Day fourteen
21 February 2009 02:31![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
glenatronToday began with a short talk about bits from Martin, specifically about the spade bit, a much misunderstood piece of equipment.
Because it is a long bit with the very large mouthpiece people tend to assume a spade bit is very severe but although it can be used as a leverage bit, the idea is that the large area of metal allows a lot of room for signalling before any leverage is applied. Because the mouthpiece is typically a straight bar it is actually gentler on the mouth than the "tongue relief" style of mouthpiece - try pressing something like a biro against your tongue and then against your gums- you'll find the latter are much more sensitive, so a bit that offers "relief" to the tongue will do so in a way that puts much more pressure on the bars, effectively on the horse's gums, rather than on the large muscular expanse of their tongue. He also explained the ratios involved and the reasons for the distinctive shape of the sides ( the ornamentations on the side make the bit wide enough that an inquisitive horse can't grab the side of the bit in it's mouth and chew on it ) and the mechanical principles of shank and sweep and how that relates to the leverage the bit provides. The curb strap is really important in this respect.
A few choice quotes: "If you're changing bits to fix your problem, you're admitting defeat," "Correctional bits are for the rider's mistakes," "it's a myth that horses instinctively work into pressure- a horse doesn't need to be taught to give to pressure."
That last one is kind of a big deal because I've heard that a lot of times from various people and Martin argues that it's just not true, but we can make it true very easily. When we first get on horses here we ask them to tip their nose across a little and then turn and follow it. They can do that just fine. But if we were to ask them to bend their head right around to our boot straight away then we're going to end up having to teach them to give to that pressure because we have created a pressure for them to resist. The horse might try to follow it for the first little bit but when that didn't offer them any results they might try something else to release the pressure instead. If we accept the tries the horse offers right on the start and build from there they will never learn to work into pressure.
After that a couple of guys came by and dropped of a horse who they couldn't get saddled.
Twenty minutes later he was quite happy for Pierre to be sat on him...
I think he'll be staying with us for a few weeks.
After that we loaded up some more experienced horses and went to sort cows. We needed to return the ones that have been here for a while and fetch in some others, which entailed choosing the ones we wanted, cutting them out off the herd and moving them into another corral. I was riding Chewy again and he was living up to his name and chewing my boots, stirrup leathers, stirrups, anything else he could reach. He's quite a little character.
To stop the cattle coming too close Chewy would roar at them.
Our laid-back approach to wandering round the place proved really useful for sorting cows- when it came to our turn we kept everything slow and calm and the cows seemed quite happy to wander around more or less where we wanted. I think this was a bit of a disappointment to Chewy who likes chasing cows.
Because it is a long bit with the very large mouthpiece people tend to assume a spade bit is very severe but although it can be used as a leverage bit, the idea is that the large area of metal allows a lot of room for signalling before any leverage is applied. Because the mouthpiece is typically a straight bar it is actually gentler on the mouth than the "tongue relief" style of mouthpiece - try pressing something like a biro against your tongue and then against your gums- you'll find the latter are much more sensitive, so a bit that offers "relief" to the tongue will do so in a way that puts much more pressure on the bars, effectively on the horse's gums, rather than on the large muscular expanse of their tongue. He also explained the ratios involved and the reasons for the distinctive shape of the sides ( the ornamentations on the side make the bit wide enough that an inquisitive horse can't grab the side of the bit in it's mouth and chew on it ) and the mechanical principles of shank and sweep and how that relates to the leverage the bit provides. The curb strap is really important in this respect.
A few choice quotes: "If you're changing bits to fix your problem, you're admitting defeat," "Correctional bits are for the rider's mistakes," "it's a myth that horses instinctively work into pressure- a horse doesn't need to be taught to give to pressure."
That last one is kind of a big deal because I've heard that a lot of times from various people and Martin argues that it's just not true, but we can make it true very easily. When we first get on horses here we ask them to tip their nose across a little and then turn and follow it. They can do that just fine. But if we were to ask them to bend their head right around to our boot straight away then we're going to end up having to teach them to give to that pressure because we have created a pressure for them to resist. The horse might try to follow it for the first little bit but when that didn't offer them any results they might try something else to release the pressure instead. If we accept the tries the horse offers right on the start and build from there they will never learn to work into pressure.
After that a couple of guys came by and dropped of a horse who they couldn't get saddled.
Twenty minutes later he was quite happy for Pierre to be sat on him...
I think he'll be staying with us for a few weeks.
After that we loaded up some more experienced horses and went to sort cows. We needed to return the ones that have been here for a while and fetch in some others, which entailed choosing the ones we wanted, cutting them out off the herd and moving them into another corral. I was riding Chewy again and he was living up to his name and chewing my boots, stirrup leathers, stirrups, anything else he could reach. He's quite a little character.
To stop the cattle coming too close Chewy would roar at them.
Our laid-back approach to wandering round the place proved really useful for sorting cows- when it came to our turn we kept everything slow and calm and the cows seemed quite happy to wander around more or less where we wanted. I think this was a bit of a disappointment to Chewy who likes chasing cows.
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no subject
Date: 20 Feb 2009 03:47 (UTC)Incidentally, how did they sort out the horse who wouldn't be saddled? Inquiring minds want to know.
no subject
Date: 20 Feb 2009 03:54 (UTC)Then he had five minutes while we sorted some other stuff, just being in the round pen and thinking things through, then they got back to work and Pierre hopped on and did a few circuits on the lead. Martin judged that for this horse in this situation that was enough.
no subject
Date: 20 Feb 2009 04:24 (UTC)Can you say more about this? does he just flag them until they stop trying to run? Or...? Is this in a rp?
no subject
Date: 20 Feb 2009 04:59 (UTC)He'll flag them out until they start offering something other than running- he's very quick to spot a try in the right direction and reward it.
no subject
Date: 20 Feb 2009 04:04 (UTC)no subject
Date: 20 Feb 2009 04:25 (UTC)Uh, even when you ask a horse to drop their head for bridling or haltering, you have to teach them to give to that.
I don't think I agree.
no subject
Date: 20 Feb 2009 05:04 (UTC)It sort of hasn't come up with the colts we've been working with, but maybe that's because they're mostly in that cow-horse size range where you don't need the head to come down, although I've had to ask them to bring their head round from time to time. The way all this is presented, right here at the start, is really important and will inform everything the horse understands about working.
It is certainly absolutely correct with regard to lateral bend, I don't see why it should be different in any other axis of motion.
no subject
Date: 20 Feb 2009 11:57 (UTC)How does that work, given that the rein is out at the end of the lever?
no subject
Date: 20 Feb 2009 13:43 (UTC)no subject
Date: 20 Feb 2009 13:52 (UTC)Also, the leverage begins when the curb-strap tightens, creating a triangle from the bit, the strap and the horse's jaw, so in the space before that happens you have a signal bit rather than a leverage bit. This is why the tightness of the curb strap is really important.
no subject
Date: 20 Feb 2009 17:01 (UTC)no subject
Date: 21 Feb 2009 14:07 (UTC)