He pulls on the bit

[Kaitlin]

When I ride my horse, he tends to pull on the bit at the walk, causing me to bump out of the saddle . He gets check out by a dentist every April, so I am unsure what the problem is.
When there are other riders around and weather is good he will happily ride with me and never pull on the bit. But just the other day it was just me and him riding in the ring, and he kept resisting the bit.
What could I do to discourage this?

P.S. My horse uses a regular snaffle bit.

[KBBadmiral]

A horse will only pull on the bit if he's been pulled on before by a human..and so lots of horses get to leaning in hopes to throw you off balance or whatever so you will release the pressure from his mouth. my advice to you would be to first ride with very loose reins to give the horse freedom and when he goes to lean on the bit he will find no pressure there. and just do a bunch of circles. and then go back having light contact on the reins and if he still is pulling on the bit..hes most likely playing a game of tug of war..and when he gets you off balance..he knows he won. a firm pull on the bit or see-saw will tell him to get off your hands. but I would only recommend that in extreme cases. and don't over use the see-saw it sound be only used a couple of times and he should learn. but the horse will only lean as much as he is getting pulled on. so its your horses way of trying to get the pressure off of his mouth. i don't know if this made any sense at all...my horse used to lean really bad when I first got him as he was a lesson horse..and so he had lots of people in his face and he basically just ignored your hands the whole time. because he knewn he could just run right through it. if you have any questions about it feel free to ask cause its kinda confusing. haha. :]

[Kaitlin]

Thanks. It seems that the more I work with him the less he pulled. He did not get consistent training before I bought him and therefore has developed bad habits.
I have used the same techniques, and they seem to work. I have learned to just let his go when he pulls, so that way we I don't lose our balance- I will collect my reins after wards of course.
He is great horse. Although he may be difficult at times he loves to work, and I blessed to have him.

[KBBadmiral]

well thats good, it's good to see he's improving. yeah my horse was handled by people with very little horse experience so he had awful habits from before. Be careful about just dropping the reins whenever he pulls. its good that you lettting him know theres no pressure to run into. but theres a very fine line between the two that if he picks up on everytime he pulls and you drop the reins he could start to think he's pulling the reins out of your hands. cause 1 second your riding with contact. he pulls, get loose reins, and then you collect him up again. after allowing him the freedom to pull and he find nothing...that should solve your problem. but if he continues pulling he would need a firmer phase to discourage this behavior. gooddd job though! just a little thing that I thought I'd add that might be helpful

[Kaitlin]

I have had a blast working with both my boys (my horses); teaching them to work is teaching me to live well and pay attention to things I would normally struggle with. Unfortunately, I cant see them very often- only once a week . It's not much,
but its way better than nothing.

[Ashley]

i agree that you should be careful dropping the reins- that ends up being more of a reward than a correction.
warm up with a loose rein to get him comfortable and loose, but shorten them up so he learns what normal contact feels like.
is it only at the trot that he tugs on you? that sounds like he just doesnt respect your hands much... i would suggest lots of transitional work, with lots of leg (even in the down transition).
keep working on different things, like circling, to keep his mind engaged (transitions will help with that too)
try to avoid tug-of-war matches, he's definatley stronger and will win.
if it's constant pulling and leaning, bending and circling will force him to lighten up for you. if he's just being rude, he should eventually figure out you arent going to fight with him and learn to leave his head where you want it.
hope this helps!
(i could explain a few other excerises- if youre interested, let me know)

[Kaitlin]

Sure. I would appreciate any advice you might have.
Soleil (that's my horse) is good at flying lead changes. However,
he has a sore hock , so I try to keep sharp turns to a minimum.
He is very smart and needs to be kept busy, or else he will get bored-
kinda like me. hehe
Anyway, here's more info on him just so you know who I'm dealing with.
Soleil and Jimmi (horse in picture) are between ages 10-11.
My horses are field boarded, so they are outside 24/7.
Soleil is also the dominating leader of his herd, so that's his personality.

[Ashley]

to start off, i would suggest finding a reign length that is suitable for both you and your horse. start with a long reign, then gradually shorten to where ever the point it that he starts pulling.
make sure you realize the difference between him tossing his head and him actually pulling on you.

there are a number of different reasons he could be pulling- and it would be up to you to figure that out.

if he's pulling because he's bored, then you need to challenge him more. ask him to bend and counterbend, on straight lines and circles. add in poles or something to your daily routine to mix things up. it doesnt need to be anything complex, but it will engage his mind, and you can work on your own position.

he may also pull because he doesnt respect your hand. in which case the same bending, counterbending and circling will also help. it doesnt need to be sharp turns, a smooth curve will have the same effect. don't get into tug-of-war matches with him either. if he pulls, keep your reigns the same length, but add leg to encourage him to move up into the bit, instead of trying to grab onto it and pull.
are you familiar with putting a horse "on the bit"? basically you use your leg to push your horse into your hand. this causes him to lower his poll, flex his neck, and push off with his hindquarters, rather than pulling himself along on his front end. you could try looking up specific exercises for that (i recommend Practical Horseman).

another reason for pulling might be the bit you are using. make sure it is the correct size, if its pinching the corners of his mouth, that could be what's making him uncomfortable. and what kind of bit is it? most horses i ride can go in a slow twisted snaffle, i also like the corkscrew- but only for training. usually, the least amount of bit is best. ive ridden a horse in a double twisted wire, and he was awful- then i tried him in the slow twist, and he was like a thousand times better.

let me know if you have any other questions!

[Emma]

Anticipate it, its not something thats easy and comes more from experience with that particular horse but the second he starts tug instead of letting him move you. If its really bad you might talk to someone about a change in tack? well thats all I got but i hope it helps:)

[Julia]

i would just hold tight on the reins, and if he pulls on the bit, just calmly respond with a dark "no." and give him at little kick. if you wear spurrs, gentlely spurr him so he gets the point that resisting the bit is bad. also, if he doesn't like if you hold the reins tightly and throws up his head or something, stop him, kick him softly, but don't let him go on. also, this could be a good time to practice riding on the buckle of your reins.