Double S Mustangs

You’re standing at a tie post, bridle in hand, somehow managing to stretch your body an extra foot while trying to convince your horse that; if they just bring down their giraffe neck and let you reach over their head to be bridled, they will get to have fun. You never seem to get any closer to the top of your horse’s head the higher you reach, like your horse’s neck just keeps growing. This may or may not be a battle you engage in on a daily basis. Maybe you are lucky and your horse lowers their head and opens their mouth to put in the bit as soon as they see their bridle. Spectacular! Those horses are lovely, and I congratulate you, but if your horse magically grows a llama neck while bridling, this post is for you. We want to feel like our horses enjoy riding and spending time with us, not to start our rides with frustration and a clash of wills, and with this simple exercise, we can accomplish that.

There are two very simple ways to teach your horse to lower their head on command, and to keep lowering it until you ask them to stop. You do not need to do both together and there is no order, you can teach your horse one or both, every horse is different.

To keep things clear, I will call one rocking head and the other mustang mediation.

For the rocking head method, stand in front and slightly to the side of your horse, place one hand on the poll and grab the side piece of your horse’s halter. Apply pressure down on the poll, not a lot, but enough that your horse is going to register that your asking them something, then slowly push and pull their head back and forth. When you feel them drop their head slightly, immediately release pressure and stop rocking their head. Give them a few seconds then start again, they will start dropping their heads quicker, as long as you get the timing right and reward the tiniest of tries. You want them to be so soft that when you place a hand on their poll and press gently, they instantly drop their head and keep dropping until you stop pressing.

For the mustang mediation method, again stand in front and to the side, you want to avoid getting smacked in the face (some people, by some people I mean me, have to learn this the hard way). You will need to cover your horses eyes, which can be terrifying. This is why you stand to the side, and you want them to position their heads straight, mid chest, and lower to you. So when they line their head up, or drop it, let them see. If they try to move from that position, cover their eyes again. If they lower their heads and position in line, let them see and rub on their face. If they move their head out of ideal position, cover and keep at it. Your horse will at one point put their heads completely to the ground, you do not want this behavior, its avoidance not acceptances. Keep their eyes covered until they bring it back to waist/mid chest level, and reward with lots of rubbing to encourage the position.

When I first taught Remi this, she would push her head into my chest for reassurance; it is your choice if you want to let them keep this behavior, I personally do not want her to push into my space. Most horses prefer the rocking head method but I find it useful to teach them to relax and drop their head instead of panic and throw their heads up when they cannot see, or their face gets covered.

I recently returned from a two month long travel adventure, during that time my horses had a lovely and long vacation to get fat and lazy. Being back, I wanted to take Thaya for a short ride, she had not been saddled in over 2 months and has only been riding for a short time overall. I took things much slower on her pre-check ride routine then I would have with Seabody (the good ol’boy). Presenting her with the blanket and saddle, girthing up and loosing, and finally tighten and tying off. It only took an extra 3 minutes to make sure she was ready. No tense muscles, no flinching at straps or stirrups, head low and neck relaxed. When I presented her with the bridle she instantly tensed. I bridle my horse by standing on the left of their head, right hand/arm on her poll holding the top of her bridle with the bit in my  left hand, and when her head is waist level I ask her to take the bit. Her head went up, she is 15.3 hands tall so this was very high, and she turned her face to the right. I have always bridled her the same way, keeping the bridle in my hands, I applied pressure to her poll, she dropped slightly and I stopped pushing, but I kept the bridle in place. This is about her relaxing when she is interacting with it. I worked her through this little sticky episode, for about a minute until she had relaxed with her neck low, she licked and chewed and she even let out a big sigh. That is a lovely start to a ride.