De Gouge

[Gemma R]

Can anyone tell me if they have used one of these and how succesful it was.

Libby is proving to be a reaql pain to get onto the bit and I have been schoolling her for ages majority of it on hacks and on the lunge. I was thinking about using a de gouge because unlike the chambon you can ride in it as well as it is less severe.

Please if anyone has used one can they fill me in on how useful it was.

Thanks muchly. :)

[belle]

I have never used a de gogue, but you can get elasticated chambons to ride in. These are very cheap (about £10), and work quite well.

The other option would be the Abbot Davies, although this is alot more expensive!

Instead of lungeing, you could try long reining, as this could help her work more throgh her back and on to the bit.

Hope that helps!:)

[sozzie]

I've seen my instructor use de Gogues on some of the riding school ponies as a remedial aid and i heard her say that she has told some of her private clients to use them. I suppose they help the horse work through its body more rather than just pulling its head in and the fact that you can ride with it is good. I also heared her say that you should make sure its ok on the lunge first else you could end up with the horse rearing (if you went to ride in it straight away).
I've seen them in catalogues for 10pounds so its not going to break the bank if it's not suitable.
One last thing is that i think you can buy a rein to use when riding but this wasn't recommended, just use it as you would for lunging.
Long reining sounds like a good idea and i'm considering giving it a go, hopefully my pony will 'understand' as she used to be driven.

[LindaAd]

Do you know what the problem is with Libby? Maybe she isn't strong enough or active enough to do what you want? Have you tried lateral work with her - leg yielding and turns on the forehand ? They make a horse bring its back legs under and lighten the forehand.

[HorseDancer]

I have used the elastic chambon similar to what I believe Belle is speaking about. We call it a neck stretcher and I believe that is what it is called in the catalog we ordered it from. What it does is self correct the horse by applying pressure on the bars of the mouth when the horse leaves the frame. It does not by any means free you from the responsibility of putting or keeping your horse in frame it does help especially when you are working on something else and trying to concentrate on 20 other aids, etc. My horse gained the best results from using this and doing circles, serpentines or lateral work at the same time. Working over ground poles helped a great deal. I also would lunge her while using it in an area that had a slight up grade on one side of the lunge perimeter. In this way, she was staying in frame and having to work getting her hauches under her. We also have a 40 or 50 foot hill that we would trot up and down or canter up and down (not steep but enough to get the hineys working). I don't recommend doing the lunging on the upgrade or the hill work more than 1 x per week but it something you can add into your schooling plan and will help a lot and also give the both of you a diversion from routine stuff. Most of what's going to give you the results will be the same old routine stuff though, the circles, serpentines and lateral work. Try the neck stretcher though it will help getting her know she has to stay in that frame consistantly.