

As a note, the above has changed many times in the last 12 months. In the beginning, I spent months just getting him to stretch and lift his back. Then, I spent another few weeks getting him to just bend around my inside leg because he was stiff.

Now, for a beginner, here is my general idea of what I would focus on:

1. Tempo - does he move forward when I ask with my leg? Then, is he moving at an even tempo consistently? If not, work on getting an even, forward tempo and increasing how long he does this for.
   **I just read this article and thought it was a good read about being in front of the leg:
   https://dressagetoday.com/instruction/tune-your-riding-position-to-put-your-horse-into-drive?

2 - Bend - is he stiff to one side? Then, does he listen to my leg to bend through his ribs and not just his neck? I would also do stretches after rides (when the muscle has warmed up) to help his muscles lengthen.
3 - Contact - while I would try to incorporate this during #1 & #2, I wouldn’t fuss too much either. Does he accept a steady contact? This is where a trainer will be extremely valuable. Yes, you don’t want his head to be up in the air so he needs to learn to bring his head “down”, but he doesn’t need to be on the vertical from the very beginning. It is done in stages. I would at least like his neck to be somewhat parallel.

Based on how those 3 go, then I would determine what the next steps would be.
Can you ask him to move away from your leg? Can you ask him to step his inside leg under his body more? Is he functionally straight in his body?

For ANYONE reading, this is just a general idea of what one could do. Doesn’t mean it works for every horse. But, the OP is asking for some guidance and this is what has helped me mentally plan my rides.

If this sounds like something you would like to incorporate into your rides, I would be happy to go into more details or send you pictures of my notes in my journal. I have notes about what aids I use, timing of aids, reasons for doing different exercises, etc…

[Bellathemustang]

@Equibrit

Please - describe the rhythm a relaxation required to the OP and how to obtain it ?

Well, I am no expert, being a beginner myself. I needed a trainer on the ground (2x a week lessons) to guide me through it. Both rhythm and relaxation were very difficult for me, I am a very tense person, and rider, and have no natural rhythm. At the risk of sounding like a 6 year old, we used rhythm beads a few times early on and it really clicked for me. Now I am a lot better at keeping the horse slightly in front of my leg to maintain the rhythm (I had the bad habit of letting the horse drop to a walk from the trot). For relaxation, my trainer had me do stretching exercises on the horse to warm up, and I will do lateral work during the warm up, or any time during the ride that is needed to get the suppleness and relaxation I am looking for.

My “barometer” for if I have rhythm is “Can I maintain this pace for X distance?” Since I am a beginner that might be one lap around the arena. This one is easy for me to feel if I am getting or not, I think most people can tell if a horse speeds up or slows down. My last lesson we were working with ground poles and maintaining rhythm over ground poles at a trot. So that might be a fun thing for OP to try.

Relaxation is more difficult for me to feel. It is easier at the trot, I love nothing more than posting a smooth, relaxed trot at a steady rhythm. I do a lot of work at the walk with my little mare, and she has a big difference in her walk when she relaxes, but not all horses are as obvious to me. Also, asking for any lateral movement or upward transitions normally shows if horse and I are relaxed or not. Does the horse do what I ask? Does it feel good (finesse)? But for me the best way to gauge relaxation is video. Nothing like seeing your shoulders up at your ears to realize how tense you were during the ride!

*I rode as a kid and I feel like relaxation and rhythm came so naturally to me then! Youth is wasted on the young

**My adult riding goals are just pleasure riding. I just bought a hobby farm and just want to enjoy safe, fun daily rides on a happy horse. So please don’t judge me as some top level eventer I am just a lowly backyard pasture pleasure rider. I chime in on threads about the basics, since that is my current level and I have learned a lot from an amazing trainer.

[sdlbredfan]

@mydogs

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

This is excellent advice. The issue of ‘on the bit’ is not a static thing, but an elastic contact allowing the horse to come forward into an acceptance of the bit. The OP might benefit from some rides on a ‘schoolmaster’ horse with trainer’s supervision, to literally get a feel for what that really means.

[sdlbredfan]

@merrygoround

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.

This also is excellent advice!

[sdlbredfan]

@Mondo

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.

YEP! Somehow I overlooked that, and it is correct. Sadly, not all so-called trainers are worthy of the title.

[mydogs]

@sdlbredfan

YEP! Somehow I overlooked that, and it is correct. Sadly, not all so-called trainers are worthy of the title.

The OP said she is meeting with a new trainer but hasn’t been to their barn yet.