any exercises for helping with brakes.

[keep the faith]

my mare has become increasingly difficult to stop. especially in canter. she is ridden in a ported myler bit and has been in it about six months now. mouths well and accepts the contact in a free and relaxed outline. my problem is she just won't stop. it can sometimes take half a lap of the arena to get her from canter to trot never mind walk. i have spent over a year schooling her and am very reluctant to change her bit to a stronger one or tie her down with gadgets.

has anyone any sugestions on how to get her listening to me more because i would like to take her to a few shows this year. she has had her teeth checked.

[KarinUS]

If her back, saddlefit and teeth are okay then I would work on transitions with her. Not just for now but actually during wamr up before most rides. Sometimes more, sometimes less.
If you have dressage letters in your arena change at every letter. Start slow and work your way up to the faster paces. Walk halt walk halt. Walk trot walk trot. Trot halt walk trot, etc.Trot canter trot halt trot canter halt, etc.
She will only stay for a few strides in each gait so she has to keep listening to your aids as she can't just assume you will trot her around the whole arena.

Have you tried that?

[shaka]

I also have a pony who is difficult to stop. I sue the exercise KarinUS suggested and it really gets the horse listening to you, as does changing the speed in a serpentie, as you are changing bend and direction as well so the horse really has to think more. The best exercise, for us personally, was to do walk, halt, rein back. Trot, walk, halt rein back. Trot to halt to rein back. Canter to trot to walk to rein back. Canter to trot to halt to rein back. Canter to halt to rein back. Going straight from canter to halt and trot to halt takes a ot of time to get but it isn't as hard as it may seem. The rein back from halt gets the horse off your hands and respecting the bit.

[horse luver876]

hi i know what you mean i work with a mustang with little to no braking at the canter try doing lots of transitions at slower gaits start with walking ask her to stop and then when she responds instantly work up to a trot to a stop and then a canter to stop hopefully this will work :)

[Jessey]

My horse does stop fine - mostly, but on the occasions he chooses to ignor me I use a slightly different method. If I ask for a stop and he does not respond within a few strides, I will ask again, if again he does not respond I will not ask again, I will maintain the canter until he tries to stop and then push him on some more, after another few minutes I will ask for the stop and about 99.9% of the time he will then immediatly respond. I rarely have to do this but it does save me fighting and pulling on his mouth and he worked out very quickly that if he didn't do as he was asked he would have to work hard and after that he was always more than willing to stop.
This is just the theory of giving the horse the chioce, he can carry on running, tire himself out and have to do what I ask in the end anyway or just do as hes asked in the first place, they do learn quickly that your way is generally the best :D

J

[katefarmer]

Hi Keep the Faith!

I've recently posted and article on exactly this on my website. Have a look at www.harmony-project.net and scroll down to the "Bridling and Bitting" section - it's all about getting the horse listening to your energy so that the bit becomes secondary.

I agree totally that a stronger bit or gadgets are not the answer. If you're sure the Myler bit suits her, the exercises in the article should help. (If the problem started when you changed to this bit, it might be worth considering going to a milder one - but if the outline is good and she's relaxed, I think it's more likely to be a case of getting her listening, not changing the hardware, so to speak. However, some horses just don't like ported bits!)

Good luck and all the best

kate
www.harmony-project.net
and "The Harmony Project - Basic Instincts, Basic Training"

[keep the faith]

she has always had this problem in the time that i've known her. although she is on working livery and ridden by different people throughout the week which doesn't help as my hard work goes out the window in the space of an hour. they let her trip along on the forehand poking her nose.

she seems to like the ported mouthpiece. she resented the nutcracker action of the snaffle. The bit is fairly mild. it also has the independant side movement.

i tried a few exercises on sunday they seemed to work and she was relaxed.

[BackintheSaddle]

I second Shaka's post. Canter, trot, halt, rein back, canter. This also helps get them off the forehand. Also, try to be really clear with your half-halts so that she's listening when you make the transition. Sounds like you're working hard, which will pay off for both of you. Happy trails

[RodeoDreamer33]

I agree with everyones post, but this is what I did with a little pony i had.

First, you need to determine if the horse physically cannot stop because it is hard for his muscles or if he can stop prefectly it's just he won't which is usually the case.
To firgure this out, start at a trot and in the ring (an indoor is a little better but it doesnt really matter) trot right into the fence or the wall sit back like you were asking to stop and say Whoa! If he dead stops infront of the wall it means he can do it without the wall as well. Then maybe try it with a canter. Work with the wall for awhile, don't try and stop without it. Then, after awhile when you really think your horse is listening try stopping without the wall. Now, if your cantering around without teh wall, and she doesnt brake to a trot, then take one rein only and pull it out and behind your back so he has to make a tight circle. He might stumble and it might not feel good in his mouth, but once he is in the tight circle he will have nothing to do but slow down because he realizes Oh! I didn't like that. As soon as he slows down to the gait you want him in, go forward. Hope This Helps!!!

[chev]

Bear in mind that riding a horse at a wall to stop can result in said horse doing a 90 degree turn to one side or another and the rider being ejected over the shoulder.... not such a good scenario.

The idea of forcing a cantering horse onto a tiny circle worries me too. First of all there's the damage to the mouth to consider (and all that then goes with it, like a reluctance to be bitted next time, a reluctance to work into a contact again, teaching a horse that a bit can hurt rather than teaching them to listen to it...) and then there's the possibility of injury. It would be very easy for a horse to fall if their head is yanked suddenly round at a canter (or even a trot).

Jessey, shaka, Karin and kate have all said what I would advise to be honest, so I won't repeat them.

One thing I would add is that you could also try half-halts - start in walk and trot until you're sure she understands what's being asked. When she responds nicely to half-halts at the slower paces then use them in canter to keep her balanced, and just steady her whenever she feels like she's getting a bit strong. Think of it like balancing a car between clutch and throttle - close your leg on her to push her quarters under her, but just give a squeeze with your reins to 'let the clutch out' - to bring her back to you, in other words. Once she's got the hang of that it should make it slightly easier to stop her running in the first place.

Good luck :) .

[titch]

hi,
i had the same problem with my pony. She was hard to stop so i thought i would use stronger bits, but this just made the problem worse so i decided to use a more mild bit, an eggbutt french link, it works really well and she responds to it. I also lunged her a lot and got her use to voice commands so when i now ride her she stops through my voice without fiddling with her mouth. She is less tense and is much easier to stop.

This may work for you so hope it helps.

[keep the faith]

hey titch!

gosh this is a really old post! That problem was sorted when i moved her home away from working livery. The one on one suited her and me better. Shes ridden in a loose ring snaffle or a dr cook bitless , working well from behind and excellent brakes. Thanks for your comment though.

[wonkeywoody]

Hows the lateral neck flexion? Can you pick up one rein and ask her to bend her nose round to your toe? If not practise it in halt. Pick up one rein and apply steady increasing pressure until she bends (ignore her turning in tight circles! this will cure itself) keep her head bent until she relaxes then release the rein. Once you have mastered this you can then perform a "one rein stop" - one side of the horse CANNOT keep going if the other side is stopped!! EVENTUALLY you will be able to stop her from the lightest of touches on one rein.
Also when you are doing downward transistions, breathe out and more or less slump in the saddle (its very difficult for the horse to keep moving if the rider is not 'following'). Exaggerate this at the start and refine it as you go. Good luck.