The Behind the Bit series on the blog continues to be very popular. With that in mind I put together a video that I hope explains some of the concepts on how to correct this problem.

Going behind the bit is an evasion more typical of an experienced horse – not uncommon to those who have been trained with draw reins, lunged in side reins, and/or been ridden by many different riders, mostly who pulled a lot on the reins.

Before viewing the video, you may want to read these entries:

Why Horses don’t go Forward
In this video, the horse was trained before he became mine. He was also ridden by beginner riders for years and was most likely put in draw reins.

Horse Evasions to going Forward
With the video subject horse, you will see him go behind, then  lean, then go above, then lean, then go behind etc… He continously tries out his bag of tricks (after all he is now 17 years old) of avoiding the work of moving forward.

Retraining the Horse who is Behind the Bit
Goes over some of the basic themes the video will cover.

The beginning of the video shows the horse in movement and what I mean by going Behind the Bit. The rider will feel as if they have lost contact with the horse and at one point in the video you can even see the huge loop of the reins the horse gets when going behind (his little secret reward!).

BTW the whip is shown on the inside of the circle so the videographer could get it in the image; also this horse has more of an issue of collapsing INTO the circle so this aids in correcting an inside lean.

NOTE: During all of these corrections you cannot be holding the horse back with the reins. The purpose is to encourage FORWARD movement!

Although I have given numbers to the correction, when to apply them should be based upon the feel the horse is giving you at the time and not on some arbritary formula. I often find working between several corrections helps more then doing the same thing over and over again.

Correction #1
A whip tap activates the hindquarters and mobilizes the horse. Though the horse’s head may come up, above the bit, in this video you see it come down to a better position after the initial tap. Obviously, your horse should feel comfortable with a whip before proceeding.

Please note how soft the tap is; if the horse were surprised he would really pop his head up and bolt forward. How much effort you give should be dependent upon your horse – after a few sessions, your horse should be aware that the whip means go forward and less pressure can be given in the future.

Correction #2
Use the whip as a metronome. Tapping in rhythm from the shoulder to the hindquarters, helps the horse pick up his pace, yet maintaining a rhythm (not rushing).  This may be familiar with those who use the Linda Tellington-Jones TTeam method.

Correction #3
If you find the horse leaning on your hands, lift the reins up. Use this correction sparingly as it is not as effective as #1 and can be abused by the rider with too strong a pull. Too much pulling and your horse will continue leaning, yet harder! Every action gets an opposite yet equal reaction.

It’s best to follow an upward hand movement with #1 or #4 correction.

Correction #4
With a giving rein, drive the horse STRONGLY forward. With a breed like an Arab, your drive request won’t need to be much; a draft cross or warmblood will need more.

Since this horse has been off from serious work for some time, it will take us a few weeks and maybe more (depending on his strength level) to get back to the type of responsiveness we were having prior to the accident that broke his pelvis.

I’ll post an update video at the end of the summer and hopefully you will be able to see the substantial improvement that consistently riding the horse forward achieves. I will also be using a sidepull with him and will post an updated video of that work so you can see how that helps with the horse who fiddles with his head and bit.

A lot of hard work went into making this video – yet I felt it was really important to provide help on a common problem that many battle. I’ve also found instruction on correcting this problem not very helpful while IN a lesson, so again, seeing the video, examining the slo-mo, and reading my comments may help you understand more about this common evasion and what you can do to re-train your horse.