Head Tossing!

[luv horses]

Hi everyone

I am only a learner and still get very nervous at times and have the chance of riding a ladies mare for practice. Ridden her twice so far with a friend but she has this habit of constantly tossing her head because she doesn't like any contact on the bit at all. She has also scared me a few times because as soon as you try to take up some contact she starts going faster and faster and has also pigrooted and the more you try to halt her the more she fights you and gets out of control. She often seems to be pulling the reins from your hands while riding her. Apparently her owner only half broke her in just for pony club or something.

My friend who is a better rider has her on a really loose rein and she seems to better for her (she still constantly tosses her head though)but I don't see how you could take her out in the open like this for fear of what she would do. Does anyone have any advice for a horse like this?

:( luv horses

[Mehitabel]

to be honest, my advice would be not to ride her until you feel experienced enough to cope and to know what to do if anything did go wrong. horses with issues about rein contact, especially if they object as violently as this mare seems to, really aren't safe for novice riders.

[TheMoose]

It sounds like this horse has never been taught to accept contact from the reins. My advice would be to work in a small space on a circle, that way the horse cannot tank off with you and is confined to a smaller area. I once rode a horse in a similar situation, any contact on the bit and his head will go up. It is a very hard thing to overcome.
When you are riding keep a fairly firm contact on the inside rein, just so that she can just feel you on the inside rein. Leave your outside rein slack (not like washing lines!) just enough so that there is hardly any contact.Keep your inside leg on gently. She will see the outside rein as an escape route and move out towards it therefore bending round your inside leg and maintaing the circle as you hold your inside rein.