Training A Horse With Proper Equipment

Training A Horse With Proper Equipment
By Jodi M Wilson

Nothing about training or riding a horse is natural. We need help teaching our horses our language much like a school teacher needs books, chalkboards, and sometimes rulers to teach their students. I constantly tell people, yes, some equipment is severe enough to never be used, but in the right hands even the mildest halter can become torture to a horse. On the flip side, properly used equipment can help the horse learn a lesson faster and easier thereby putting less strain on the horse's body and humor. When looking at training equipment, I look at these aspects to determine if the equipment I use is right for me and the horse. Surface area covered or skin contact made, the surface design of the equipment that touches the skin and the motivation needed for a particular lesson. So, let's look at what makes bits, spurs, and whips different.

When looking for a bit, the best place to start is by imagining what it would feel like on the soft corners of your mouth and tongue. You can also hold the bit in your hand as it would be in the horse's mouth and feel what happens when you apply pressure. Test out both when the horse's face is in proper position, vertical to the ground as well as when the horse may raise his head and take his mouth more parallel with the ground. In general, a milder bit has a smooth, thick mouthpiece; large rings or cheek pieces on snaffle bits; short shanks and low ports on curb bits; wide nose piece and short shanks on a mechanical hackamore; thick nose piece and large knots on a bosal.

Knowledge of how each type of bit works and what motivation it uses is important as well. The snaffle is designed to be used with a direct or leading rein pull and is to encourage lateral flexion in the horses' neck and is known by a broken mouth piece and rings that allow the reins to attach directly to the side of the mouth piece. There is a direct ratio of pressure which is applied directly to the mouth. If you pull on the rein with five pounds of pressure, the horse feels five pounds of pressure. The smaller the rings the more severe as the pressure from that pull on the reins becomes more concentrated on a smaller spot on the opposite side of the horse's mouth. This is what makes the full cheek snaffle least severe.

The curb, bosal, and hackamore work off the horse being straight and encourage the horse to carry his head 'on the vertical' by relying on leverage with varying ratios of pressure which is applied to the bars, chin and poll of the horse. The longer the shank and the shorter the purchase the greater the ratio. For example, a bit with a one inch long bridle ring and a six-inch shank has a one to six ratio. When you apply five pounds of pressure to the reins, 30 pounds of pressure is being applied to the chin, bars, and poll. For the curb you also have a chin strap. The thinner the strap the less severe as it spreads the pressure over a greater area. Rusty chain chin straps are illegal in the show ring as they can cut the horse's chin. The port or center rise of the bit increases in severity the larger it is. When you apply the reins, the port activates by driving up into the roof of the horse's mouth. While a Mullen mouthpiece looks less severe, depending on the horse it can be more severe as the bit applies full pressure to the tongue while low port may keep the bit off the tongue.

The bit-less bridle includes the bosal, hackamore, and halter type headstalls. The thinner the bosal, the greater the severity as once again the pressure is being applied to a smaller area on the face and under the chin and thus is more concentrated. The knots of the bosal can cause injury to the sides of the horses face if they rub too much. Not many will choose the bosal as a bridle as it does not have the bite to be used without good training on a horse. One of my least favorite of bit-less headstalls is the mechanical hackamore. Naively, many think this is the least severe. However, these come in varying styles including cable wire and bicycle chains for the nose piece. When combined with a commonly used 9 inch shank they can easily apply 90 plus pounds of pressure to the horse's nose, chin and poll. A young rider can unknowingly and easily break a horse's jaw. And while it seems so 'natural' to ride the horse without a bit, consider how long you have to work a lesson with the horse to gain control. Yes, a bit-less bridle may be something you consider working up into, but not as a teaching tool or a starting place. Also consider your cues and how a bit-less bridle will communicate with your horse. Will it cause your cues to be vague and therefore confusing to the horse or will it deliver clear communication allowing your horse to full understand your requests.

You may now have a better understanding of what I will say regarding spurs. Try them out on your own leg. Take the spur and roll it over your own skin and feel for yourself how harsh it will or will not be to your horse. Spurs, like the shank bit, when used correctly were designed to give cues that are more precise and clear and thus could be lighter. We have found them to be great motivators to move a lesson along and as with bits, once a piece of equipment uses pain as a motivator we cease communicating with our horse. The horse begins to protect himself and react instead of respond to our requests. If the horse can feel a fly walking on its side, it does not need a sharp point on your heel to feel your leg. Horses don't become dead mouthed or dead sided, they simply have raised their pain threshold to meet the amount of pain used for training.

But back to spurs, it seems obvious to say that the bigger the area the spur touches and the smoother the surface of the spur, the less severe it is. Now here's the kicker. When looking at a selection of spurs we would naturally shy away from the big rowel covered in 20 points, when in reality that spur is less severe than a smaller rowel with only six points. Why? For the simple reason mentioned above. The large rowel with many points actually covers a greater area of skin and does not poke the horse like the small 6 point rowel. Some other aspects to consider with spurs are the sides of the rowels, have they been beveled smooth so as not to scrap the horse and do they roll freely enough that if you get sand into them it can fall through without locking up your rowel.

The 'humane' spurs at first glance, bumper or barrel, look kind until you remember that the surface area is the key. These spurs don't have a rowel, but are thin so the 'bump' is concentrated to a small area. The bubble gum spurs seems the least severe when it is used to clarify a cue and not a substitute for good training. Yet, a good blunt rowel could actually be argued as a less severe because when used correctly the rowel allows the spur to roll up the horse's side where as the bumper, bubble gum spur and even the English spur will pull up on the horse's sides. The important thing to remember about spurs is they are a supplemental aid just like a crop. A horse will stop listening to any and all spurs when it becomes the first and main cue.

Whips should be used as an extension of your hand and not as a stick to beat your horse. The whip should only be used to reach the horse in a manner that will keep you in a safe position while training. There are horses that require strong motivation, but a horse should not become afraid of the whip anymore than it should become afraid or your hand. Again, size does matter. The thicker the whip or bat end the less severe the whip. When working on the ground a whip should have a solid shaft that does not wave when you tap the horse. Reason being is that if you need to stop tapping or increase pressure, the floppy whip will respond poorly. It will tend to sting the horse too much and hit the horse when you don't want to. Use a whip size that meets the situation. If you need to tap the hip you will need a longer whip than normally what is used in the saddle. And just like the spur, the whip should not become the primary cue. It is designed to be used as a secondary cue. This means you use the whip when the horse is not responding to a better primary physical cue and the whip should be abandoned as soon as the horse gives the proper response.

My point, you need the best equipment for the job. While you could put in a flower garden with literally you bare hands, I think we all would agree the job would be done a lot sooner with less pain to our arms, back, legs and mind if we used a shovel. In the same way, we have to consider how much strain is being put on the horse's body through needless repetition. Sometimes a mild snaffle is the better choice to get the lesson taught more clearly, accurately and promptly than a halter. And while bit, spur, and whip use can and will be argued till the end of time, it helps to be educated on their design, proper use and benefits so you can make the right choices. Most were designed with the full intention that the cues would be made more clear and the horse could learn to work off lighter aids. It is human laziness that has made them into inhumane training devices. And while most would agree that it would be great to ride at complete liberty on our horses and have them respond without fail, it is a goal not a starting point and when used correctly these tools can help us on that journey.

Jodi Wilson is a recognized authority on the subject of horse training and has spent almost 30 years developing training techniques and solutions for horse owners no matter the discipline or breed.

Jodi is an Accredited Josh Lyons trainer, and is Certified in John Lyons training techniques. Her website, http://Jodi-Wilson.com, provides a wealth of information to improve the relationship between horse and rider. Jodi is also available for clinics and demonstrations as well as lessons, apprenticeships, and horse training.

Jodi has trained and competed in Reining, Sorting, Jumping, Dressage, English and Western Pleasure, Trail and Problem Solving.

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