03/14/2021
THIS THIS THIS a million times THIS! Let your babies be babies! Harsh training aids are not necessary and will never be part of my training. I let my 2 year olds play with things and investigate on their own. They are better that way. As long as they are behaving they can just be babies.
Training thought of the day: when to ignore it....
My rant!
Horses are creatures of habit, every ride we are either enforcing good ones or allowing bad ones.
That said I just got done reading through 100+ comments on a heated thread where a gal posted a video of her two year old c**t riding around with only a few dozen rides, the c**t was fussing with the bit and itās face. Chewing on the snaffle at times, trying to play with the reins, fussing at the bridle. But he was still loping around quiet, controlled and soft. He was just being a silly green 2yr old.
99% of the comments suggested she put a mouth shutter on him, get him in draw reins, bit him up more, tie his mouth shut and head down, etc. I re read the comments several times looking for someone who didnāt suggest adding a training shortcut, not one. Also missing were any vet, dental, tack suggestions.
Seriously, hereās a 2yr old c**t with 20 or so rides, chewing on a snaffle and gawking his head around....heās not bucking or rearing, heās taking direction and cues from her, heās forward, his ears are up, heās listening and engaged. Leave him the heck alone!!!!
Yes, rule out a tooth issue, or chiropractic problem, yes, be sure your saddle and pad fit him correctly but beyond that, girl, just keep doing what your doing. Because know what? Hereās a sentence to commit to your memory:
One day he will forget to remember!
Itās that simple. Heās a baby, heās now trying to figure out how to respond to balancing a rider, taking directional suggestions from some piece of metal in his mouth, control his body, maintain focus, go forward and still try to please his rider. While his 2yr old brain is thinking, whenās dinner, I wonder what my buddies are doing, did I leave any grain in my bucket, my tail itches, omg, was that a horse eating butterfly?
Let him figure it out. One day, he will just forget about the bit in his mouth, the tempting leather reins to chew on, all of it. Unless thereās a defiant reaction that makes continuing his training unsafe, just keep going forward. And if there is a reason the chomping on the bit or trying to eat the chinstrap or fussing at the bridle does give you the feeling of less control, then get off and go back to basics...work on strengthening his foundation and ground work, start over, take a few steps back on the ground to go forward again under saddle. Thereās no shame in reestablishing your game.
But I was appalled at all these trainers suggesting she immediately go to using these shortcut training aids. Do they have their place? Hmm, thatās another discussion, in the right hands, on a specific horse, for a specific issue, I suppose, but...... this is coming from someone who doesnāt own a mouth shutter, head setter, tie down, etc, lol, so they donāt have a place in my personal barn. But thatās just my opinion and training methods. Regardless, to think that the first thing you should do on a green c**t is force it to accept the bit by tieing itās mouth shut or to get it to stop moving its head by putting a chain head setter on it, is absurd.
Horses arenāt trained through bits, tie downs, mouth shutters and draw reins, they are trained through time, wet saddle pads, repetition, patience and praise.
Pic: my 14yr old sons first ride on his 2yr filly bridleless.
