riding in a Pelham

[dressagebod]

When I had my new horse a couple of weeks ago he was in a plain snaffle, but was tossing his head about in a 'baby' sort of way. I tried him in a straight bar happy mouth which improved the the head tossing amazingly HOWEVER as he is totally unschooled you still need a fair amount of rein contact to slow down or stop especially in canter when he really goes on his forehand. So today I rode him in a Pelham (mullen mouth) We did get some much better work in both outline and transitions.

But despite hardly any contact and sometimes no contact on the curb rein he sometimes fell behind the bit. I used LOTS of leg but this didn't consistantly help. We did get some much better work in both outline and transitions and working from behind and importantly in his case not so much rushing

Any ideas

[Yann]

Just a thought, were you using a metal curb chain? If so an elastic curb might be worth a try, maybe he didn't like the feel of it? Pelhams are known for making horses drop behind in this way if they're not used to it or don't like the curb action.

[Echo64]

I've noticed this too, and as Yann said (thanks!) a rubber cushion sometimes helps. I've tried throwing down the curb rein completely (tie a knot in the end of the reins so you don't end up with a horse getting a leg through) and working off the upper rein to try and encourage them to come back to the proper position. Sometimes this helps, sometimes not. Try the rubber over the chain first, though.

[Heather]

Hi folks,

I find that using a rubber curb guard tends to negate the reflex action of the horse to the curb chain- whereas the elastic one doesn't, giving a very mild but positive feel to the horse.

If your horse goes behind the bit, lift the hands quickly but not sharply, and send forward from the leg at the same time- and that goes for a horse doing it in the snaffle too!!

I should get your horse back in the snaffle fairly quickly if he is only young and goes quite well in it. I do find the pelham does help especially through the transitions, but once the horse has the ide of keepiong the head in the correct place and not raising and hollowing, it should be easy to transfer him back to the snaffle. I tend to use the pelham just to give the horse the idea of staying soft and round through the transition- dont even mind if the horse is a little 'deep' to begin with- he will then usually raise his head only to where it should be!!

Heather