Head Tossing Horses

This article is aimed at people who wish to ride their horse into contact.
Horses that head toss, gob the bit, or pull the reins through your hands do so for many reasons.

Some reasons are: a bit that is unsuitable, the rider letting them take the reins away, teeth issues, holding them on continuous contact when walking or standing still, not training the horse to understand the bit and riders who do not understand how to operate the horse on a feel and do not use the bridle as a way of readying the horse for what they are asking for with their seat. Also pain issues elsewhere in his neck or body can cause this anxiety.

I was sent a video of a horse with a head tossing problem and this is some of my response to them.

“Here are some ideas to help.
The bit is only a tiny part of the equation and just changing that will not change anything else now the problem is already there. Nor will it prevent this problem from occurring in most cases. The horse is convinced that the discomfort will be there. He is convinced that normally with someone on his back he has no relief from it so he has gone looking for it. It’s like he is worrying about when he might feel it.

This may sound stupid but it’s no different with horses that throw their heads up and hit their heads in a float. They do it because they think they are going to hit their head. It can be quite a process to convince them that this is not going to happen.

Here are some suggestions on what to do about it. Some of this stuff takes quite a lot of experience to do well and with the correct timing and feel. To get a result also takes some commitment.

Make sure your horse is not in pain and his teeth are in good order.
Change the bit for something a little less annoying to the horse.
Put the bridle on and let your horse loose in a yard. If he flips his nose like in the video then he needs some time to deal with this so let him wear it while he has a feed of damp lucerne chaff or the likes. This helps take his mind off the bridle and gets him happy just to wear it. Some horses have no problem when there is no rider but in extreme cases some do. Do this for as many 1-2 hour sessions for as many days as is necessary.

When your horse is comfortable like this ground work your horse in a halter with the bridle on over the top. Just let him wear the bridle and work off the halter. If he flips his nose or tosses his head ask him to work short and bend around you without bringing his shoulder toward you. (Keep your work slow and quiet. Walking pace is good.) If he is quiet then let him stand and rub his neck and back regularly. When he is good do the same with the saddle on.
You can skip some of these steps if he only worries with the bridle with a rider on-board but don’t skip the groundwork regardless.

Teach him to flex laterally from the halter. You can learn this from most horsemanship videos etc.  When he flexes laterally in the halter do the same using a lead rope attached to the bit (clip to the side of the bit you are working from) If he reacts to asking him to flex with the bit hold enough pressure to stop him taking the lead rope back from you. Let him explore his options until he gives with his head toward you and release all pressure immediately.
When doing this we are not trying to force our horse to bring his head round so we only apply enough pressure that he explores his options. Nothing more. Don’t be slow to release and do it on the smallest tries to start with. Build on that until he will bring his head round smoothly with no resistance and the pressure you apply feels like you are holding a one week old babies arm.
Describing feel is tough sometimes.

The horse should have some confidence now that he can follow the feel of the bit and it won’t hurt him. Don’t let him down.

Learn to ride the very good natured horse (a less forgiving one would have bucked the rider off a long time ago) with one rein at a time letting the other one go completely loose. Let it go looser than what you may currently think is loose. Start in an arena or round yard if you are not confident. Walk the horse at a brisk walk on loose reins. (loose means loose not on light contact and not even close to contact) If the rider does not have the nerve to let the horse go then maybe they are not a good match for the horse.

Walk smallish circles first (maybe 3 or 4 meters diameter) every time your horse tosses his head, lifts it too high, looks for some rein to pull, puts his head too low, fidgets, looks out of the circle, acts nervous, calls out to his mates, rushes, walks lazy or anything else undesirable use your inside rein only to bend him around you inside leg until you have turned 90 deg and drop you rein and let him go back onto the same size circle again.
Change directions every two or three circles. You may need to bump him a little with your outside leg if he does not follow his nose with his front end. Only do this if he has had the opportunity to follow his nose and did not take it. When you can do this easily and he maintains a brisk walk and does not toss his head do it all over again at a trot.

Keep the sessions not too long and do this for as many as it takes. If he can’t go on a loose rein without gobbing he is not going to go on a tight one so don’t be tempted to get ahead of yourself.

All of the above will help you to build a soft confident flexible and relaxed horse. Remember don’t let the horse fall around when you bend him he must bend around your leg. And follow his nose. Release the rein as soon as he starts to follow his nose. When this is solid ride him in straight lines in exactly the same way but change directions around your leg immediately any unwanted behaviors appear. Again stay at a brisk walk until he is good with that then try at a trot.

Keep relaxed on your horse and try to move with him but don’t be lazy. When he is perfect at the above go back onto small circles. Get him walking well and pick up a soft feel (remember those babies arms) with both reins and hold it with him still working around your leg on a small circle.

When he softens and with his face and you feel him pick up at the wither a little release again. Remember only release for the good stuff never for the bad unless your horse feels like he is going to explode. If this is the case release one rein only (your outside rein) till he softens and relaxes and then reward by releasing the other.
Keep at the above until you can ride him on a soft contact with his face vertical or just in front of vertical. You can open your outside rein off his neck (maintain your contact) and position your inside rein against his neck whilst applying your inside leg until he softens if he is resistant.

Do not hold any aid for long though use them intermittently.
If you give your horse something to lean on then he will learn to lean on it.
He must keep moving while you do this. You may have to bump him with your legs a little. Also make sure your horse is shows rhythm relaxation and length of stride at a trot on a loose rein first.

Go back a step from time to time and use earlier steps to warm your horse up every ride. When he accepts this nice soft contact on a small circle start to reward him by making the circle bigger and the eventually straight lines.

Teach yourself to ride with independent hands and seat and wait for any softening before rewarding. You cannot force softening. Start to do walk to halt transitions and trot to walk transitions.

Ride your horse on the small circle again and have him working softly into your hands as discussed. Increase your contact a little more whist encouraging him to maintain pace and the same arc. When he accepts this contact and feels soft relax down into the saddle letting your legs come forward a little and just close your fingers a little more on the reins when you do. Your horse should stop smoothly and softly. Release your reins and rub his neck when he does.
Trot to halt and trot to walk transitions are the same you just don’t relax as “hard” and close your fingers a little softer and just go with him as he hits that walking pace.

Work up to big circles and then straight lines. Eventually he will be ready to canter but don’t even try unless you have good enough balance and the confidence to not hurt his mouth.
If you don’t understand this article then you need help.
This is tough issue for an inexperienced person to fix and a person with no sense of timing or feel and no empathy for the horse will never fix it.

This may sound complicated and long winded but apart from the extreme cases that do it without the rider I can usually have them going nicely into contact in less time than it took me to write this.
My typing finger has a blister on it. Making a quick change may be un-achievable for many (a quick change is not the goal) but take your enjoyment out of the tiny positives you will feel along the way. Make sure the horse is benefiting from these too.

Do not constantly walk a horse on a tight rein. That is like teaching it that it is ok to push through the bit.
Do not try and hold your horse still. When I pick the reins up on my horse I expect it to do something like take a frame or back up etc. You can’t hold a horse still if it wants to move you must teach it to stand still.
The only pace you can truly hold a horse at with a pull on both hands is a flat gallop (this happens at the race track regularly). Learn to use your bridle subtly and intermittently even on contact to ask your horse for what you want.

Correct your horse a little if necessary but don’t punish it for being confused or in pain or both.”