None of this effing stuff. No draw reins, no vienna reins, no big bits. If you can’t get it in canter, go to trot. If you can’t get it in trot, go to walk. Transitions out the yahoo.
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Riding ability does not translate to horsemanship ability.
I once saw one of the riders from the Royal School at Jerez, visiting in the US and giving a clinic who was asked for help to load a horse on a trailer. He tried to strong arm the horse into the trailer and the horse broke loose and started running around the farm.
The horse was finally loaded, but not by the Spanish rider.
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I think you’re getting good advice here. My two cents; where is you horse in his training? Does he know how to properly execute what you are asking him to do?
I have a 6 year old fjord that I’m bringing along, had him since he was 3…I totally get the Big.Neck. thing. While I’ve been riding for over 30 years, I’m not a trainer and while I am riding dressage, that isn’t my background. I also have some physical limitations.
I put the basics on him, but we’ve gotten past my skill set. When I’m finding I am having trouble with something newer with him it’s a combo of typically being more of a coordination thing for me and I am having to learn it at the same time he is.
When this happens, I switch from lessons to training rides. I figure my trainer can set the new groundwork with him so he gets the idea. Once he has the idea, he is more accommodating to me even if my ask isn’t perfect. With us, it’s less of a “being naughty” issue and more of a young horse learning.
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…a horse convinced against his will is of the same opinion still.
None of my green horses go to school until they are already a willing participant in almost everything we do at home. They’re already interested in me (as my coach says: i’m relevant to them). To a one, they would prefer to be alone with me than in a group with their herdmates. Having them already in partnership-mode is ‘groundwork’, (even though they start out being ridden here…well, there was one exception, but mostly, i back them first here, at home-but to me, that’s groundwork too, as in foundation, breaking ground.)
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This is what I was going to say, but you said it well!
This is exactly how I had to approach my OTTB mare where “forward” (in quotes on purpose, simply lots of forward speed) was not something I could try to harness with contact, nope. She had to slow down to get her head out of her own way, and that meant lots of walking circles, lots of trotting serpentines and similar, just going in patterns that become monotonous and could allow her to relax with only a rein to guide direction, but not ask for any outline of her body.
GMs and DRs aren’t the solution here, at all, UNLESS they DR is set long enough so that it only engages if he’s getting dangerous with how high his head is - HIS activation when well out of alignment, not the rider’s constant reliant on it. Those things hurt bars and are easy to create horses who lean more and/or curl behind the bit, and those are the last things you need with a strong-necked horse. They exert a lot more pressure than you realize because your perceived pressure is reduced by the pulley effect, just like a curb bit.
I don’t disagree that there’s a time and place for these. I strongly disagree this is one of them. Those who have said that asking for lateral changes of flexion are, IMVHO, right. This cannot be about getting and keeping the head down, that’s a good way to get a horse in a situation like this to explode.
The issue is about getting the horse to relax, and you cannot do that by forcing the head into a position.
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Count me in the zero draw rein camp here.
While I understand the desire, it is a very crude Band-Aid when the problem is bracing. What everyone has said about patiently working through transitions, lateral flexion, leg yields with transitions included before during and after… Spiral and spiral out… There’s really no way around good training.
In terms of Tack, I definitely would not have this guy in a big fat snaffle. I would probably choose one of the loose ring level one milar bits, and evaluate the response.
With these horses you feel like you want to conquer the neck. What you really need to do is conquer the rib cage and the hind leg, laterally, and the neck will release. Draw reins might make you feel better temporally, but especially if the horse learns to bring his chin without releasing the under neck, you’re really sunk.
I will say that if this guy braces his neck and bolts off with you with his head in the air, a correctly adjusted running martingale provides a way to interrupt a very successful escape mechanism, without adding any kind of leverage. And by correctly adjusted, I mean that there is absolutely no involvement of the martingale when the horse has their head anywhere near normal. The rings go up to the throat latch for the adjustment. It’s the least invasive gadget I can think of, and I’ve only used it for horses to bolt and put their head straight up in the air so that you were looking at whatever star they have on their face…right in front of your face.
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I recommend that you read “The Rider Forms the Horse” by Udo Burger. I think with the help of this book you will be able to find the thread that leads you out of the labyrinth.
I also greatly recommend reading “The Way to Perfect Horsemanship” by Udo Burger. His two books are the only dressage books I recommend for learning to ride horses with problems.
I also recommend “Give Your Horse a Chance” Lt. Col. A. L. d’Endrody. By using the index I found proper ways to overcome inversions. These have helped me with every single inverted horse I’ve started riding.
My riding teacher has had me ride a few horses at her place with problems which come from the gaping holes in their training. My biggest success, that took me much longer than usual, was a croup high bull necked, ewe necked, super resistant little horsie. He had an attitude.
I also recommend riding in a double bridle for a while. That little horse referred to above got better after several months in a snaffle, but the true transformation to a sweet cooperative horse who seemed to enjoy me riding him truly developed when I switched him to the double bridle. I had not ridden him for a while, then I told my teacher I wanted to work with him with the double bridle. He ended up being such a sweet boy to ride instead of one of the horrors of the stable (balking, backing up at speed, resistant to the bit if hands got heavy, running away to the gate, you get the picture.) He got to be a decent riding horse with just a snaffle and no nose band, he became a pleasure to ride using the double bridle, striding forth confidently and cooperating with every aid.
I have MS. I ride with a double bridle with no nose band and no martingales etc… I have limited ability in the saddle. My riding teacher will put me on horses that really don’t belong at her stable (lesson horses can be leased for showing at her place) who her regular students are not interested in riding. I improve these horses.
Read Udo Burger, follow his instructions. I started reading his books when I had ridden and saddle trained my horses for almost 20 years, and reading his books transformed my riding to the great relief of the lesson horses I now ride. What had been really hard became very easy.
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This is one of my favorite training books as well. I remember reading it for the first time, as assigned reading for the L Program, and wanting to underline half of every page! Thank you for the reminder to re-read it.
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This is, 100%, my fjords life in training right now 
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THIS ^^. I have no problem at all with DR, when they are needed to correct a horse that’s gone off course. BUT - a horse that is leaning/pulling is the last horse you want to add leverage to his mouth! Lateral work and transitions, plus ground work to gain his respect and obedience, as so many have said. These are the tools you need.
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Agreed! If you put a horse in draw reins and don’t have the knowledge or feel for how to use them, you will teach the horse to bolt and run away with its nose on its chest.
The OP poses a question that is answered by training of the rider…then training of the horse …NOT by stronger and stronger gadgets.
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Before there can be submission there must be relaxation.
Half halts have nothing to do with wrist and hand strength. They come from your body, lightly supported by your fingers. I suspect you need an instructor capable of explaining the how.
No amount of “gadgets” will get you there.
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I feel like clinic situations can be useful for getting a new set of eyes and identifying the problem.
But the clinic situation also has an inbuilt tendency to want to provide a quick fix. That’s the nature of clinics. Sometimes it really is as easy as just changing one small thing. But honestly most horse /rider issues are complex and require retraining both horse and rider.
So I don’t doubt that the clinician usefully have helped you identify a real problem. But the quick fix solution of draw riens isn’t going to help what is really a larger training hole.
You need better local coaching than whatever you are getting that allowed this to develop.
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Do you do any in hand groundwork? If you’re on the ground holding both reins can you get the horse to be soft in the neck, change the balance, and move each leg as you ask for them? If you dont have those pieces in your groundwork first you are more than likely going to have a naughty horse under saddle.
Whatever kind of crunchy or not crunchy riding you want you dont want that horse using the brachiochephaclicus muscle againat you.
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