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A question posed on the Facebook fan page :
"My horse will not let me put a bridle on him- he accepts the bit. It is getting the bridle over his head. Any suggestions?"
Sure.
One sound way to get a horse to overcome a fear of having his ears touched is to only allow him to eat if he allows his ears to be touched.
Hold a bucket of feed in one hand and rub his face or neck with the other. ALWAYS begin rubbing a spot he already allows you to touch. Then do a quick and light and FAST sweep over the ears and back down to an allowed spot. The speed means by the time the horse has realised you have touched his ears, you are back rubbing a place he thinks is ok, and nothing bad happened. Through much repetition, he'll get the idea that having his ears rubbed is ok too.
You can gradually slow down your movements as the horse accepts that your touching his ears doesn’t hurt. Remember to rub his ears backwards and forwards, just like a bridle would going on and off.
And if he's really not letting you near his ears, turn your back and walk away with the food. Come back in 10-30 minutes and try again. At some point (the first time will take the longest) the desire for food will win out.
And I'd like to point out that there are two ways of bridling your horse. See the pictures above and note the position of the right arm. If you're having trouble using one method, try the other.
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Great points,
I had a younger mare that didn't like the outside of her ears touched when we got her. Halters were easy but a headstall wasn't. The old owner said she had no previous issues? Must be my soap!
So we proceeded with just general touching and a few treats in a bucket. Didn't take long and the horse was fine.
But I like your strategy as well. great advice.
Ron
horses for sale
EquineMan said...
8:07 AM
My horse refuses the bit, but only recently started this behavior. Are there any suggestions or remdies?
Michael said...
4:23 AM
@Michael
Can you figure out why the horse is refusing the bit?
The first thing I always like to do is make sure it's not a pain issue. You might want to try a different (but similar) bit or have his teeth checked.
If the horse knows he's being bridled in order to do work he doesn't like, he could become sour about the bit as well. In this case, you might want to make sure you add something fun for the horse to your sessions.
Food is a great motivator for teaching horses to accept the bit nicely. Honey or molasses can be dribbled over the bit. I even know people who will wrap a fruit roll-up around the bit! Once the bit tastes yummy, the horse has more motivation to take it.
Also, some horses can become quite sour about taking the bit in the winter---this is often because we humans don't think to warm up the bit. I wouldn't want an ice cold chunk of metal stuck in my mouth either!
~Mary
My Blog
Natural Horsemanship Videos at whinnyTube
Mary said...
9:47 AM
None of my horses refuse the bit but my 17hh Hanoverian is way over my reach and he doesn't lower his head for the bridle. I use a stepladder to do everything with him, it seems. I'm working on giving him his potatoes to lower his head. So far it hasn't worked. (He has behavioral changes when fed grain)
http://allthingshorse.wordpress.com
Magdalen Islands said...
1:14 AM