Backing

When a horse exhibits "rude behavior", he can show tiffs in a number of ways. One of the most common is by being pushy, or leaning on the bit. The terms mean the same thing and both being the problem, in themselves offer the solution. In examining the first term or example, "pushy" means simply that he is pushing on you. That may mean that he is pushing on your hands, or at least so it seems, but I have found that if he is pushing or trying to take your hands away from you that he is actually telling you a couple of different things. Number one is that he is saying, "I don't like being pulled on and in order to get you to quit I'll throw my head up." If this sounds familiar I have some good news and some bad news. The bad news is that you must take responsibility for the problem. In other words you caused it! The good news is that if you change what you are doing, you will eventually change how he is reacting. In the above instance you will need to become very critical of how and when you are applying and releasing the pressure on the bit with your hands. When the horse's head is an unacceptable position you should have pressure applied of course, but more importantly, when he is in the position you want, you must turn loose. It is this release of pressure that tells your horse he must have done something right and he will try to find that position again. Eventually he should, if you are consistent, maintain that position. Another important point to getting your horse off of the bit is to also get his body backed off. In other words - get some respect. It does no good to have the horse's head in the right position if he is still running off. This bring us to the second term "leaning on the bit". In order for you and I to lean on something, there first of all must be something there. In this case we are talking about the bit or your hands. A horse can also very definitely lean on your legs, a topic to be covered in the future. It is important to realize that in order to properly get a horse bridled you must drive him to it. In this case being "driven to it" is not a bad thing. You need to apply leg pressure by squeezing and at the same time begin to draw your hands back slowly. (Assuming he knows what you want by already having done the previous exercises.) In other words you sort of squeeze him together like you would an accordion. A horse should learn to be driven into the bridle at all speeds, from standing still to running and everything in between. Always keep this important rule in mind. If you are going forward and want collection you must drive with your legs. If you take hold of your horse with your hands and don't use your legs, he very definitely should stop or slow down depending on whether you have bodily assumed the stopping position or are continuing to ride ahead. If you allow your horse to continue at the same speed or even worse, to speed up, while pulling on him without leg pressure, you will be the one responsible for giving him a case of the severe heavies. Become consistent in your training, of course, but just as importantly you must become expectant. Get very clear in your mind of what you want as an end result or finished goal and be sure that what you are doing lines up with that goal no matter what stage you are in or how far along your horse is and don't allow your horse to develop an unwanted response or "rude behavior".