Losing Contact with the bit..

[macinac]

My horse has a nasty habit of dropping contact with the bit everytime I try to collect him up. He has a naturally good headset with a loose rein, but when I try to tighten the reins to feel the corners of his mouth, he either throws his head up and keeps it their, or tucks his nose in to lose the contact. Its only at a trot that he does this, he's alright at the walk, but perfect at the canter.

I won't be doing very well in dressage this year if I can't figure this out, and my trainer's so intent on practicing jumping every time that she doesn't have time to explain what I can do for him.

Any suggestions?

[jUmPingIsLifE]

what bit are you using? perhaps he is ducking from it because it doesn't agree with him?

perhaps he needs his teeth checked?

other then that the best you can do is keep driving him foward with your lower leg and push him INTO the bridle. keep those long reins and just shorten them slowly as you keep pushing him foward. you dont ever ride in draw reins or anything like that do you? you tend to see that type of evasion because of draw reins or a horse used to hard hands. (not saying YOU, but someone else perhaps that used to ride your horse).

[macinac]

I have no idea if he was ever ridden in draw reins, I haven't ever. He wears a D-ring snaffle, and got his teeth done late last year.

I'm kind of used to using a lot of rein with him because I didn't ride him in a flash, and now I do so its becoming easier to keep him in a headset. Its just at the trot, and now today he started backing off the bit at the canter. He's fine at the walk. Its definitly showing when we do transtions, from and to any gait.

[jUmPingIsLifE]

alot of the time in transitions, expecailly downward is that you take the leg away. which can be sort of a natural thing, you want the horse to slow down but the only way to get a good transition and keep the horse engaged is to keep the leg on. i ride this paint at school that i literally need to squeez with ALL my might on downward transitions.

[macinac]

Well! Today I used some of the ideas you all posted, and they worked! I also think it helped that I rode in my dressage saddle instead of my jumping one :)

However, he still loses his headset when we make the transition from a trot to a canter, and then when I try to do a downward transition from a trot to a walk while pushing him forward, he keeps trotting.