I bought my bosal and mecate, which came last week. Unfortunately, I did not have time, until today, to try it.
holycowshestops! Yep, run on exclamation. The little mare understood it and she listened to it. I rode her about 30 minutes in it and she was pertty good.
So thanks for the encouragement to try it, I probably would not have done it on my own.
Great.
Just remember, with any other than bits, the trick is in the immediate release to any you ask.
Communicating by the nose is about asking, never pulling, ever, or the horses learn to stick their nose out and run thru it.
Many horses prefer that to a bit, any day.
We even use our grass rope hackamores with our older horses whenever possible, they are so comfortable with them.
With bits, a rider can haul around and control a horse by sheer pressure on the mouth or leverage.
The rider can have impolite hands and get by so much.
Not with bosals, if a horse ever tries you and you pull back and try to hold, you are teaching them they can ignore you.
From on top of them, you can’t get enough leverage on the nose, as you can with even a halter if you are on the ground.
It is all in teaching right, teaching light cues and sticking to them as a rider.
Ham handed riders don’t get along with bosals for long.
Also, your body is already telling a horse what you are going to ask, so what you eventually get to “say” thru your reins is confirmation.
Nice that it worked so well for both of you.
How about some pictures?
with the bosal, she’s very sensitive, so there is no need to do much more than raise my hand and lower it again.
With bits, a rider can haul around and control a horse by sheer pressure on the mouth or leverage.
The rider can have impolite hands and get by so much.
not with this mare! She will brace against even a snaffle and just go. With the bosal she is much more sensitive and listens much better.
Not with bosals, if a horse ever tries you and you pull back and try to hold, you are teaching them they can ignore you.
From on top of them, you can’t get enough leverage on the nose, as you can with even a halter if you are on the ground.
really? My mare must be wired differently then, because she immediately was more sensitive with the bosal and it took a feather weight of pressure to get the stop I was asking for. A tiny wiggle of a finger and she dropped her head too.
Nice that it worked so well for both of you.
How about some pictures?
I’ll try, perhaps DD can get some of us!
I am sorry, I didn’t explain myself clear enough.
A well trained hackamore horse will be extremely sensitive, as you found out.
What I was mentioning is that they take a very careful person so as to keep them that sensitive.
A person that doesn’t get careless, as it is easy to undo much of that good training, as already mentioned.
That kind of sensitivity starts on the ground, how you handle them while on the ground is how good hackamore training begins and sustains.
That is one reason we would go to a snaffle soon on most sale and clients horses, because they were not going to keep that soft training up and the horses needed to be getting used to all kinds of riders and riding to get along in the world, wherever they landed.
Our own personal horses we kept on the hackamore, horses just seem to like it better and going thru the brush it is easier when a rein hangs up for the horse to pull thru.
So nice that your horse is so soft with a hackamore, it is a very nice feel, is it.
[QUOTE=Bluey;6382797]
So nice that your horse is so soft with a hackamore, it is a very nice feel, is it.:)[/QUOTE]
it is indeed!
That is great!
I know about 2 months ago I moved my four year old into the bosal…I was very nervous doing so, having never ridden a horse in the bosal before. I did alot of research, bought a bosal and mecate, took a breath and tried it.
my results were similar to yours…utter relaxation and content-ness on my mare’s part. I have worked hard to maintain her happiness. I was warned once a horse learns to “pull” in a bosal, its done…its about, as mentioned, the release…you cant “pull” yourself…really forces you to use your body more.
My filly has gotten extremly broke in the bosal…much more so then the snaffle…its wonderful.
[QUOTE=spinandslide;6383081]
my results were similar to yours…utter relaxation and content-ness on my mare’s part. I have worked hard to maintain her happiness. I was warned once a horse learns to “pull” in a bosal, its done…its about, as mentioned, the release…you cant “pull” yourself…really forces you to use your body more.[/QUOTE]
Horsemanship at its’ finest. :yes:
Can someone point me to the original thread, or it’s title? I am thinking of going this route with my aged TWH who likes to GO! We had a heck of wrangle this weekend as I didn’t want to be in his mouth (French link snaffle bit) but he wasn’t listening. We finally agreed he could go as fast as he wanted to as long as it was at the walk. And that was still pretty fast. :winkgrin:
[QUOTE=lisae;6384061]
Can someone point me to the original thread, or it’s title? I am thinking of going this route with my aged TWH who likes to GO! We had a heck of wrangle this weekend as I didn’t want to be in his mouth (French link snaffle bit) but he wasn’t listening. We finally agreed he could go as fast as he wanted to as long as it was at the walk. And that was still pretty fast. :winkgrin:[/QUOTE]
Started here:
http://www.chronofhorse.com/forum/showthread.php?t=353792
Went here:
http://www.chronofhorse.com/forum/showthread.php?t=356147
And this thread is the third one.
Don’t get over confident that your horse loves a bosal. Might be great in arena, but you do lose some control if you decide to take them out on the trail with a bosal.
[QUOTE=7HL;6384752]
Don’t get over confident that your horse loves a bosal. Might be great in arena, but you do lose some control if you decide to take them out on the trail with a bosal.[/QUOTE]
Same as with a bit, the horse will be as controllable outside as it’s training, no matter what it is wearing on it’s head.:yes:
Good advice to always be sure your horse’s training and your skills are a good match.
[QUOTE=7HL;6384752]
Don’t get over confident that your horse loves a bosal. Might be great in arena, but you do lose some control if you decide to take them out on the trail with a bosal.[/QUOTE]
Ive trail ridden my mare in her bosal, worked competitive trail obstacles and worked cattle…Im confident I can say she enjoys the bosal.:yes: But of course, she had good basics and training before the bosal was put on.
[QUOTE=spinandslide;6384940]
Ive trail ridden my mare in her bosal, worked competitive trail obstacles and worked cattle…Im confident I can say she enjoys the bosal.:yes: But of course, she had good basics and training before the bosal was put on.[/QUOTE]
ignore him…whoa is whoa, in or out of an arena…broke to whoa in one place is broke to whoa anywhere
too many western ding dongs today reply on gimmicks and tricks instead of just teaching “whoa” I mean is is hardly glamorous and won’t merit a Janet Jackson head set or a clinic fee to explain;)
Tamara
Difficult to pull off an emergency stop or one rein stop with a bosal.
Not saying never ride outside an arena. Many horses are well trained to use a bosal.
Many so far are just trying a bosal for the first time and commenting how well their horses like them.
Actually, not so. Just a question of knowing how to do it with a bosal.
When Paul Dietz did a clinic at our barn a few weeks ago, he taught folks how to drill the one rein stop- and both of the horses he was using in the different sessions were in bosals. Clinicians were using bits, but they got the picture very easily.
[QUOTE=7HL;6385203]
Difficult to pull off an emergency stop or one rein stop with a bosal.
Not saying never ride outside an arena. Many horses are well trained to use a bosal.
Many so far are just trying a bosal for the first time and commenting how well their horses like them.[/QUOTE]
first of all, I’ve never had to use a one rein stop. Either my horses know the cue or they don’t. We don’t leave the arena till they do.
second: I am trying the bosal for the first time, and it’s the mares first time in a bosal WITH ME. I don’t know if the previous owner/trainer rode her in one or not. My guess is not. It being the first time, doesn’t mean I didn’t see an immediate improvement. I did. She was more responsive, don’t know if she liked it or not, but I got what I asked for with it much quicker than I did with the french link I had been using on her. A simple matter of observation.
Never said impossible… so have fun.
[QUOTE=7HL;6384752]
Don’t get over confident that your horse loves a bosal. Might be great in arena, but you do lose some control if you decide to take them out on the trail with a bosal.[/QUOTE]
Really??? I will be sure to inform my horse of this next time we go on a trail ride :rolleyes: !
again…ignore [him]…the one rein stop is the very heart of bosal riding…it is the only place that it has an application
that it has been perverted by the latest guru cowboy wannabe into endless “flexing” of the western sideways rollkur is simply a sign of the sad modern times.
I realize that “someone” [edit] was desperate for a western end of this forum [edit]
but really stick to what you have a true “knowledge” of…K ? ;>
Tamara
Never said impossible… so have fun.
Some here appear to want to turn this into an arguemnt or some personal statement.
First don’t believe in over flexinging anything.
As far as one rein stop goes one speaking of personal experience. Have ridden my horse in bosal for some time. I primarily ride her in a grazing bit. I have ridden my horse on the trail in a bosal and even in a rope hackamore. She knows what whoa means. From personal experience, once, but that’s all it takes to go wrong, had to ride out a gallop through the woods when my horse spooked. It is easier, in my opinion for a horse to ignore and avoid a one rein stop in a bosal then a bit. I am sure that now many of you will say your horse isn’t trained well enough. Not going to debate that issue
Have fun riding in a bosal. Many horses respond well to them.
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