Tuesday's Lunging and Riding!

Today I did get to actually do some stuff with Daisy again. I first lunged her then rode her. I was so happy because lunging went PERFECT compared to last week. I hadn't said much last week about what I did with bitting her when I lunged her. Well here is what I did (same thing as I did last week when I said I had read something out of the book my friend Andrea borrowed me) : On a fully-trained horse, a bridle may be used in lieu of a cavesson. However, it is possible to injure a horse's mouth if the line is incorrectly attached or misused. Some sensitive horses may react badly to the attachment of the line to the bit, and some classical dressage masters considered this method to be crude. The bit used is a snaffle bit. Bit shanks of any kind are dangerous; the line can tangle in them, causing injury to the horse's mouth. The reins should be kept out of the way, either by removing them, or by twisting them once or twice over the neck and then running the throatlatch of the bridle under the reins before buckling it. The correct method is to run the longe line through the inside bit ring, over the poll, and attach it to the outside bit ring. This method of attaching the line requires it to be changed each time the horse changes direction. This method has a slight gag effect, raising the bit up and applying pressure on the corners of the mouth and placing pressure on the poll, but puts less lateral pressure on the bit. It is best for horses that pull, or when the trainer is longeing a rider, to ensure maximum control of the horse. If the longe line is attached just to the inside bit ring, the outside ring can slide through the mouth when the line is pulled and damage the horse's mouth. If the line is run through the inside bit ring, under the chin, and attached to the outside bit ring, the bit can pinch the horse's jaw, and it alters the action of the bit to put pressure on the roof of the horse's mouth. When a method of attachment causes more pain than control, the horse often resists the pressure and will not perform properly. The only change I made was I had the halter underneath. (I copy and pasted this from wikipedia under the Use of a Bridle Alone http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Longeing ). This worked the best than anything else I tried and she responds very well to it. She doesn't pull at all and I worked her at the trot and the canter and I must say it is the best she has ever done even better than with the chain over her nose. She bends with the circle like she should and everything. I normally wouldn't do something like this but this is the only thing that really worked!! I worked her at both the trot and canter and we didn't work long at all! I was so pleased!!

Since she did so awesome I stopped her and praised her. Then I put the reins on (had taken them off the bridle with the snaffle bit on to lunge her) and rode her around the barn. She did really well once she settled down and listened to me. We didn't ride long at all but I was pleased with how well she did overall! Hope you have a great rest of the week!