Motormouth mare

[glenatron]

Iris has always been quite busy in her mouth, tending to chomp at the bit, especially when she is anxious. I noticed it particularly when we were working on riding out the last few times and I realised that it wasn't just a manifestation of anxiety, there seemed to be a stereotypical element to it as well. So I set down and asked her not to. Just doing some gentle work on the ground, holding the bit rings and asking her to follow a feel without releasing until she had quit munching at the bit and was just holding it.

Two sessions later she seems to be able to just carry the bit most of the time. I'm ever so pleased with her but I can't help but feel a bit of a chump for not spotting it sooner.

Comments

[joycemocha.livejournal.com]

Um, actually the progression is snaffle, hackamore, two-rein, then straight up in the bit. I have a Californio friend who learned it from her uncle who was an old spade bit hand. Perhaps in the 19th century the hands used hackamore to spade but the current hands usually follow that tradition.

The spade bit is not a Southwestern tradition but a buckaroo/California tradition. Think Eastern Oregon/Idaho/Western Montana/Northern Nevada/Northern California. Southwestern riders used grazing bits. The tradition has spread a little bit but the riding style and the spade training really is a Great Basin/California thing. Details, details.

Mike Bridges is a Northern California horseman who teaches a five year progression program for horses going into the spade bit. He also has some really nice videos out there. I recommend his stuff. Benny Guitron also has good stuff.

[joycemocha.livejournal.com]

Oh, and the rationale for moving from snaffle to hackamore and starting in the snaffle as opposed to a bosal is to a.) keep the nose soft in the bosal (a HUGE thing), and move to the bosal when the horse is shedding teeth.

[glenatron.livejournal.com]

Depends who you ask, though - talking to Jeff Sanders, who is pretty deep in that tradition, he says that the snaffle wasn't something they used as standard. Martin generally concurs as regards the California tradition and observes that the main reason that they snaffle was the first bit his family ( and a people with a lot of young stock ) favoured was because if they wanted to sell horses to the cavalry, they needed to be good in the snaffle. That market practicality has sort of become part of the tradition, but from what I can tell a lot of the explanations as to why the snaffle came before the hackamore is retro-fitting justifications onto decisions. Also of course most competition is built around that progression, so that becomes a way of shaping the way of shaping things as well.

My sources may well be incorrect- I'm a lot further from this stuff than you are of course - but it does make sense that they would use fewer rather than more steps.

[joycemocha.livejournal.com]

It's not just about the market but also preserving the softness of the nose. A good hackamore horse still is responsive on the nose, and starting in the snaffle got around some issues on that front.