+ TVhorsetalk: April 2012

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Help From DUH...

Help from DUH and NWC...

I ordered some new gear late Monday afternoon from the DUH website, and it arrived Wednesday by 3pm - That's pretty dang fast! Headstall, mecate reins, curb strap, twisted bit, slobber straps - all first class. (Love the mecate reins!)

My thanks go to Clint, the sales rep at DUH who was super helpful.

So, here's the deal with the twisted snaffle bit...

Max has been increasingly more difficult to flex, and he has always been hard to steer left and right. Here again, NWC members on the forum clued me in to what this was (See below) and ways to fix it. Thanks, y'all.

I got the twisted snaffle bit thinking maybe it'll help with Max leaning on the bit. I didn't even know what leaning on the bit was until I read someone's description on the NWC forum. Thanks to appyluvr96 for bringing it up on the forum in relation to her horse.

When I read her description it dawned on me (duh) that that was what Max was feeling like with all that getting hard to flex behavior and not wanting to steer left and right when I wanted to. I read some members suggestions on the NWC forum about using a twisted bit, and saw where CA suggested using a twisted snaffle until he lightens up. There were other good suggestions, too, that I tried, and that helped.

The first time I rode him in the new bit I can't say I noticed much difference. I felt like I was still doing a lot of bumping. And I don't want to do that. I want to be "light".

Then, the second time we rode in his new bit, I felt like a bit of progress was made.

By the third time we rode in the new bit, I could tell we had some lighter flexing and easier steering. As far as the steering goes, he doesn't seem to be tossing his head and fighting me so much when I steer left and right.

I think we're both happier about the new "light-er-ness"...

Have a good ride,
Greenhorn

A Good Workout...

ANOTHER GOOD WORKOUT...

We had another good workout. We reviewed circle driving, backed two methods, tap the air and WWWW. Max did well.

We also did side-passing on the fence. We're getting better and better.

We worked on the take-off again in LFR-2 and the change of direction. He's getting better.

He did well with leading behind. I think we've got that one down.

We attempted leading beside. It was a little rocky at first. Then I tapped and Max took off. We'll work on staying in exactly the right position, but he did pretty well for the first time. Leading beside on the left was a little rockier, but he got it. We'll do it again tomorrow.

YAY! We tried turn and go again. I tried a couple of suggestions I got from NWC members on the forum when I explained the backing up problem I was having when I first introduced it. It was still not pretty at first - a lot of backing up. He finally found it! We did it lots of times. It was getting dark, but we couldn't stop right when he was just about to get it for good. We practiced a few more times and quit for the night. He was getting pretty smooth with it by the time we stopped. Good Boy.

And thanks to NWC members on the forum for helping me out!

It was another good workout...

Have a good ride,
Greenhorn