how do i horse ride?

Question

my horse is 12yrs old i cant get him to put is head down and for him to come on to the bit.

Answer 1

your horse sucks

Answer 2

i would advice getting a couple of lessons from a good instructor. You need to ride him from your inside leg to your outside hand. You can not force his head down. You can only show him the way.

When you ask him to halt, instead of releasing the pressure straight away, wait until him drops his head (be patient) and then walk him on. This is the first step to teaching him to carry himself.

In walk, half halt with the ourside rein every time he puts his outside leg forward, at the same time pushing him on with your legs to move him into the bridle. Again, be patient and purservere. It often takes a good 20 minutes fro them to accept your hand, once he has brought his head down stop askin, this is his reward, He may not keep his head there for long, as soon as it comes up start askin again. it will get easier for you and for him.

When he is working on the bit his head should be at a parrell and he should feel light in your hands.

Once he has learnt the aids and is doing well in walk, you can start working the same way in trot. If he gets to frustrated or starts being naught go back to walk and start again.

I have explained it as best i can, but it is always good to have someone on the ground who knows what they are doing, it really helps.

Pease do not use the see saw action that lauren mentioned, this causes the horse pain, and he brings his head down to get away from it, they do not make the right shape and it will do more harm than good.

Answer 3

Try a snaffle ,because he is old and his mouth could be soft,on the other hand you must find out the background of your horse,he might have had a fright in the past by the previous rider,maybe the rider used to pull more with the reins rather then putting more legs to tell him what to do.
one more thing you can try is to get the vet whom might recommend a physiotherapist for your horse,or the vet might use pet riffe resonator to relax his muscles.
good luck keeping horses and ponnies isnt an easy job,i have two and they take alot of work and lots of training hours.
please be gentle to the horse they are loveable animals.seek a trainer before you get a serious injury.

Answer 4

I ride different horses and sometimes some will bring their head down with a se saw action and other will bring their head down by just holding them.
I taught my horse to bring her head down by holding her and then when she put her head down to get away from the pressure i would release. And eventually everytime you pick up the reins they will give to the bit. But do this in a snaffle yo start.

Answer 5

i read a horsey book the other day and it said gettin ur horse on the bit is nothing to do with pulling on the reins til it gives in!!! its the way u ride and how well the horse is going forward. if u r sitting in the correct position and the horse is fit and balanced it will come naturally.

Answer 6

To get a horse successfully working off the bit you need to use your legs correctly to encourage him to carry himself effectively - If you cannot achieve this yourself I would recommend going for some lessons to help you with it.
Draw reins can also encourage the horse to work off the bit - you MUST use these correctly though - used incorrectly they can cause more damage than good.

Answer 7

Pull your reins back to his withers first off.
Make sure your soft with your hands.
With the outside rein, hold it tight, enough for the horse to get onto the bit, but not enough for him to put his head up, then with the inside rein use a gentle motion of squeezing, releasing, just work on it for a while, he'll get it soon enough.

Answer 8

My 12 year old thoroughbred does the exact same thing! He sticks his head up all the time and it gets really annoying! My trainer helped me teach him to listin to a light rein motion! You barley move your fingers back and forth (in and out). Squeezing the rein's lightly (very lightly in the beginning) towards you then loosening them back to there regular position. It took him a while to figure it out, but now that he gets it it really helped! Its worked on every horse I'm ever used it on, so its worth a try!

Answer 9

to ride a horse u get on it's back. obviously u r not bridling him right and u need to get someone there at ur stables how do do it properly. its a little hard to explain it well but to watch someone do it will make a big difference. good luck

Answer 10

On a horse would be a good start

Answer 11

get a new horse!
your old horse is 12 years old, give him his retirement