got my bosal

[No_Angel]

got my bosal this morning, its lovely and matches my bridle quite well:D i had a go at tying it, but im not sure its completly correct, anyone got a better description than this http://www.hought.com/whart-ttm.html

and my bosal on my bridle
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b242/madams_walk/PICT0002-3.jpg

[Jessey]

Likeing it :D that looks really smart :D

Your knot doesn't look so bad, the most important thing is that the knot doesn't slip when you pull the reins - if it does you could get in a sticky situation :o

[Jessey]

http://www.bradwell.dk/bosal.htm
Not a bad explaination, lots of clear pictures to follow :D

Have you ridden in a bosal before? its a bit different in the steering dept compared to a normal side pull or other bitless, don't want to tell you stuff you already know though :o

J x

[No_Angel]

thanks jessey, ill have another go.

no ive never ridden in a bosal before, is there anything special i need to do with it?

[Jessey]

This is a nice article, to give you some back ground - http://www.westernhorseman.com/web_extras/hackamore.shtml

With a bosal you can never try to take a constant hold (not that you would), it won't work ;) it doesn't give alot of stopping power, but the steering is great and you can use that to regulate your speed.
In turns instead of bringing your hand back to your hip you need to offer your hand out more than normal, to kind of lead the nose round :D if you find he leans a bit you kind of jiggle it whilst held out, just lightly so the bosal bumps gently on the opposite side of the face, so there is nothing to lean on.

Its to do with the shape of the bosal, if you imagine pulling straight back all you do it put pressure pretty evenly on the nose - and not alot of it as the leather is fairly soft etc. If you put your hand out though, it twists the bosal which lays the long side against the side of the jaw, it then (if you put a bit more tension on it) will touch on the nerves in the face - 2 on the nose and 2 unde the jaw, which hightens the sensation without causing pain to give a much clearer signal. When the bosal is straight it doesn't touch these so is in neutral (hense why pulling straight back won't do alot).

If you find you have a horse that rushes and you need to give him a wake up, then bumping (gently) the bosal from side to side normally adequatly confuses them ;) to back off and really start listening again to what you are asking, pulling back to slow down just won't work but bumping both reins evenly (together) can get a horse to tuck his nose in and step through his body - a bit like a half halt :D

You will figure it out, just play with it :D its really not like you ca do any harm with it - other than to confuse he horse, but you have more noddle than that :D

[No_Angel]

thanks jessey, i shall havea go with it at the weekend, testing out my heart rate monitor aswell.
I should be having a lesson at the new local western centre aswell soon, yay!:D

[Jessey]

Sounds like you will be busy :D which HRM did you go for in the end?

[No_Angel]

I managed to get one off ebay for £50, it was bought from raddery equine, think its the rs2000.Only problem is i cant seem to get the electrodes to work

im attempting to tie the bosal again, but how do i get 2 end of the rope together, am i being thick?:o

[Jessey]

Only problem is i cant seem to get the electrodes to work

You have to really wet them or use a special gel stuff to get a good contact with the skin - not such a problem on rides with all the sweat and sloshes :D

im attempting to tie the bosal again, but how do i get 2 end of the rope together, am i being thick?
:confused: Not sure what you mean :o
You tuck one end of the rope through the bosal by the heel knot, then wrap the rope round the outside above the heel knot (how many times you go round depends on how much adjustment you need to do) then the 2nd loop from the end, you tuck a loop of rope through the bosal (bottom to top)and adjust the length to be reins, then with the loose end of the rope wrap another loop round the outside to lock the reins in place, then go through the bosal (top to bottom) and put the end through that last loop again (like tieing a knot around 1 side of the bosal) and leave the end dangling.
The loop should sit on top of the bosal and is your reins and the long end should come out the bottom and is your lead rope (you tie this onto the saddle while riding) does that help?

[No_Angel]

i think i might just about have it.

the electrodes work on me, but cant seem to get anything with my dog, the little heart flashes but no number

[cvb]

no_angel

I recall something about dogs being arhythmic ? so the HRM mau have problems working out a regular rate ?

[No_Angel]

i think i read somewhere that the heart monitors dont pick up arrhythmia.
Works on my sister and she has a heart murmur.
Ill have to try again on the horses, maybe my dogs hair is too thick.

[Jessey]

Yeah but a murmur is rythmic (mostly I think) ;), we found sometimes thick hair does make it a problem, even had to clip a little area in the depths of winter on one.
Oh and make sure you don't have a mobile any where near by - I normally leave mine in my pocket and spend 1/2 hour trying to figure out why it won't work :o

[Jessey]

Hey how d'you get on with you're bosal?

J x

[No_Angel]

i made another post about it, think its called first ride inmy bosal, thank god i trained my horse with weight aids!