# Accepting the bit



## Country Lady (Mar 20, 2011)

I have a mare that I have trained to drive. She is green broke, but very stable and a natural in the harness. However it is a battle to get her bridle on. I do have other driving horses that accept it fine. When I trained her last fall, I gradually increased the time in the bridle (her just standing or walking, on the halter), eventually I ground drove her and hitched her, Once she is in it she is fine and does not have any problems with controls.but She backs up and refuses to open her jaw, I have to force her to take it. I thought with additional time she would get over it and do fine, reality is she has not changed anything, She has been driven throughout the winter and is driven several times a week, so she gets plenty of practice. How can I get her to accept in more willingly?


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## disneyhorse (Mar 20, 2011)

What I do with green horses or horses that are hard to bridle is wrap the bit with a tiny piece of "Fruit Roll Up" (I buy at the grocery store by the dried fruit and raisins). I guess you could use some of the other stuff for kids like "Fruit By The Foot" or whatever.

Anyway, it's a tasty treat on the bit and usually they learn to look forward to it. It's easier to manage than putting molasses on the bit or trying to hold some grain with the bit when bridling.

But yeah, I bribe them!

Eventually, I put less and less on and eventually only occasionally put some on.

Also be sure to be a little bit patient and don't bang the teeth when bridling. Make sure dental is up to date, too.

Good luck,

Andrea


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## candycar (Mar 20, 2011)

If it's "just" a acceptance problem, not a discomfort while pulling the bridle on, then

I Ditto the fruit roll up, or I found the fruit roll up stickers easier to mess with, and you get different flavors in one box!

Jelly Bean GRABS for her bit




and sucks it happily while I finish buckeling the bridle.

Good luck


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## Sandee (Mar 20, 2011)

That sounds like a good way to get them to accept. However, if you don't want to use the candy subsitute almost anything they like ( and yes, most of it involves sweet). A treat in the same hand as the bit which they only get as they pick the bit up. I put a tiny bit of molasses on the bit until my mare got the idea of acceptance. Now, she's the only mini I have that will "pick up" the bit like a big horse. I'm guessing my boys were trained by force alone and they will only take the bit with a thumb in their mouth first .



Pet peeve - a horse is a horse no matter the size!


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## Katiean (Mar 20, 2011)

disneyhorse said:


> What I do with green horses or horses that are hard to bridle is wrap the bit with a tiny piece of "Fruit Roll Up" (I buy at the grocery store by the dried fruit and raisins). I guess you could use some of the other stuff for kids like "Fruit By The Foot" or whatever.
> 
> Anyway, it's a tasty treat on the bit and usually they learn to look forward to it. It's easier to manage than putting molasses on the bit or trying to hold some grain with the bit when bridling.
> 
> ...


What she said. It really works.


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## RhineStone (Mar 20, 2011)

We use Fruit Roll-Ups, too, but you can also use applesauce smeared on the bit. It is messy, though, which is why we went to the fruit roll-ups.

Myrna


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## rabbitsfizz (Mar 21, 2011)

All good advice here.

I am assuming you are doing the usual thumb in the mouth thing to open the mouth?

How about bridling her in an open bridle at all times, not when you are going to drive her, and letting her eat through it?

Although I cringe to think of the possible dangers of it, we always used (I was a kid, no power) to bridle the horses and leave them in the stall in a bridle, all day, when backing them. Although, as I said, it has potential dangers, the horse "made" their own mouths with no fighting, and we always had good mouths.

A bit attached with string to a halter would be safe, I think, although you see the problem as actually getting the bit in the mouth, it could well not be the problem form the horses point of view, so leaving it in there until it is second nature could just desensitise the horse to allowing it in in the first place.

Bribery, though, I do like....anything for a quiet life, these days.


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## hobbyhorse23 (Mar 21, 2011)

Country Lady said:


> but She backs up and refuses to open her jaw, *I have to force her to take it*. I thought with additional time she would get over it and do fine, reality is she has not changed anything


Why would she get over it?



All she's learned is that something unpleasant is going to happen- she's never been taught to do anything else or see it any other way.

I agree with the others- go back to basics. Use an open headstall with no cavesson or browband, wrap the bit with fruit rollups or put some honey or molasses on it and teach her to reach for it herself. You need to approach this with patience and take small steps. If she moves her head toward the bit, reward her and take it away. If she accidentally bumps the bit, praise and remove it. If she flaps or wriggles her lip on the bit, praise and remove it. What she wants is for the bit to go away so you need to teach her that if she just relaxes, the thing she dislikes will be removed. With clicker training I had both my resistant 10 year old and my green 2 year old reaching out and taking the bit from midair all on their own in one night. They thought it was a fun game! Then I added the tasty stuff and asked the 2 year old to hold the bit quietly with the headstall over his ears. I broke that down into small steps as well, at first just moving the crown closer to his face as he held the bit, then slipping it over one ear and taking it off, then doing both ears and removing the headstall after a minute or two.

Right now from her perspective a large creature approaches her with a distinct feeling of "we're going to do something you aren't going to like," pins her in place when she tries to get away, then forces her mouth open and puts a cold bar of metal in it and pulls an intimidating mass of straps on over her ears and eyes. I'm sure you did a fine job of training but some horses aren't inclined to simply accept bridling as routine no matter how carefully you introduced it. For those, you must break it down and allow the horse to make a self-rewarding choice each step of the way. She can make it go away or suck on the good-tasting metal thing. There is no forcing, no punishment, just a reward she approves of when she does what you want. Once she's good on taking the bit you can start adding extras like the browband, cavesson, and eventually the blinkers back until she's allowing you to put on the full bridle without force.

Leia


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## Tatonkas Dream (Mar 22, 2011)

everyone has given you great tips I just wanted to add depending on where you live you really only want a tiny bit of fruit roll up... I learned this the hard way the first time I wrapped it round and round and was so glad it seemed so much easier than molasses or honey (that I'd used for years) we had our training session put my equipment back up an the next day I had a drippy gooopy mess on the bottom of my harness bag... so less is more if you live where its warm out!

it cleaned up and now I laugh at it and still use the fruit roll up for my starting/training horses - and I find it much easier than molasses


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## susanne (Mar 23, 2011)

I have had great success wiyh a combination of clicker training and patience. By waiting for them to open their mouth, you ruin any fun in being stubborn.

I found that the headstall can be as annoying as the bit, so I began clicker training with the halter and catching in the open corral. While approached one small step at a time, this teaches and rewards an entire pattern of good behavior. My stallion, Flash, puts his head up over the gate to be haltered, then pushes his muzzle in...sure makes my job easy!


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## jegray21 (Mar 23, 2011)

we used sugar cubes. I would feed a few before I put the bit in and a few right after. I would make sure the bit fits her well too. Make sure it is not hitting her in the roof of the mouth. She may be uncomfortable during her work sessions and is trying to avoid the whole experience by not letting you put the bit in her mouth in the first place...


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