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11/14/2002: "Just A Bit"
As we all know, it’s NOT a good thing for a very green horse to have big gaps in his training schedule. Sometimes, though, Circumstances Beyond Our Control call the shots. Such was the case with Indy. In fact, that was one of the reasons he was for sale in the first place - Brenda had not had to time to ride him since he’d come home from the trainer’s months before, and she felt he deserved to be with someone who had time for him one-on-one.
So, he came to me. And we had all this mess with his castration complications… I’ve been doing groundwork with him all along, of course, but he hasn’t been tacked up and ridden for over a year. Waaaaaay past time to get to it - or at least START working toward getting him back to where he was when he left the trainer…
Toward that end, I tried putting a bit in his mouth for the first time last week. I was using the full cheek snaffle that I rode DJ in. I don’t want to use a cavasson or any kind of noseband to keep Indy’s mouth closed on the bit, and the full cheeks insure that the bit won’t get pulled through his mouth if he DOES open it. Well… let’s just say that things didn’t go exactly swimmingly. Indy took the bit pretty well, but he fought it as if he were DESPERATE to get that thing OUT of his mouth. I wouldn’t have expected THIS much resistance from a horse that had NEVER been bitted before. I tried everything I could think of, but I never got him to calm down and quit fighting. I took it out after only a few minutes, and reassured him that everything was okay and things would go better the next time.
I waited a couple of days before I tried again, but things didn’t go better. He still took the bit, but he fought it the entire time. He kept putting his tongue over it, and I had to keep raising it in his mouth until he couldn’t manage to do that. By that time, it was higher than I like to go with, and he was still fighting and TRYING to get his tongue over it. I just could NOT get him to relax, even for a moment. I took it out, and reassured him again that we would work through this together.
I got in touch with Indy’s trainer, Ellie Neerdaels, and asked her what she made of it. She was very surprised that Indy would fight the bit, but said it might be a normal thing considering how long it had been since he was worked. She was VERY helpful and concerned. She said if I continued to have problems, make her a video of the entire process and she would try to figure out what was going wrong. (To learn more about Ellie and her training philosophy, go here: http://www.geocities.com/heartland/farm/7150/natural.htm)
Before I tried the bit again, I decided to do some TTEAM work with Indy’s mouth. He took to that like the proverbial duck to water. He LOVED it! I started with his lips, and in just a few minutes, I was exploring his entire mouth with my hand - his bars, his tongue, the roof of his mouth… All seemed perfectly normal, and Indy was loving it so much he was almost in a trance. I sorta hated to quit too - I mean, Indy was soooooooooooo relaxed, and besides, it was a chilly day and my fingers were warm in there…
Before I tried again, I decided to use a different bridle - one that it was easier to take the reins off. I figured it might be easier without the reins to deal with since I wasn’t going to use them anyway. This bridle already had an egg butt snaffle on it, so I just went with that. WELL! Mr. Indy was a totally different horse - or, I should say, he had been a different horse and now he was himself. I had to coax him a little to get it into his mouth, but I’ve seen so-called “made” horses that were more difficult. Once it was in, he mouthed it a little, sure, but for the most part, he was reasonably relaxed, he didn’t even TRY to get his tongue over it, and his mouth was CLOSED.
I put the lunge line through the bit rings and took him for a little walk. He was light, responsive and relaxed. He even tried to graze! (Did I ever mention how MUCH like DJ this boy is???) I also lunged him - very lightly - and he was great. Beautiful halts - light, relaxed and mouth closed on the bit. It was incredible. I don’t know why he seems to like this bit so much better, but hey, it’s his call. I may try the other one later, but if he likes this one, this is the one we’ll use.
I decided to lay off the bit stuff today and do something else. I ended up putting DJ’s saddle on Indy for the first time. He moved around a little bit, but nothing one wouldn’t expect since he hasn’t been saddled is so long. It was hard for me though. That saddle was custom made for DJ… Never been on another horse - until today. It seemed to fit Indy perfectly. I may have to get a shorter girth, but the saddle itself couldn’t have been better. I guess it’s Indy’s saddle now, and I can feel DJ wishing us as many good times together with it as he had. Thank you, DJ - from both of us.
