galadriel
2nd Feb 2005, 04:22 PM
My computer's on the fritz, so I can't save this to my computer, and wanted to make a note of it where it might be useful sometime. Post I just made elsewhere, in response to someone looking for draw reins or another way to make a young horse take a contact:
How young of a "young horse"? He may not have any sharp edges or hooks, but a young horse could be teething. It wouldn't necessarily be ovbious from looking,but the horse would certainly feel it!
Other things to consider when a horse rejects contact:
He may not get along with the shape of your mouthpiece. Many horses don't do well with a typical snaffle, and would prefer a french link or mullen mouth. Some horses have a small mouth/thick tongue, which means that a much narrower bit would be more comfortable. I like to use a fat eggbutt typical snaffle, and my TB's like it fine, but my Morgan would not get along with it at all.
Sometimes the material in the mouthpiece can be changed to make a horse more comfortable. There are lots of options: stainless steel, copper, sweet iron, german silver, aurigaen, plastic (Happy Mouth/Apple Mouth/Nathe).
Sometimes where it hangs may make a difference, and in a growing horse this may change faster than you'd realize. Some horses prefer a bit just touching the lips; some prefer it tighter; some prefer it almost knocking the front teeth. The cheekpiece can have an impact on the direction in which the bit hangs, and sometimes changing cheekpieces can help. A "Baucher" has a different feel than all the other types of cheekpieces, too.
And sometimes it's just a very individual thing. One of my TB's goes better in one 5" hollow mouth eggbutt than my other, apparently identical, bit. I don't know why...but she does. As far as I can tell, they're exactly the same.
I detest draw reins; used incorrectly, or even used "properly" but with the horse fighting them too hard, even 20 minutes of use can cause irresversible neck damage. I would try every other option available before I would use draw reins...and even then probably still would not.
Good luck with your young horse and finding a way to help him take a contact.
How young of a "young horse"? He may not have any sharp edges or hooks, but a young horse could be teething. It wouldn't necessarily be ovbious from looking,but the horse would certainly feel it!
Other things to consider when a horse rejects contact:
He may not get along with the shape of your mouthpiece. Many horses don't do well with a typical snaffle, and would prefer a french link or mullen mouth. Some horses have a small mouth/thick tongue, which means that a much narrower bit would be more comfortable. I like to use a fat eggbutt typical snaffle, and my TB's like it fine, but my Morgan would not get along with it at all.
Sometimes the material in the mouthpiece can be changed to make a horse more comfortable. There are lots of options: stainless steel, copper, sweet iron, german silver, aurigaen, plastic (Happy Mouth/Apple Mouth/Nathe).
Sometimes where it hangs may make a difference, and in a growing horse this may change faster than you'd realize. Some horses prefer a bit just touching the lips; some prefer it tighter; some prefer it almost knocking the front teeth. The cheekpiece can have an impact on the direction in which the bit hangs, and sometimes changing cheekpieces can help. A "Baucher" has a different feel than all the other types of cheekpieces, too.
And sometimes it's just a very individual thing. One of my TB's goes better in one 5" hollow mouth eggbutt than my other, apparently identical, bit. I don't know why...but she does. As far as I can tell, they're exactly the same.
I detest draw reins; used incorrectly, or even used "properly" but with the horse fighting them too hard, even 20 minutes of use can cause irresversible neck damage. I would try every other option available before I would use draw reins...and even then probably still would not.
Good luck with your young horse and finding a way to help him take a contact.