can someone help with advice on my horse dropping its head alot

[wildwomen]

can someone help with advice on my horse dropping his head alot :D

I have just started riding a horse for a lady who will hopefully let me loan the horse in the future, as with all horses you have to get to no them and there ways so for a few weeks iv been riding out with a few girls who have really good horses, not saying this horse is bad just really un fit he is 15.2 cob come trotter the first time i took him out was a nightmare we would start trotting and all of a sudden he would pull his head right down near the ground i nearly came off so i legged him on and he must of done this four times i was shatterd and my legs were hurting from gripping but he was good in traffic,

i have been riding him now for the third week, i tried schooling him but everytime i go into a trot he is dropping his head and when i go into a canter he tries to buck i will not give up i have changed his tack because i was loosing his rains we have checked the saddle his teeth etc, but im getting a bit down hearted because the other girls keep saying come on have a canter but at the moment im a bit worried because i would come off, i have brought a daisy rain but am unsure how tight to have it i would really be gratefull of any advice please i would like to have a good ride out without any problems i no it won't happen over night but i willing to put time in thankyou

[shandy84]

if the daisy reins don't work I've found grass reins are really good. What bit does he have?

[wildwomen]

Originally posted by shandy84
if the daisy reins don't work I've found grass reins are really good. What bit does he have?

the bit he has is a snaffle plain i have just invested in a mexican noesband to stop him opening his mouth and tilting his head to the side with his tongue out do u no how tight the daisy rain has to be

[Ryoko]

well cracker does that but thats due to me letting him get away with it. when he puts his head lower than where i want it i pull his head to the place the stroke down his mane with my hand as i think this is supposed to tell them that they r good and they respond to it more. as for the bucking dont let him put his head down at all horses cant buck properly at all when their head are up and it is safer. cracker does that all the time :rolleyes: lovely duckling hehe. well dontfeel downheartened! :) dont worry its just a case of you getting more used to the horse and if u dont feel safe enough to u canter i dont think you should. i'm sure you just need to be more assertive with this horse i think its just a passing phaze that u can get him out of :D good luck and keep us posted :)

[Showjumper]

The first thing that sprang to mind was back soreness or sharp teeth.

Then I delved into this idea: it sounds like he's doing quite hard work for his level of fitness which could cause achey muscles. How much of a warm-up is he getting? Do you ask him to work in an outline? Is it straight line work, or circles?

I'd get a Bowen therapist out to check him over - make sure there are no ouchies to beware of.

Good luck!

[wildwomen]

Originally posted by Showjumper
The first thing that sprang to mind was back soreness or sharp teeth.

Then I delved into this idea: it sounds like he's doing quite hard work for his level of fitness which could cause achey muscles. How much of a warm-up is he getting? Do you ask him to work in an outline? Is it straight line work, or circles?

I'd get a Bowen therapist out to check him over - make sure there are no ouchies to beware of.

Good luck!

I mostly do road work walking alot and trotting we go around the woods near us and we are out for about 1 hour he is very un fit we are both getting fit together, the vet checked his teeth the other day he said they where ok but i think you might be right about the achey muscles i don't work him hard at the moment but the other day i was on my own riding him and someone offerd me to use there outdoor riding school so i walked him 10 mins down the road and we did 15 mins in the schooling ring he really did struggle i was sweating from just keeping him walking but i tried. I will keep him on walking and trotting for a while yet i think and work my way up i just hope to get him out of this habbit of putting his head down we did a beautiful trot up the road the other day and he did not drop his head once lets cross our fingers we can solve it

[Showjumper]

If it is a sore muscle problem, a nice massage before and after riding could help a lot - and as he gets fitter, he should do it less and less as the muscles will be able to cope better.

Don't forget schooling is much harder than hacking :) An hour's hack could require the same amount of work as 15 minutes schooling.

[welshcoblady1]

hi ,can i ask if this horse was a driving horse untill you started to ride him.

he sounds green as far as riding is concerned and may be not had riding education ,how ever if he continues to pull head down
you can partly slip the reins but then instead of pulling him to halt or walk push him forward because his first reaction to balance him self would be to bring up his head and neck as he does so take up your rein again and keep him going forward.

the other option is to slip a gag with two reins on for a short while only use the gag reins if he pulls his head down hard.
providing he is not in pain or uncomfortable ,he may be using this as an evasion and he could be unbalanced due to lack of schooling and pulling him self along on his front legs rather than work from be hind .also see that you are sitting up right your self
because if you are in front of his center of gravity this will put him on his forehand and he will pull to balance him self .
i feel you need to go back to basics with some schooling for self carriage for him inturn this will make him lighter in front and able to balance with out running in to the reins .

[galadriel]

One of my mares will yank on the reins if she doesn't like your contact. If it's too light, too hard, or inconsistent, she gets grouchy.

You may need to experiment with the contact that you are giving, see if the horse wants more or less. Or if your hands move around a lot, that might be the problem. Since he gets a little upset when you go into trot, your hands could be moving as you sit/post to the trot.

I do wonder if his bit actually fits. If the bit is uncomfortable, he may be doing what he can to minimise the discomfort: turning his head sideways, opening his mouth, or yanking the reins. I'd say something about his mouth is the most probable cause of his protest.

If you're sure that you're not working him too hard, and that his bit doesn't pinch or his teeth need doing, there is still another avenue to check for pain: the saddle. Since you say that he gets worse when you trot, then worse again when you canter--it sounds like his saddle might be a really tight fit. Since he's unfit--did the saddle fit him when he was fitter? If so, he'll very likely need a different tree size one until he loses weight/gets more back muscle.

It sounds to me like the horse is protesting something.

[Lucy J]

i disagree. horses stretch their back muscles by stretching their head to the ground, especialyl if they are stiff. ciara does this when i go into a trot. i combat this by riding her in walk round the school on a very loose rein letting her keep her head low before taking up a contact. my instructor has also advised that when ciara bucks goign into canter, it is the same reason, she needs to stretch out her muscles and that is her way of doing it. as she has become more supple the bucking has stopped and she is much better although after she has done trotting poles/ her first canter she always drops her head down to stretch. i always let her do it for a few strides before picking up the contact again.

[FreedomStar]

like lucy, I ride ebony on a loose rein at the beginning of the rides, as it's good for her to stretch out and relax. But, maybe you are holding the reins too tight and too short, and he might be trying to tell you to stop gripping his mouth by pulling his head down.