Installing brakes in a happy hunt horse

[coffeehag]

Hi friends! Looking for some advice from fellow hunters!

I have a lovely 8 year old TB and we occasionally hunt down here in Texas and I’m hoping that when we eventually move and migrate back to Boston-ish or elsewhere that we’ll be able to hunt more frequently. That said, we have one itty bitty issue – brakes.

Poe is wonderful with the hounds, we stand still at checks, and walk and trot nicely. But once we’re moving at a pace above the trot, brakes suddenly become negligible. The last time we hunted, I was geared up with a running martingale and a mullen mouth Pelham, and brakes were still difficult to find.

Now, as I mentioned, we are currently only hunting very occasionally, simply due to how far we live from the hunt, but I’d like to increase that when we’re out of Texas. So since I have oodles of time, I figured I’d come to you fine folks for ideas.

I have an inkling that brakes come with time and it would be wise to really step back and do some hound walks and even some trail riding where we practice our transitions, but figured I’d ask all of y’all, too! After all, we want to be good citizens when hunting

[cedarlake]

I don’t hunt, but I’ve run down enough cattle in open sage brush to know that brakes are essential, and safe ones at that. I always worked on transitions and lightness. If I sat down and felt nothing, then I would really tune up my horse to listen to my seat. If I picked up my hands and had any sort of stiffness or evasion, I would work on being supple and lightness.

If they are going to be heavy in the sandbox, they are going to be REALLY heavy out in the wild. And when you are running down cattle, or about to jump over large brush, you want to know that you know you got what you need under you. I also am heavily against bitting up, but that’s my preference. In a moment of desperation, I certainly will, but then I go home and do the least I can. I had people gafawing that I dared to chase cattle in a rope halter. But I showed them how handy my sorrel pony was that day! So my methods do work, but they are a slow climb rather than a get it done today thing.

[Huntin_Pony]

Hard to disagree with anything cedarlake said, but I have a question and a perspective.

First, what do you want to use your brakes to do in the hunt field? Sounds like a stupid question but what I mean is are you “tapping the brakes” a lot in hopes of regulating your horse’s speed throughout or are you only using them when there’s a sudden stop or trouble ahead?

What I prefer is to teach my horse a few rules that keep us (and our friends) safe. Rule 1 - You always gallop with your head up, looking ahead. Rule 2 - You never pass a horse unless I ask you to pass. Rule 3 - If you follow Rules 1 and 2, I won’t pull on your mouth. I’ve had several hunt horses that are delightful when left alone but heavy when “ridden” all the time. But you have to train this, of course.

Basically, since you say your horse is good at slower gaits, teach him the relative position you want him to maintain at slower gaits. Put him a horse-length behind another horse and teach him to stay there with little assistance from you. At the beginning you will need to remind him of the correct position, but IF YOU ARE VERY CONSISTENT, he will start positioning himself for you. And that means that he’s learning to watch the lead horses and prepare himself to react when he sees them change.

That is what you ultimately want - he can react much more quickly to what he sees than wait for you to see, decide what to do and then give him the aids.

[NancyM]

You are riding a TB, I presume an OTTB?
A TB who has been trained on the track, has been ridden and trained to take a “hold”. That is, to take the pressure of the bit on the bars of the mouth, and find his balance that way. It’s in addition to the gallop itself as an excercise for further fitness and strength, for his racing career. It means that a racehorse depends on this “hold” for his balance too. This is what we have to “reschool” when we change his training from “racing” to other forms of equine endevours. If this training is not adequately changed, the horse will continue to take a “hold” and “tow” the rider to high speeds, as he is accustomed to doing.

Since he is perfectly OK with taking pressure on the bars of his mouth without “backing off” that at all, some people may try “leverage” (your pelham bit) or bits that result in “pain” from taking this hold (twisted wire or other more severe mouthpieces). Sometimes this works, but often not. Because the horse will still “tow”, as he has done during his race training, because it’s all he knows.
Another option to try is to use a gag snaffle, with two reins… a pulley rein AND a regular snaffle rein. The horse can not put this bit onto the bars of his mouth and tow you with it, because when he does that, the pulley rein comes into play, and the bit runs UP in the mouth, which raises the head and takes the pressure OFF the bars, and puts it in the corners of the mouth instead. He can not “tow” from the corners of the mouth, so can no longer LEAN on you, and TOW you from the bars. Eureka, the problem solves itself.

This bit is not a “tough” bit, or a “painful” bit, it just works differently from a regular snaffle. The mouthpiece is smooth, and soft, just a regular snaffle UNTIL the horse goes to take a hold and tow you. When he goes to do that, the action of the bit changes, and negates what the horse thinks he is going to do, which is tow you. So he doesn’t, and the problem is solved. The horse is rebalanced, not so heavy on the front end, not so heavy in your hand.

As long as the horse does not start to try to tow you, the bit works like a regular broken snaffle. After the horse has got out of the habit on leaning and towing, is lighter on his front end and is using his hind end more effectively, you MAY be able to switch back to a regular snaffle… or maybe not.

I’ve used this system with many OTTBs repurposed to h/j successfully. One horse was a “confirmed bolter” on the track, and was galloped in draw reins with no direct snaffle rein (ARRRRGGGGGHHHH!), with multiple “evasions” developed after a 5 year racing career with multiple trainers. It worked. Horse had a long h/j career after reschooling.

Look around for a nice gag snaffle, set it up with two reins, a regular snaffle rein on the bit ring, and a pulley rein on the gag. Ride just like using a pelham. Give it a try. Good luck.

[Willesdon]

Another suggestion is to use a Kineton: pressure on the nose rather than the mouth. Very little pressure until needed.

[Amy3996]

Not a true field hunter myself, but my first horse was an Irish schoolmaster who hunted and evented there before being sold to the US as an equitation prospect (kind of an odd career change, I know).

He’d been very much in that regimented Big Eq arena work heavy program when I bought him, so our first few trips out on hunter paces were… um, exuberant. In addition to the great advice and flatwork tips above, you definitely might find that the brakes come more easily with more regular hunt trips.

I know once those kinds of adventures became more common place for us, my guy settled quite a bit. I figured out where to give and take so that we weren’t bracing against each other. He relaxed when he realized we had established our boundaries and I was willing to let him work within them with less micromanagement from me.

[beau159]

@coffeehag

Hi friends! Looking for some advice from fellow hunters!

I have a lovely 8 year old TB and we occasionally hunt down here in Texas and I’m hoping that when we eventually move and migrate back to Boston-ish or elsewhere that we’ll be able to hunt more frequently. That said, we have one itty bitty issue – brakes.

Poe is wonderful with the hounds, we stand still at checks, and walk and trot nicely. But once we’re moving at a pace above the trot, brakes suddenly become negligible. The last time we hunted, I was geared up with a running martingale and a mullen mouth Pelham, and brakes were still difficult to find.

Now, as I mentioned, we are currently only hunting very occasionally, simply due to how far we live from the hunt, but I’d like to increase that when we’re out of Texas. So since I have oodles of time, I figured I’d come to you fine folks for ideas.

I have an inkling that brakes come with time and it would be wise to really step back and do some hound walks and even some trail riding where we practice our transitions, but figured I’d ask all of y’all, too! After all, we want to be good citizens when hunting

If your horse does not have brakes, then you need to TRAIN them to have brakes. Period.

Having a good stop at all times is a hard line for me. It’s a matter of safety. No matter what is going on, I need to know that if I ask for a stop, I am going to get that stop without question.

Stopping comes from 3 things:
-your seat
-your voice
-the reins

Obviously, using all 3 together yields the best result. However, you want EACH thing to be as good as the other. So let’s say you are going along, your horse trips, you drop the reins, and then step on them and brake them. How will you stop your horse? If you’ve already taught them to respond to EACH of those three things, you would be able to stop them with your voice and/or seat if your reins were not available.

This takes time and consistency.

A few springs ago, I worked on getting better brakes on my main barrel racing horse. Probably for a good month, we couldn’t do more than ride along the road due to mud and/or snow, so I did about a million stops. No kidding. Started at the walk, and walking away from home to use it to my advantage. I would “quit riding” and even stick my feet out in front a bit to exaggerate, and sit deep in my seat. And wait. If nothing happened, then I said “whoa”. If nothing happened, then I used the reins.

Guess what? At any gait now, all I have to do is sit in my seat like that, and she’s stopping. She knows the cue and what is expected. I’ve continued to reinforce the training all this time, so the cues stay crisp.

So no, brakes do not come with time if you aren’t doing anything to build yourself some brakes. You need to train it.

[FitToBeTied]

Why my hunt horses do dressage in the off season. I want them to have a full complement of tools. I hunt OTTB’s and in their first hunt season they are typically in pelham with two reins. Depending on the horse, maybe a standing. I have found that the OTTB’s I’ve had do not like runnings. My experience.

I like adjustability. That is where dressage comes in. Dressage is great for training the flexibility, adjustability nd balance in the horses. It gives you and the horse a bigger toolbox to use in the hunt field.

[floppyammy]

@NancyM had great advice, specific to reschooling a TB with a track history.

I would also add that as someone who has hunted in the greater Boston area, it may be very different from what you are used to in Texas. Up here we drag hunt exclusively, as there is very little land and what is available is mostly privately owned. Terrain is very much woods and rocks and very little open fields. Much of the time you will be expected to ride single file and you do not pass the horse in front of you, regardless of if that horse is slower or has a shorter step. You will be in close quarters much of the time - it is very important that your horse has excellent manners around other horses and hounds. Your horse had better be able to gallop flat out, rate behind the horse in front of you, and come to an abrupt trot, walk, or halt without fretting or dancing around, or you will have a not very fun day. I highly recommend hound schooling in the summer to get familiar with the people in the club, the culture of the club, the terrain and the pace. Everyone is very welcoming and encouraging and will definitely help you out. I will say that the majority of hunt horses up here are Drafts, Draft Crosses, ISH, and other mixed breeds. TBs do hunt up here, but the hunts are shorter and require less stamina than other parts of the country.

Feel free to PM me!

[coffeehag]

I understand what you’re saying but there’s no way to duplicate the adrenaline rush you get with hunting – thus saying it comes with time. Time that comes from things like hound walks or hunter paces that get as close as possible to mirroring that energy but in a more acceptable environment.

[coffeehag]

I will! If you’re hunting with Myopia or Norfolk, we may know some of the same people. Actually, that area is in our top two for relocation.

Here, we do have a good amount of single-file when we’re in the woods, and it’s certainly where I struggle the most. Thus hoping that should we relocate there, we can get ample practice before even stepping foot into a “real” hunt situation!

[BeeHoney]

I think it helps to practice galloping in a group in a controlled situation (i.e. not out hunting). Most horses relate trotting in a group as similar to ring work, but cantering and galloping is a different skill. Others have said this, and I strongly agree–cantering and galloping with a group in the open, and then stopping when asked is a skill that needs to be trained.

Personally, I have very light hands and have had shoulder surgery so excessive pulling doesn’t work for me, so I have no problem bitting up. In that instance I use a Pelham or a gag. If the horse has an otherwise nice mouth, but is prone to ignore me at their discretion, I might use two reins and use the gag rein or curb rein only when needed.

I love @Huntin_Pony 's rules. Teaching horses to gallop with their head up–I have had horses that try to put their head down when they pull and that is unbalanced and not a good way to maneuver through hunt country. A horse with its head down is not positioned to respond to a rider’s commands. Also, I like to teach my horses about distancing and passing. One of my hunt horses is excitable and we’ve had issues with pulling–but she automatically stops with the appropriate distance if the horse in front of her stops.

[coffeehag]

I love this and fully agree! Exactly where my brain is at.

[Bogie]

My last OTTB was a successful racehorse before he started hunting. It took some time and patience to convince him that he didn’t have to win. The first time we galloped through an open field in a snaffle, he put his head down, leaned into the contact and . . . started passing horses.

Here’s what worked for me:

• Many trail rides where we changed position in a group with the emphasis on leaving a horse length between us and the horse in front. My horse would initially melt down when not allowed to lead. He’d paw the ground, bounce, etc.
• Changing his bit. He did best with a Kimberwick (quarter moon mouthpiece). My preference is to ride on a loose rein and only adjust as needed.
• Teaching a verbal slow down cue (I used a trilling sound).
• Transitions, transitions, transitions.
• Initially keeping the hunts short. If he was really good, we might hack back after the first check.

Ultimately, it also came down to wet saddle pads. The more he hunted, the more he understood his job. He loved watching the hounds and was very focused on them.

Good luck and have fun!

[McGurk]

Lots of excellent advice here!

I’d just like to add another nuance.

You have to school a hunting horse in company to develop good hunting manners, and that is increasingly hard to find. Four horses is the minimum, six is better, and you need to practice safe following distance, passing safely, leading, following, taking different positions in the group and leaving the group.

In particular, I think @Huntin_Pony’s advice is spot on. If you are absolutely consistent about safe following distance and slowing and stopping without running up on the horse in front of you, your horse will learn to self regulate. This is much easier to practice over the summer, without the added excitement of hounds, and then build on that foundation when cubbing starts in the fall.

My seasoned horse hunts in a snaffle and is rarely ridden on contact, he just watches the horse in front of him and responds to weight and voice. He is a joy to hunt.

My young horse isn’t quite as good, but she’s getting there. She absolutely watches the horse in front of her and stops before I think to ask.

The hardest advice to take is that it takes two to pull, and that you should avoid taking a hold and giving the horse something to pull against. If you absolutely can’t break the horse’s habit of leaning on the bit when you pick up contact, learn to ride with a half or full cross in your reins, so at least the horse is pulling against himself, not you. If your TB was ever in race training, he’ll respond to this right away.