Ask the Expert: Steve Rother

Steve Rother is no longer available for questions, but you can read his previous answers below.

Question:

Hi Steve,I have a 14 year old mare that is ridden with a mechanical hackamore. Currently she is in a dry corral and fed hay. Our pasture was just planted and is too tender for horses just yet. When we are riding her and she sees grass she heads straight for it and starts eating. It takes terrific strength to pull up her head and get her going again even though her buddy is far ahead of her.Any suggestions on how to train her out of this bad habit will be greatly appreciated. Thank you! -Carlene

Answer:
Horse Eats Grass On The Trail...
Thank you for the question regarding your horse. This is a very common issue that many people have, as our horses love to eat. I have ridden some in the type of terrain that you are talking about. This is a tough situation, as the vegetation is right at nose height most of the time. This can be very tempting, even for a seasoned veteran. All things considered, this isn’t that big of an issue, especially in this terrain. There are a few things that you could try though.
One: Lead the ride with your horse, every time that he chooses to eat trot him forward as you don’t have a space to do much else with him. You may have to do this several times over and over to remind him.

Two: Test this out on the ground before your ride. Are you able to lead him down the trail a ways and have him not eat the grass? If he does this while you are leading him. Give him a flick of the lead rope with a waving motion and discourage him to have his head down. Time it so that it contacts him right as he touches the grass, so that he thinks that the grass is doing this. Caution, don’t try to pull his head up once he begins to eat, he will just try to pull harder against you. Using the waving motion of the lead instead.

Three: Try the same thing from the saddle, use your rein to bump him as he touches the grass. Again don’t pull on him, bump him as his lips touch the grass. If he persists in trying, bump him gradually harder and harder until he decides that it is not worth his time. Hang in there, as hunger, and taste buds can cause a horse to try very hard to get away with things.
Four: Let your horse eat the grass for about five minutes. Let him fill some of his appetite. Then ride on. Maybe in another 30 minutes let him eat some more. Turn eating grass into a cue that works for the both of you.

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Question:

Hi Steve,My family and I are going to be attending a horse camp in June. One of the requirements of the camp is to only use a snaffle bit. I use a snaffle bit on our colt, however, my daughter uses a Billy Allen Mylar bit, with great success, on her 16 year old QH. We have both found this to work so much better than a snaffle on this particular horse. If I had my druthers, I'd love to be able to ride bridle less, but don't think I am experienced enough to handle that. Can you please explain the philosophy of only using a snaffle? I'm sure there is a good reason and that it is an involved subject.

Thanks, Pat

Answer:
Hello Pat,
Thank you for your email. If I could only take one bit out of my tack room in a fire, it would be a snaffle bit. The snaffle bit allows for the most communication options with a horse compared to most other bits. In addition it is a one to one pressure ratio, so it is the most comfortable on a horse, if used properly. The idea is that we want to use pressure without pain. That is what most Myler bits are based on.

The problem is that it does take time to teach a horse to ride properly in a snaffle bit. It takes the use of good hands, and many exercises to gain the proper communication level and softness from the bit. A concept that I teach is that the key to vertical flexion, is lateral flexion. A snaffle bit allows for good lateral flexion, where many shanked bits don’t. There are mainly only good for the vertical flexion part.

In the end, I encourage people to ride in whatever they are most comfortable with. But I let them know that unless they can get there horse riding well in a snaffle bit that they may be just covering up some issues that might come back to bite them in the end. Do take time to make this transition, you might start out in a round pen with a snaffle for a while, rather than out on the trail. Just in case the horse is basing his respect level on the bit, rather than the rider.
Best of luck…remember the most important thing is to be safe, and have FUN!

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Question:

I have a problem I was hoping you may help me with. I just started working with a 2 yr old gelding that is fairly green. He is saddle broke but has nil for ground manners. He is not mine but his owner is...not experienced enough to deal with a baby. My problem is of course his ground manners. Now I have worked with many before and haven’t had too many problems with respect and space. Unfortunately this new barn has no round pen or even a small sized paddock to work in, so it makes things harder.

But now to my real problem: This horse's name is Mischief. He has NO respect for space whatsoever. Now usually I can fix this but he is different from the rest. Not only does he walk over you whenever he feels, but if you push on him while walking, swing a rope, tap him with anything to get him to move over, he CHARGES through you. Most, I find, move away from the poke of a lunge whip or stick. But even show him that and he charges.

On my first day with him he charged the lunge whip and snapped it clean in half on his way to flattening me. He obviously has a dislike for anything...sticklike. I asked his owner if he had been abused with anything at all and she said no. He hasn’t any bad responses like head shyness, nervousness or sucking in his gut when I pet him. He does not do this in a mean way...no ears pinned teeth bared...he’s just determined. I have made slight progress with leading, he now stops whenI stop, not 10 feet after. But I can’t for the life of me figure out a way to lunge him without him charging in. Nothing keeps him out there. He leads alright now but even if I am on a long lead rope and let it unfurl as I walk slowly distancing myself, as soon as he figures there’s a circle involved, nutso horse. So I am stumped, I will continue to work on the ground with leading, backing etc, but without somewhere to really turn him loose and work with him I am afraid I wont be able to help him....ah! so please if you have a moment any tips would be GREATLY appreciated.

Thank you bunches, Meredith

Answer:

It sounds like you are in a bit of a tough spot with your horse. There is a phrase that I live by a lot of the time… "Cause the wrong thing to be difficult, allow the right thing to be easy." Every horse is different. What is difficult to some is still easy for others. You have to adjust to fit each situation, and each horse.

Another statement I will give you that might help… "Sometimes you have to do some things that you have never done, to get the things that that you have never had."

Step one: Make a plan before you get to your horse. Your current plan is not working…so make a new one. Maybe you could carry a tarp or a big exercise ball, something that he might not want to run through - something that he is not familiar with. You should have been able to just use your stick, but it looks like you purchased the wrong kind if it simply broke in two. So get some decent equipment, the safety of you and your horse depend on it.

Step two: Get to his feet sooner. You are letting him get way to close before you make the correction. Ask for him to respect you in his stall before you halter him, then in the barn alley, then at the gate, then 10 ft into the arena, etc… Be more on top of things before they get bad. Respect comes from moving his feet forwards, backwards, left, and right. So practice these directions often.

Step three: Stay on course and follow through. He needs to yield no matter what. Don’t just stop after he stops coming at you. He needs to yield backwards and sideways for quite a distance before you let your pressure up. His release needs to come when he is going away, not coming towards you.

Step four: Come to a clinic. We get horses like this all the time. It would be much easier to just show you and get your horse started on a few of these things. He may already see you as a person that he can disrespect when he wants to. I can help you to become a better leader under these circumstances. This appears to be a very unsafe situation. The safety of you and your horse is always the first priority.

Best of Luck!
Steve Rother