The French Snaffle

Oh, I have to make this statement-of-my-belief on bits....

Everybody's got an opinion... nowhere is this more true than in the horse world. And I have one too, and it goes like this:

I have read (supposedly authoritative) texts citing the "multi-linked" bit as the cruelist bit one could put in a horse's mouth. When applied in the form of a bicycle chain, or twisted wire, or other such devices of horror, I couldn't agree more. But let us not be confused in applying that thought to the double-link bit (well, most double-links).

If you ever received the story "Last Night" or read my other posts, you might note my occasional references to the "French Snaffle", and how that is my "go to" bit.

I was introduced to the French snaffle some 20 years ago upon reading a not-very-popular book on one man's methods for training the Dutch olympic jumpers, among other notable teams. In that book, the author describes the "make-up" of a horse-of-arabian-decent jaw bone, and how the French snaffle was THE correct bit for that jaw.  Owning a horse-of-arabian-decent at the time myself, I took particular note of what were, otherwise, incidental comments in a book on training olympic-grade horses.

 "French mouth: a double-jointed mouthpiece with a bone-shaped link in the middle. It reduces the nutcracker action and encourages the horse to relax. Very mild."

Hmmm... "reduces nutcracker action", "encourages horse to relax", "Very mild".  That description ignores one additional fact - no upper-palate pressure. Sounds like my kind of bit! (assuming I was going to use one in the first place).

For every time I've been told "he/she needs a strong bit", I've gone to the French snaffle instead, with near-100% success.  Those words are a sure-sign to me that the horse's mouth probably hurts, or at least is "dead" from over-bitting - to be cooperative (rather than manipulated) that horse needs less bit, not more - and that's my opinion - and my experience.

The snaffle bit, in general, dates back to 5th century Persia; the "French mouth" to 15th century France. Softness has worked for a very long time.

There are other bits I like (for different reasons), and at some point I will always ask the horse what works for him or her. Most of my clients will ultimately choose a large, hollow German mouth, but starting soft with a French-mouth seems a much more appropriate place to start - it is kind, and effective. And I've had cases where nothing more was ever required - they stayed on the French-mouth their entire career.

Perhaps I'll blog my opinion of loose-ring versus fixed ring in the future - another of my pet opinions.  For the time being, note that a proper French snaffle is a loose-ring affair, and for 600+ years has owned the title "softest bit".

May Ramblings

Last week, I started a video series on "Conditioned Relaxation"® You can see the first one here:
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLF8E83D29F77B9F98&feature=view_all

That's Mr. Blue, the one that threw me on my face a few weeks ago (the first time that's EVER happened with one of my newbies). In that process, I completely lost his trust and it's taking quite awhile to get back there. But he's REALLY starting to get "Easy" and (not shown in the videos) learning about personal-space limits.

He really wants to be good, but so fettered with his past.  This could be a long road.

More CR videos with other horses will be up soon.

Regards,
-D

My Experience With Parelli - Please Listen To This

If you have looked into any of my writings or website, you already know that I am not a Parelli trainer.  I am a SATS trainer, and use that communication technology to teach (mostly dressage) skills to the horses in my care and/or instruction in very rapid timeframes. I also draw from any source if I think it makes sense and has value to the training I impart - and that includes Parelli, Lyons, Anderson, etc.

So, I am not making this blog entry to "bash" anybody, rather to point out a problem that surfaced with some recent clients. And it goes like this:

I have three Parelli-trained (or perhaps I should say "started") horses under my instruction. The clients came to me because they are dissatisfied with the riding progress made on their horses with the Parelli program.  Let's face it - horse owners want to ride, and therein, enjoy their time with their horses. The Parelli processes often take substantial time, and these clients apparently were not clear that they would be paying a trainer for 6, 12, 18 months and that the trainer would actually ride their horse two-or-three times in that period - if at all.

So now, they come to me because (assuming there are no acute problems to be solved) I am generally on the horse and communicating riding skills in one-to-two weeks. Except Parelli horses.  I have to spend an inordinate amount of time doing things like teaching the horse to NOT turn and face me when I am trying to mount, and it short-circuits my entire process.

The end result has a tendency to make me look like a fool, the Parelli trainer look like a fool, and the client look like a fool - none of which is really true, but everyone in the process has been short-circuited. Especially the horse.

So my advice to all is this: Parelli is a fine method (despite that it grants little acknowledgement to the higher-learning capacities of the horse) - if you have been convinced that is the only-best way to kindly train a horse, then by all means go with it! But COMMIT to it - with the full understanding that you need to stay with it for a very long time; you are not likely going to be riding your horse in the next two or three months, and if you call someone like me to make that happen, we all end up looking like fools and a lot of time and money is wasted.

"Do, or do not. There is no try."

When the cardinal directions have been learned, by placing her muzzle at each point in successive on-demand trials, it is time to move on to other body parts. Next in the series is the "shoulder", representing exactly that - the front shoulder. "Shoulder-left", and "Shoulder-right", instruct the horse to place her shoulder (left or right) onto the target. This generally requires at least one lateral step into the indicated direction.  And upon touching the target, the mission is accomplished.... "X!"

In the beginning...

This is a long way behind where Sierra is, but it is important to understand this one particular point... one's significance must be established. I am the source of your favorite treats, your food when you are hungry, your water when you are thirsty. You will touch your muzzle to my hand in response to the word "hold". There is no other option to obtaining what you want.  I will respond "X".

So What's Up (or Down) With The Easyboot?

Sierra is barefoot, 7x365. Just before a recent recreational trail ride, I commented to her owner how Sierra would (rather determinedly) move from one side of the trail to the other, often running into my leg to stay straight. I thought this to be an effort to avoid stones and gravel, and the generally hard footing here in the mountains, and suggested that perhaps she should be shod. The owner asked if I had ever tried an Easyboot Glove, that she just happened to have, but really hadn't used much. I'd never used Easyboots except for medical purposes, but said "Sure, let's see what happens".

Not 100 yards down the road, I was astounded. Not only did Sierra realize she no longer had to avoid the stones, but her neck and head magically went into the frame I'd been asking her to hold for the last several weeks - on loose rein! Sierra was never bad at holding frame, but would inexplicably "pop" her head occasionally, causing me to ask her to re-frame.

That's all completely, 100%, in the past. Now, I know that Sierra was apprehensive about stones, perhaps running into them sometimes. No more head-pops, she holds a low and collected frame on her own all the time, and increased traction on hard surfaces is a bonus.  Also, the "gloves" do not apparently affect break-over.

I don't actually know, but I suppose rubber shoes might accomplish the same thing - but those would have to be changed every six weeks, and the Glove needs to be replaced only when the tread wears out - replacing just the screw-attached sole once or twice a year (depending on mileage, wear-n-tear).

I'm completely sold on "Gloves".

Sierra Adventures

So I'll start with my star project... Sierra.  I met Sierra in late October 2011.  She's a Morgan, a brood mare from a well-known local Morgan farm. Through a series of different owners, she wound up with my current client, who requested we work on an easy canter. Easy enough, but what followed has amazed us all...

As I'm given to do, I first taught Sierra initial language skills using SATS technology... the four cardinal directions of left, right, up, and down. Total elapsed time 120 minutes, divided into three days of two twenty-minute sessions per day. The three following days, we did ground-training: learning body parts, targeting my dressage whip with her newly named body parts. By day-six she had the basics (on ground) of shoulder-in, leg yield, step up, back, leg-lift, and turn on the forehand.  During this time she began to communicate with me... she has a sometimes-bothersome allergy that irritates her distal sinus cavity and that her bit, gentle though it was, bothered her upper palate.

The allergy is a chronic thing I can't do much about, but the owner is administering herbal therapy that has seemed to help.

My favorite-bit-ever, a loose ring french snaffle didn't fit her, so I fell back to my next favorite, a loose ring hollow mouth snaffle.  No more head tossing, and she clearly communicated in five different tests that she preferred the feel of the hollow-mouth to the curved-mouth eggbutt she was using.

With these problems out of the way, we began learning the basic skills of dressage... bareback at first, and then translating ground-learned vocabulary to in-saddle cues. At six-weeks she had all the movements of a level-III test except the flying change, which more recently, she has demonstrated she can perform with ease.

So there's the Reader's Digest version of Sierra.  From here out I will blog her progress, with a slight detour to my experience with Easyboots (next blog).

Although a veteran I.T. professional, I have to admit I've never ventured into blogging.  Here goes... I'll try to keep it relevant and interesting, with no guarantees.  This blog will be about my adventures in the horse training and boarding worlds.  Welcome to the "King of Games" blogosphere.