Has anyone gone from a Hackamore back to a Snaffle? ? ?

OoOGazOoO

New Member
Hi all.

Basil wears a hackamore and always has according to his previous owner.

I have always used a bit which is in the mouth of a horse whenver i have ridden in the past. It does feel quite different in my own experience, i know there will be people on here that have hackamores which feel fine, but i have experienced slightly less 'turning control' (so to speak) with the hackamore.

Have any people on here gone from using a hackamore, back to using a bit? ? ?

Thanks.

Gaz.
 
Yes, did it with one pony who had becoem less than happy in a bit, We bought him with tack......which went in the skip.

we needed to have him disassociate being ridden with mouth pain. We used an English Hackamore and a plain wide side pull noseband type bridle, once he had learned to move again and relax his jaw and head and step through again we went back to a bit with full cheeks. he never looked back.

We chose a bit with full cheeks as the steering from the nose thing he was happier with.....if you see what I mean.
 
I am currently using both interchangeably - I have ridden Jackson in a scawbrig bitless since I got him nearly two years ago. We are planning outings shortly, where it is expected that horses will be ridden with a bit, so I have been introducing a fullcheek snaffle - same as Wally's point, really - he is used to steering and rein aids coming as pressure on the side of his face, so when introducing the snaffle, it makes more sense to him if the aids still begin as pressure on the side of his face.

Still using the scawbrig for more relaxed riding, though :)

ETA - I tried to get to a situation where it wouldn't ever be necessary to "pull" before introducing the bit - so I tried to get him very light in the scawbrig first - we still work a lot off lateral flexions, and no pulling, especially pressure on both reins at once ;) He has accepted this very well and is still happy and soft in his mouth.
 
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I am currently riding Arnie in a Dr Cooks bitless bridle. He has had lots of mouth issues which the vet has assured me will resolve through time (lots of time) but he is now very wary of a bit. He would put his head up and put his tongue over the bit then panic and run away.

My plan is a bitless summer to allow him to forget and relax about riding in general. Then I plan to reintroduce a bit for schooling but hope to continue with bitless for hacking.

He is still going along with his nose in the air though so this may be a long term project:)

Funnily enough, when I tack him up these days, he opens his mouth for the bit which isnt there yet when he was bitted I could hardly get him to open his mouth at all!
 
We currently have two in hackamores. One is a pony who had his mouth damaged when used in a competition (not able to remove heavy handed rider in the situation :mad:) and so we used the hackamore origionally as a temporary solution, the other a newish and very sensitive horse we are experimenting with.

Both will work in both hackamore and snaffle. Ironically you need better hands to ride with the hackamore.
 
my mare came to me in a hackamore - great out hacking but when trying to turn it slipped and cheekpiece became unbearably close to her eye so had to change to a snaffle (which later changed to double jointed via a roller to a fulmer to a full cheek :p)... arab heads aren't designed for hackamores it seems
 
If he doesn't need the leverage of a hackamore (they can be quite strong), then how about trying a Dr Cook type bridle, it will probably feel more like riding with a bit to you, but will be better for your horse is he prefers to be bitless, and he obviously goes well bitless or you wouldn't have bought him:)
 
If he doesn't need the leverage of a hackamore (they can be quite strong), then how about trying a Dr Cook type bridle, it will probably feel more like riding with a bit to you, but will be better for your horse is he prefers to be bitless, and he obviously goes well bitless or you wouldn't have bought him:)

That is a very good suggestion, thank you. I have been looking at a Dr Cook bridle and i like the idea as the rein insertions are where you would expect a bit to come out of the mouth, so to me, it may feel better, at the same time as him not having something in his mouth.

Thank you.

:):):)
 
Maybe do the training bit thing all over again and leave it on in the stable for a wee while? That way, he'll get used to it being in his mouth without having it putting pressure on his mouth to start with?
 
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