Get your horse on the bit

 

Haven't we all heard the phrase "get your horse on the bit". But do we actually know what it means? 

First of all, I kind of hate the phrase. Well maybe not hate, but dislikes. I don't really think it explains how your horse should walk in a proper way. Getting your horse on the bit, doesn't mean that it just has to take it's head down and then you are set to go and can ride at Gran prix level from the second your horse do so. 

First of all, it takes a long time for a horse to be fully trained for gran prix. But we can actually still on that level see horses who are really hollow in their back. So while it looks like they are on the bit, they are actually just puttting their head down. So how do you get a horse to go on the bit? 

Well my own horse Miss G is not at all on the bit! I have tried anything to make her to go on the bit. I don't have a trainer, and yeah it would be a good idea to have that. The posibility, just havent been right. So all of what I have learned miss G, has been something I have learned her, myself! I've seen a lot of different videoes on youtube, because it is a great media, for people to get knowlegde. Okay, okay maybe not all videoes on youtube are about getting knowlegde, but you can still get some. But I have seen a lot of videoes - especially on the topic "get your horse on the bit". Have they worked? Well... Not really... I feel like, all the videoes on youtube, with the title "Get your horse on the bit", are kind of misleading. The horses in the videoes can already go on the bit! It doesn't show the struggles that one can have! 

Until I saw this one video, where she was really good at explaining how you can do, but also showing it on a horse, which really couldn't go in a stabil connection on the bit. It was really refreshing to see something real. Do you know what I mean? Like it wasen't a big and well trained horse! It was a horse which actually was learning to be a dressage horse. It made sooooo much sense! Like really made sense! 

So I tried it with miss G.  Yeah it really isn't a pretty site at the monent, but she is getting better for everytime we ride like this! Anyway the thing is, you can't except a horse to be supple and soft, if it's not! Miss G is so stiff, that we ride squarse! So for me to excpect that she could just go at on the bit at any moment. How crazy was I?! So yeah all we do is trying to get her soft in the neck and body! This means that we ride circles and circels and some more circles. Anything really, that would bend her, or well try to bend her in her neck and body, so she gets soft and therefor also more moveable, If you understand? 

Well how do you do that then? First thing is to widen your hands, so the horse wants to put it's head down. The you just try to soften the horse, by bending. Maybe ride some small legyields. Not so they are big and exspressive, but more so the horse moves to your aids and again: softens. There's also something about how you put your weight and legs, but I'll link you to the video. I think she's really good at explaining and not mean in anyway. I feel like trainers often can get a little bit mean, but maybe that's just because I haven't had any real lessons in years, so I'm a bit jugdemental.  

We also have to remember, that the horses top line has to round, if that makes sense? We don't want to see a back who bends like a c or a banana, but the bend or where it's surposed to be round, which is upwards. Is actually in the other direction. The horse hollows it's back and is not round nor does it have a nice topline. You can feel when the horse's topline is where we want it to be. It feel so much better sitting on the horses back then. 

So yeah your horse has to be soft and supple for it to bend and go on the bit, which actually makes alot of sense! And just like she says in the video, your riding will not be the prettiest. It will look weird and my riding with miss G at the moment does not look good, but everytime I can feel it get's easier for Miss G, therefor I know, that in somepoint we will get there and it will look pretty! So go check the video and then I'll see you later bye! 

Love Maggie ❤

link for the video here: How to get your horse on the bit

ps. the horse on the picture is not miss G. It's Mr. H