I have a snaffle and curb bit and I still can't get my horse to stop to cue, any help?

Question

I have a 23yr old morab (morgan, arabian cross) mare. She is trained for barrel racing, western, english, and small jumps. She will turn on a dime and speeds up whenever (or not) I ask her. But she will not stop when I ask her. My trainer has suggested to get a bit other than the snaffle so I did I got a proffessionals oppinion (he set me up with the curb) The curb worked for about 2 days, now it has no more effect than the snaffle. And it is actually harder to get my cues across with it. So my question is what other things can I try? My trainer suggested doing a jiggsaw ( where you pull up on one reign at a time sharply, to confuse the horse to slow down) I have also tried saying things while pulling back on the reigns. I have also tried getting closer to her mouth with my hands and pulling back.

This is the only vice I can find in my horse. Perfect ground manners, confermation, turning, jumping and everything but stopping. She has never let anyone fall off on purpose, and its only happened 3 times in her life that anyone has fallen off. So there is no way I would sell her!! That is out of the question.

I don't use a whip or a crop in my riding I think it is wrong. And she does it beginning middle and end of any exersicing lesson.

I think the keeping the reigns taunt with a few short pulls than a long one would help. I have also tried circles but sometimes that doesn't help. Her mouth is fine, there is nothing bothering her. I do think it is just that she has so much energy. Even when I'm ready to keel over and she is dripping with sweat, she still wants to go.

This is the problem I ran into, I thought the same about the ground work but she doesn't have any problems stopping on cue on the ground. Just in the saddle.

Answer 1

It sounds like you need to do some groundwork and teach your mare the verbal cue "woah."

How I taught this oh my horses was that we'd simply walk along, then I'd say "ho" (my word for stop) and stop walking. If the horse kept going, they got their nose tugged on because I was no longer moving. Once they did it at a walk, I moved up to a trot. Once they do it at a trot, I move to the longe line and do it at all three gaits.

You might consider riding your mare in a hackamore or sidepull. Moving up to harsher bits or sawing on her mouth is likely only going to further deaden her mouth and could wind up being painful for her and dangerous for you both.

Answer 2

okay. you need to start on the ground. many people have these problems, and there's always a cue. try trotting alongside your horse when she's in a bridle. then stop and pull back, at the same time say whoa! or ho! repeat this for a while until she's good, which may be a while, don't rush it! spread over a week or so. now, mount. try this at the walk. walk your horse, lean back as far as possible yet comfortable, sit very deep in the saddle, and say whoa! or ho! try this again and again until she's responive. now, do this at the trot. if she doesn't stop, pull her in a tight circle and try it again. talk about this with your trainer, she'll help you. also, it could be the bit, but the snaffle and curb can be severe. can you see if your horse is grabbing the bit? if she's holding it in her teeth and such, you need to talk to your trainer because people have different opinions on how to work with this and i don't want you to get yelled at! anyway, talk to your trainer more about what i said. is she really experienced? if she's the kind of trainer you found really cheap, try switching polietly. you need help to enjoy your fun rides, a trainer that may be more experienced may help you and your cutie mare! thanx for asking, i luv answering, good luck!

Answer 3

Don`t buy a new horse just because she won`t listen to a command. But I have an idea about getting her to stop. I had this problen to with my horse except my horse was just stuborn. But what i did was instead of just pulling back to get her to stop i gathered my rains so that they were taunt and gave a few short jerks then a long one. And if she still didn`t stop i put her in circles till she got the message then i would try and stop her again. It took me about a week with about 5 times a day but she evintually got it, and now she will stop on a dime! I also used a snaffle bit for my horse. hope this helps. One last thing, Have you tried looking in her mouth to see if there is anything that may be hurting her and causing her to not listen? this could also be the reason beacuse when you pull back it hurts her mouth and she would want u to stop so she would keep going to try and get the bit back to a more comfterable position in her mouth.

Answer 4

I'm agreeing with several of the ideas here too. Bits aren't the problem, it's the training. Obviously, this horse has been trained to go but not stop, so you'll need to teach her. I trained a fox trotter to stop in the round pen. I would lean back, pull the reins and tell her to stop, if she didn't I would turn her in circles, and she got pretty tired of doing that believe me! If you stay consistent and just keep doing it with her, she'll get the message.
I also had her in the round pen lunging and taught her the same thing, as the answer before, teach her to stop on the ground, and she'll do it under saddle. It takes time, it is boring for us, but it works.

Answer 5

Have you tried a high port, long shank bit or a hackamore? Also be sure to not pull up when trying to signal her to stop-pull back, not up. If possible, find out what kind of bit the previous owner used and if she stopped fine for them.Also try to find out if she was trained to stop on leg cue or rein position cue.All of my horses have been trained to respond to certain leg pressure cues or rein/hand position cues. You also might want to do some lungeline work with her before you actually tack up. This will let her burn off some of the excess energy.

Answer 6

she obviously has lots of energy! switch to a low energy feed, don't confuse it with protein levels.
try giving her some magnesium in her feed.
keep having your lessons with her, and may be try her in an English Hackamore, but make sure you fit it high enough as not to interfere with her breathing or worse break her nose, as long as your hands are not rough its a kinder way to go rather than trying stronger and stronger bits.
Having said that, i have never met a barrel horse (i live in Spain and come from England) so have no comprehension of there particular training/problems, but a horse is a horse so this might help some, good luck

Answer 7

Probably not what you want to hear, because it's work (or my trainer calls it Playing)... It's back to ground work. It will be worth your time, and you will enjoy your time in the saddle so much more. Give her tons of praise when you get the desired results. Make her work (circles) when you don't. Never end the "Play" session on a bad note. Make her at least try to get it right before you are done working with her on it, and praise her (rubbing, massaging). Keep doing it over and over and over again.

Answer 8

You might want to try a Kimberwick.I have included a link to a pic of a good one.It is on the milder side but it really works.You can also add a curb chain and that will help some too.I typically only used broken or jointed bits when I start the young ones.After that I go to solid bits and use the one pictured below.I have only had to use a more severe bit with my paint who likes to buck.I need to keep her head up so use I higher port and longer shank bit.
Also when you pull back make sure you are pulling towards your hips/waist and not upwards towards you face.

The first link is of the milder bit,the second has a higher port and might work better for you.


http://cgi.ebay.com/5-SS-Kimberwick-Curb-Bit-Horse-EC_W0QQitemZ7250100603QQihZ015QQcategoryZ47271QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem


http://cgi.ebay.com/Myler-Kimberwick-Ported-Barrel-5-MP-C-I-S-I-Level-3_W0QQitemZ7249980438QQihZ015QQcategoryZ16253QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Answer 9

Oh goodness I have this exact problem with my warmblood. What I did was I started to work out. You horse is probally head strong if you cant stop it and beleive me I know what head strong can be like. Work on your stomach, arm, calf, and thy muscle. When she starts to take off DO NO BEND YOUR BACK FORWARD! If you do that it will be harder to recover. Arch your back straight, pull back hard and when she softens up, release a little bit. Then pull back again and repeat this until she stops. You need stomach muscle becuase when you pull back your back will want to bend, but with stomach muscle your stomach can support your back better. Calf muscle is for staying on :p and arm muscle is for pulling back. Thigh muscle is for gripping the saddle to help stay on too. So you can either tug and release or keep pulling until you stop which will be harder. Sorry if this is confusing :)

Answer 10

Have you tried longing her to wear her down before riding her? If you get out some of that excess energy before starting you might have a more cooperative horse. I understand that she does great with everything else in the ride, but the longing might help her with that extra bit of focus. It won't hurt, so it's worth a try.