# Pulling head down while riding?



## candandy49 (Jan 16, 2011)

In Tack Catalogs you can find a piece of equipment for ponys that do what yours is doing. I don't remember what it is actually called, but it prevents the pony from getting it's head low enough to eat grass while mounted. I don't know if a pony can be trained to not try to eat grass while mounted.


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## dragy (Jun 30, 2010)

Yup. Start carrying a crop or a quirt, and when he pulls this on you, you have to get after him. Give him a tap on the butt and cue him forward. If he doesn't listen, do it again a little harder. When gets going, thank him, give him a pat. You can pull up on the reins a bit too, but you shouldn't have to be pulling his head up, you do not want to be yanking or pulling on his mouth and getting into a battle where you're trying to pull his head up. You don't need to go to a harsher bit.


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## islandponi (Jan 21, 2011)

dragy said:


> Yup. Start carrying a crop or a quirt, and when he pulls this on you, you have to get after him. Give him a tap on the butt and cue him forward. If he doesn't listen, do it again a little harder. When gets going, thank him, give him a pat. You can pull up on the reins a bit too, but you shouldn't have to be pulling his head up, you do not want to be yanking or pulling on his mouth and getting into a battle where you're trying to pull his head up. You don't need to go to a harsher bit.


 I already use a crop and she still pulls her head down.


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## dragy (Jun 30, 2010)

Okay, so you probably do already, but do you get loud, shout Hey! or make a tsssssst noise at her? Do you know of anything that annoys her like when you are grooming or just handling her from the ground? I guess I don't know what there could be, but any little trick to teach her that reaching for the grass is going to be unpleasureable or annoying. . .? Sorry I wasn't any help


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## PumpkinzMyBaby22 (Jul 5, 2009)

I used to ride a pony that had the same issue when ever we rode over grass. If she pulls down, give her a big 'argh' and held the reins firmly so she yanks herself in the mouth. When she brings her head back up and stops going for the grass, give her some praise and move on. Depending on how determined your horse is, she may take a while to teach. The first couple of times she might take you by surprise, but after a while you can feel when she is about to take a dive. Therefore you can tell her no before it happens, or get a firm grip on the reins. 
I hope this works, and you should soon be able to go back to a lighter bit.


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## islandponi (Jan 21, 2011)

dragy said:


> Okay, so you probably do already, but do you get loud, shout Hey! or make a tsssssst noise at her? Do you know of anything that annoys her like when you are grooming or just handling her from the ground? I guess I don't know what there could be, but any little trick to teach her that reaching for the grass is going to be unpleasureable or annoying. . .? Sorry I wasn't any help


The only thing I've ever seen annoy her is when something is tickleing her like a big horse fly on her that wont leave. i dont think that theres anything i can do with that. haha. but thanks ill try the loud noises


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## islandponi (Jan 21, 2011)

PumpkinzMyBaby22 said:


> I used to ride a pony that had the same issue when ever we rode over grass. If she pulls down, give her a big 'argh' and held the reins firmly so she yanks herself in the mouth. When she brings her head back up and stops going for the grass, give her some praise and move on. Depending on how determined your horse is, she may take a while to teach. The first couple of times she might take you by surprise, but after a while you can feel when she is about to take a dive. Therefore you can tell her no before it happens, or get a firm grip on the reins.
> I hope this works, and you should soon be able to go back to a lighter bit.


 I'm not the strongest person, so she might be able to make the reins slide out of my hands. would tieing to reins to the saddle horn work? Thanks a bunch for the info!!!


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## eccodecco (Dec 10, 2010)

something you might try doing is try to ride past the first tug down then allow her to have some so starts to see that she can only eat when you let her, but not when you don't. It is something you might want to start on the ground if you don't already hand graze her.
If not you may want to try a dressage whip because it touches the horse in a different area than the crop would.


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

I would also say, the second she goes down for grass, don't tap her, WHACK her! you need to startle her. She already knows it's a no-no. You have to change the equation. So, you drive her forward abruptley and with gusto.
She will leap forward, so be ready for that. Don't yank on her mouth, let her go forward , even if she canters. then go back to whatever you were doing as if nothing happened.
Next time, watch her ears and when you see her MIND going to the grass, you intereup that though process by asking for forward ( a bit more politely, but with an honest whack if she doesn't answer your request with a surge forward)

You have to wathc her mind and interup the though before she gets to act on it.


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## Equina (Jul 28, 2007)

Another tip, if you use any rein-action to pull her up from the grass, only use ONE rein. If your horse is in a mad gallop, running away from you, and you pull on both reins, she is just going to bite down, pull tight, and keep running! If you grab ONE rein, and pull your hand straight back, her neck will easily bend to the side. Try running away (or pulling down to eat grass) while your neck is turned way to the side, Miss Pony!

My horse used to have this grass-diving habit too. I finally developed a technique for when I'm trying to just have a leisurely stroll around the field. I keep him on a loose rein so that he's relaxed. But I hold one rein firmly at the length where if he were to reach for grass level, he'd hit contact (on the one side). Then I don't have to think/react quickly while strolling along! I switch which hand is the blocking hand every so often to keep things balanced.


I also agree with tinyliny. Startle her, drive her forward when she stalls for grass. And yes, be ready for it! And don't immediately pull her back either, sending mixed signals.


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## netty83 (Sep 21, 2010)

Hey, there is something in the UK called a daisy rein. Sorry if you ride western didn't catch it (if you do then this is totally wrong). If you ride english it attaches to the d rings and then to the top of the bridle this prevents the horse reaching for grass and also can act as a preventative to getting the head down for bucking.


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## islandponi (Jan 21, 2011)

eccodecco said:


> something you might try doing is try to ride past the first tug down then allow her to have some so starts to see that she can only eat when you let her, but not when you don't. It is something you might want to start on the ground if you don't already hand graze her.
> If not you may want to try a dressage whip because it touches the horse in a different area than the crop would.


I use a dressage whip, but I'll try the hand grazing.thanks
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

I have to say that I disagree with reprimanding him for trying to graze under saddle a couple of times and then letting him do it when You tell him it's ok. I feel that would only encourage him to keep trying it. From his point of view it works like this;
I try , she hits me, I try again, she hits me, a few minutes later she tells me to go ahead. Think I'll try that again!

Be consistent. NO GRAZING under saddle at all! 
I don't let my horses graze when they are even on a leadline because when they are on a leadline, it's business. In my case, they have 22 hours a day to graze, so when I take them out, they do not need to graze, ever, while on a line. I think hand grazing is terribel. HOWEVER, for some folks that is the only way a horse can graze, so it is understandable.

The daisy rein might be a good idea to break the habit. You must be %100 consistent. No grazing under saddle, no hand grazing at all. Keep your pony in a working frame of mind.


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## candandy49 (Jan 16, 2011)

In my first reply I mentioned something about a piece of tack that would prevent your pony getting it's head down to graze, but couldn't think of the name for it. I just clicked on the Dover Saddlery in one of the banners here and found what I was referring to. It is called an Anti-Grazing Device. It attaches to each side of the saddle just below the pommel of either a Western or English saddle. It has a strap that goes over the head just about at the poll that has rings for the device to slip through. Then the straps attach to the bit. It is very adjustable and fits any bridle. The Anti-Grazing Device sounds a lot like the "daisy rein" that netty83 suggested.


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## netty83 (Sep 21, 2010)

Yes that's what I was meaning thanks for the better description lol:lol:


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## Palomine (Oct 30, 2010)

Don't tie off to saddle. Bad idea.

And Tinyliny has it right, she is giving you cues, that she is getting ready to do it, you are just missing them.

If you will watch her ears? More than likely she is telegraphing intent, by twitching one back and one forwards, meaning she is "thinking" about what she wants to do. Get after her hard and heavy and make her move.

When you let her get that head dropped then you are pulling against the full strength of her neck muscles, and you are not going to win.

You have to stop her before she even starts good, by being decisive about it.

Don't correct her in a "oh, poor hungry horse, I can't control what you do mood," but more from a "oh no you don't mood" like you have towards an annoying little brother or cousin.

Be firm with her. And don't baby her, or chit chat to her about it either. Just correct, and move on.

When you overpraise, especially for doing something that is a no-brainer, it builds it up into a much bigger deal, and can lead to more problems.

And when you do use voice, make it firm, not whiny.


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## churumbeque (Dec 20, 2009)

tinyliny said:


> I have to say that I disagree with reprimanding him for trying to graze under saddle a couple of times and then letting him do it when You tell him it's ok. I feel that would only encourage him to keep trying it. From his point of view it works like this;
> I try , she hits me, I try again, she hits me, a few minutes later she tells me to go ahead. Think I'll try that again!
> 
> Be consistent. NO GRAZING under saddle at all!
> ...


AGREED I never let a horse graze when working them in hand or riding. I did have to do some hand grazing when a horse collicked and now he wants to graze when he didn't before, so back to training him again. It's amazing how one time of a little grazing created a monster


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## kiwigirl (Sep 30, 2009)

This is the one issue I have had to consistently deal with with my horse (I have never encountered such a guts before in my life:shock.

A riding crop didn't work for us, I couldn't hit her hard enough to get her head up and she is far to strong to try and tussle over reins so I started wearing spurs. As soon as that head even looked like snaking down to eat Phoenny got a good kick in the guts. I still wear spurs but now find that a sharply delivered "HEY" will get her head straight back where it should be.


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## Sarahandlola (Dec 16, 2010)

Grass reins or daisy reins. Attach them to the bridle and to the saddle then the head cannot go down.


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## Lakotababii (Nov 28, 2010)

One other thing, lots of good advice on here  I have ridden many horses that have this issue (hey long grass is tempting!!  ) The things I've tried are 1. Be consistent, don't ever let the pony get away with it, it will only reinforce the behavior. 2. How is the pony on the ground? Doe she go down for grass when being led? That behavior may transfer to the saddle and needs to be corrected on the ground also. 3. You will NEVER win a battle if the horse is stubborn and puts her head down by pullin back on both reins. A horses neck is PURE muscle, and thus is WAY stronger than even the strongest persons arms. You have a much better chance of getting her attention if you pull up on ONE rein instead of 2 (Plus it discourages behavior by making her move in a circle, away from the grass. When she goes down for grass, make her MOVE!) You can couple this with a good whack of a whip or a good swift kick. This will both make her move, but also keep her under control in the turn. She will quickly realize that was a no-no, and she wont get away with it. 

And to answer your question, I have wrapped the reins around the horn before, but only for short periods of time, and it must be easy to get off (wrapped NOT tied). The last thing you want is your reins tied to the horn if the horse freaks out on ya, which we all know they can


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## eccodecco (Dec 10, 2010)

Just want to start by saying there are many different ways to train a horse to not eat (my previous post was only one)

You may try working her even more when you are on grass so she associate grass with work and not so much eating while in the saddle. 

But just as anyone here has said, be consistent with anything you are doing as you don't want to have your mount confused.

Good luck


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