# Horse Won't Quite Eating While Riding?



## DancingArabian (Jul 15, 2011)

Two words: riding muzzle

(Daisy rein would also work, though)


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## chandra1313 (Jul 12, 2011)

Take him out in a nice lush pasture and when he puts his head down to eat pull it up not with both reins at the same time but sort of like one rein then the other in a seesaw motion and then make him back up, then let him rest and just sit there and do it everytime he goes to eat. Ask him to back up more steps each time. I don't let my horses eat when riding except for what is tall enough that they can grab on the go, or if I get off to take a break. I almost was pulled from the saddle once and it scared me ;-) friend said that's why you don't let them eat, I finally understood why he cautioned me about it.


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## MyBoyPuck (Mar 27, 2009)

A couple of thoughts come to mind. As someone who lets her horse graze while in the bridle, I can say without a doubt that horse's know the difference between being allowed to do so and when they are expected to be working. My horse flips on and off like a light switch. While others are prancing around working up a sweat waiting to go on their XC runs at shows, mine is eating grass. When it's his turn to go, he's all business. 

Enough babbling, grazing involves stopping. Forget about jerking up the reins. He'll still be stopped. When he puts his head down, pop him behind the leg with your crop and get his butt moving. Every single time you feel him start to stretch down, demand he go forward. As you've already discovered, you'll never win a leverage battle with a horse, so forward is you answer.


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## CowboyGirl (Apr 24, 2012)

Do you think i should get spurs? i don't have a crop and i have to kick pretty hard to get him moving.


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

no. get a crop, or use your long reins to "over and under" him. Well, you can probably just give a swat, but if he ignores that, an over and under will sure get his attention, but it might also make him buck or lunge forward. be ready. and growl at him. Be 100% consistent. NEVER let him get his head down. Pay attention and reprimand him instantly.


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## gothicangel69 (Aug 2, 2011)

I agree with the above post. My guy does this sometimes (although he's getting better). If he does, first he gets an 'ask' to keep moving as in a gentle squeeze. If he ignores it, he gets a big pop in the butt. As already mentioned, be prepared for a buck or lunge as its most likely going to happend, but they learn quick. My boy's learned that if he doesn't listen, he gets a big smack, so now when he puts his head down, all I have to do it say walk on, and he moves his butt because he knows what's comming next if he doesn't. We're still working on it, but he's come a long way.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## DraftyAiresMum (Jun 1, 2011)

If you have to kick hard to get him moving in the first place, you need to go back to basics and work on moving willingly off your leg. My three-year-old knows that leg pressure means we're moving forward and we're working. Very rarely do I have to get to the "kicking" stage with him and usually only because he got distracted by something (when we're in the arena...on the trail, it's like he was born dead broke and nothing phases him). 

I agree with the others who have said to get a crop. I also agree not to pull him straight up. I was riding one of the dude string horses at our barn when I first bought my gelding (my boy wasn't broke yet) and he kept stopping to eat. I had ridden horses who did this when I worked at the Girl Scout horse camp and we were instructed to yank up sharply on the reins and give them a big kick. Because the mares at the horse camp were conditioned to respond to that sort of reprimand, it worked. However, Reno completely ignored me when I did it to him. So, I started experimenting. I found that putting pressure on the rein opposite the side he was trying to pull to to get to the grazing worked perfectly, along with a firm nudge to the ribs. He's as dead-sided as they come (I think just about all dude string horses are), so kicking him accomplished nothing other than my legs getting a workout. However, a firm nudge with my "inside" (closest to the grazing) leg and "outside" (away from the grazing) rein worked perfectly every time.


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## Skyseternalangel (Jul 23, 2011)

I like to pop one rein upward and push them forwards. That is a HUGE no, eating while mounted. I've had a horse slam the breaks at a trot to snatch some grass and sheesh I could have been flung off if I hadn't been so lucky.

Be careful OP.

It also sounds like he's got no respect for you while you're up there. Probably the same goes on the ground too.. I'd work on that so he doesn't take advantage of you again


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## AQHSam (Nov 23, 2011)

I agree with the keep him moving and working. It is pretty scary up on top when a chowhound decides the dinner bell has gone off. 

Our winter was really mild last year and we had fresh spring grasses as early as late February. At the time, Sam had been on dirt lot fed strictly hay. We went to a set of trails where you have to cross a field to get to the trailhead and the green field of grass was more than Sam could handle. He kept trying to put his head down and I kept picking it up.

That's when he started dancing. Sam can throw a small child tantrum when he wants his way. He never bucked, but he danced and tried to backup up and sidestep instead of just WALKING.

My trainer was there and made us walk tight circles and when he tried to dance kept him moving forward.

He is much better and it is just a brief nudge or some reaffirmation of who is steering. I myself don't like it when he dances.


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## SlideStop (Dec 28, 2011)

Try on the ground too. Graze him on the lead (possibly with a chain if he is a bully) and a dressage whip. Graze a few minutes then ask him to stop and stand/lead quietly on the grass. If he doesn't back him up or lunge him in a tight circle around you three or four times. He must listen ALWAYS, under saddle, from the ground or if he is walking on lava.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## CowboyGirl (Apr 24, 2012)

Thanks for the advice everyone. I went out and worked with him and i think he is starting to get the idea. No eating while I'm riding!!!


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## COWCHICK77 (Jun 21, 2010)

They will get the idea(good advise above!)....even the other night I was out walking a pasture to see if I needed to rotate everyone, Stilts was next to a log grazing, I hopped on him with nothing on his head, thinking he would just keep grazing since I didn't put nothing on him....and he stood there waiting for a command. No grazing, not a step until I asked. 

They know the difference if you teach them.


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## Palomine (Oct 30, 2010)

Watch what the horse is doing before he gets his head down. Why are you waiting to battle with horse once the head is past the point you can keep it up?

Watch the ears, and "feel" what the horse is thinking, if one ear is forwards and one back, horse is up to something, or contemplating it. THAT is the time to move horse on, take up on your reins, or tap him with heels.

Not when head is down.

Also, if you are letting him graze either in his halter, or at other times when you are working with it, quit it. That reinforces this habit.

But don't let horse get its head down.


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## Saddlebag (Jan 17, 2011)

We made a check rein out of binder twine, the fiber, not the plastic. Tied it to the top of the bit then tied the two together so they'd rest on his face about midway between eyes and nostrils. The end was then run up between his ears under the browband to the saddle horn and thro the gullet. He was allowed to lower his nose about to his knees, no lower. Every time he tried to snatch grass he punished himself and soon gave up. The check rein had to be part of his gear and he was smart enough to know what it did and what he could do if not wearing it.


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## Lunavi (Jun 5, 2012)

Skyseternalangel said:


> I like to pop one rein upward and push them forwards. That is a HUGE no, eating while mounted.



Same here, I bought Nugget last April and that was his biggest bad habit. He soon realized that it wasn't worth the discomfort or extra work. 

We were in the arena one day and a little bush had grown at the fenceline, just perfectly nose-high. We were walking and he tried to take a bite, so I made him trot hard and for a long while ( we weren't cantering yet ). Went back to the bush, same result 3 more times. The fifth time around he realized eating = hard work so even with me riding him into the bush face first, he didn't even try to take a bite. That was the end of his bad habit.


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## Joe4d (Sep 1, 2011)

nothing wrong with spurs, they work pretty well as aid magnifiers. I prefer them over a crop. Take much less coordination and less stuff to be fiddling with in the saddle. Keep him moving, he goes to put his head down, 1,2,3, verbal, light cue , heavy cue,


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