Switching from bit to the hackamore

[Palm_Beach]

They should always be in comfortable equipment. Then you need to train them to respond correctly, which is a process. If the horse does not respond correctly to something as inoffensive as a rope halter, there is no point in moving on to a bit. While the horse is in the rope halter and you are on the ground, you are also working on moving the hips, shoulders, backing, disengaging, flexing, going forward, stopping, etc. Once the horse is well trained and responding reliably, you then move to the saddle, and repeat all the same exercises while riding. Every exercise works on one thing at a time, and you don’t combine aids until the horse is proficient and reliable at the aids applied singularly. Sometimes when you combine aids, the horse stops responding correctly to one of the aids, and you have to go back and work on that aid by itself until he responds correctly again, then you combine.

If a horse has a “princess mouth,” you need to go back to the rope halter on the ground and get him broke 100% proficient on the ground, then get on with the rope halter and get him 100% proficient and then go to a bit. If Mr. Princess Mouth is not 100% broke in a rope halter on the ground you have a hole in your training, not a “princess mouth” horse.

[Denali6298]

@Palm Beach while I totally agree with your post for starting horses, I think the OPs situation is a bit different. It sounds like he just makes his opinions known about rider error. I wouldn’t call this a “princess mouth.”

A horse having an opinion about rider error doesn’t mean the horse has holes in its training unless you are training the horse to have no opinions and basically be a dead head. And some horses do go better in a hackamore or bit less bridle. Taking what you say to the extreme you think every bit should work on every horse and if it doesn’t well it is a training issue. We all know that is not true and so we have different bits for different horses.

My mare lets me know with tension and ears when she didn’t appreciate my decision. Not bucking or anything like that but I can tell when her reaction is “really woman?”

[tabula_rashah]

So in honor of this thread, I grabbed my S hack and hopped on my greenie Arab bareback for a walk out through the fields. First time with a hack and first time bareback. His reaction- woohoo! I can fit more grass in my mouth this way. Pretty much zero difference from riding him with a bit.

[mvp]

@Palm Beach

They should always be in comfortable equipment. Then you need to train them to respond correctly, which is a process. If the horse does not respond correctly to something as inoffensive as a rope halter, there is no point in moving on to a bit. While the horse is in the rope halter and you are on the ground, you are also working on moving the hips, shoulders, backing, disengaging, flexing, going forward, stopping, etc. Once the horse is well trained and responding reliably, you then move to the saddle, and repeat all the same exercises while riding. Every exercise works on one thing at a time, and you don’t combine aids until the horse is proficient and reliable at the aids applied singularly. Sometimes when you combine aids, the horse stops responding correctly to one of the aids, and you have to go back and work on that aid by itself until he responds correctly again, then you combine.

If a horse has a “princess mouth,” you need to go back to the rope halter on the ground and get him broke 100% proficient on the ground, then get on with the rope halter and get him 100% proficient and then go to a bit. If Mr. Princess Mouth is not 100% broke in a rope halter on the ground you have a hole in your training, not a “princess mouth” horse.

Well, yeah, there were holes in this horse’s training. But his being soft in the bridle wasn’t it. Rather, and as I said above, he wasn’t light enough to my leg.

I still think there are some horses who are more likely to be busy with a bit than others. Sometimes that has to do with a problem in training or their balance that really is farther back. I can explain the couple cases I am thinking about. But what’s added to that and hard to fix or even control at the outset is the horse’s innate propensity to express his stress via his mouth. Ideally, we’d have our horses so peaceful that they never chewed the bit in a bad way or wrung their tail or whathaveyou. But the horse who doesn’t have peace with the bit might not be fixed by going back to a rope halter. My behind-the-leg horse wouldn’t have been fixed that way, even if I had known enough to do ground work with him then.

[pony_baloney]

I ride my semi-retired Arab in a sidepull. There was no transition period at all, since I also use seat and legs for just about everything. Mine is a nice synthetic one from Mock Rock Endurance.

[quietann]

@tabula rashah

So in honor of this thread, I grabbed my S hack and hopped on my greenie Arab bareback for a walk out through the fields. First time with a hack and first time bareback. His reaction- woohoo! I can fit more grass in my mouth this way. Pretty much zero difference from riding him with a bit.

My mare would agree! What kind of Little S hackamore do you have? I’ve noticed that some are just a rounded part that the cheek pieces can slide on, and others have a hole to attach the cheek pieces to, which seems like it would give more control. I have the former as my mare is reliably voice trained and quite sensitive. What about nosebands? Do you use a curb ch ain, a curb strap, or???

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The being able to graze part is the best… No mare getting frustrated because she’s grabbed a huge mouthful of grass and gotten it wrapped around her bit!