Strange convo

[Sexy Sietske]

I had a wierd conversation with a woman today who wanted side reins to clamp her horses head in the correct place because when she rode his head was always low...so she would sewsaw his head up and he would throw it right up...martingale doesnt stop this head throwing. I tried to suggest pain but she was having non of it :confused: I cant think of behaviour problems that involve horses walking around happily with head low and throw throwing it up when having its mouth yanked on :confused:

[RachelBraz]

Sorry but I can't quite get what you're asking? Or is it a comment? I don't mean that to sound at all nasty, maybe I'm just having a stupid five minutes?! Sorry!
I felt I should comment though - why on earth would someone want to hoik a horse's head up on the lunge because she can't get it up when ridden? Surely that's bad riding in the first place, not the horse's fault? Secondly, a lot of "us" strive for a nice relaxed long and low outline to begin with, if she is a good enough rider to be asking the horse for more engagement and a more "uphill" outline with more weight on the hocks and less on the forehand, why would she be silly enough to be a) thinking she could do it by lunging in side reins, and b) even more silly to think she could raise a horse's head by sawing at it's mouth??!
My share horse throws his head up if he's not ridden into a consistent and soft contact, but most importantly he must be ridden from behind. He has a naturally high head carriage but once he is working forwards from leg to hand he works beautifully in a lovely relaxed outline. We're nowhere near wanting to be in a more advanced higher frame so this is perfect for us, as long as I can keep my contact consistent and my legs on. It's not behavioural really, it's just habit as he is an ex-Grade A showjumper and more than likely used to be ridden in draw reins, from the front end, and forced into a "higher" frame (his attitude etc. suggests this). He also used to buck a LOT so his rider probably kept hold of the front end a little too much, resulting in more bucking and head tossing. Now he's being ridden more towards dressage, in the more "dressage-y" long and low outline, he's almost stopped head tossing completely (even on hacks etc.)
I agree though, it probably was a wierd conversation for anyone with any common sense!
Edited to add: my share horse is only ridden in a martingale "just in case" for jumping, and never on the flat.