Training Tips

QUESTION: Hi, I had a 7-year-old pony that was trained last October. A week after he was trained I sold him to friends of mine as I was under the impression that he would be with their family for years. Until about 3 weeks ago he behaved brilliantly. He was the perfect child's pony. Suddenly he started to dip his head whenever asked to canter. He will canter with his nose nearly touching the ground. The more the rider tries to hold him, the faster he goes. But as he is inclined to go fast at times, it's not possible to let him go at his chosen speed. It is a nine-year-old child riding him, but with this sudden habit it is too dangerous for a child to ride him. Two other stronger riders rode him but they could not control him. Also when he puts his head down, his shoulder drops and the saddle slips forward. Do you think he developed a bad habit or is there something bothering him? If this problem cannot be dealt with, the family will sell him. If they do so the chances are high that I will not see him again. As I had him from the day he was born I would be very upset if this happened. I would be very grateful if you could help me (them) overcome this problem.

REPLY: Hi. Thanks for writing. First...I would suggest having a thorough vet check (with a good vet), telling him/her the problem and let them examine the horse for any back, mouth or leg pain/injury/issues. You need to rule that out first. Is important. If/when that is ruled out, then you need to rule out any potential saddle and pad/pain fit issues, which I go into more detail here:

If that is all carefully ruled out, then you are left with knowing it is strictly a behavioral problem, but it needs to be approached in that order. If it is a behavior problem (and all pain issues have been ruled out very carefully/thoroughly), then this horse has learned to do this as a means of avoiding work. And it's dangerous because...this may very well lead to bucking soon. In order to buck, a horse has to drop the head low to get the back positioned for the bucking action. I would go as far as to say...that horse there is very close to bucking potentially and is showing a pre-bucking stance. Time to turn it around!

Return to ground work, teaching this horse via pressure/release, baby steps, to yield the head from side to side (all the way over to the side). First using your hand on the muzzle (release for every inch try in the right direction), then with the natural horsemanship halter/12' lead rope, and once the horse can do it softly, compliantly, every time, then repeat the exercise with bridle/bit (full cheek snaffle bit). Let me direct you to some links on my site for you to get some visuals for this head yielding lesson exercise:

If your horse cannot do this well, yield the head, when you first start, then you've found your foundation hole (one of them) that needs to be plugged up - safely on the ground first - before riding him again. Stick with the ground work until he consistently, easily, yields the head from side to side automatically when asked with the lead rope and the bridle/bit.

Next, climb in saddle and from this point forward, let me direct you to a link that teaches the one-rein stop, which is far more than just a "stop" maneuver, but reinforces (first at a standstill in saddle), yielding the head easily from side to side -- breaking it all down into finer baby steps:

This route should fix this problem if you can grasp all I'm saying/showing here. If you find this hard to follow (hard to teach this stuff in just email sometimes!) then you might think about calling in a natural horsemanship trainer to help out there. If you need to find a good NH trainer near you, visit my web site section: Find a Natural Horsemanship Trainer

This horse does not need to be sold! This is a common foundation hole actually, though you do need to rule out pain issues with a vet (and saddle fit issues) first, and it can be fixed going the right route. This is not about strength on the rider's part, but about backing the horse up in training, first on the ground, then in saddle, breaking things down into smaller, digestible baby steps to get the horse there. People are often surprised at the end of some of my clinics that I have them riding their (former problem horses) with just a piece of twine, because we baby stepped the horse there to better understanding and now the horse understands how to yield the neck softly, compliantly, with the quietest ask pressure.